What Walk-In Showers & Shower Remodeling Actually Costs and Takes in Lely, FL
A walk-in shower or shower remodel in Lely, FL typically runs between $9,000 and $28,000, depending on the size of the enclosure, how much we need to reconfigure the plumbing, and the materials you pick. Most shower remodels take about 10 to 14 days from tear-out to final grout seal, though a custom walk-in that involves moving a wall or rerouting drain lines can push closer to three weeks. Call us at (844) 638-7249 to set up a free on-site estimate, and we’ll give you a line-item price broken down by scope and material grade, not a single vague number.
How We Actually Build a Walk-In Shower in Lely
The process is straightforward, but doing it right in a Lely Resort home means respecting HOA quiet hours, keeping the job site clean enough that a neighbor never complains, and scheduling around the afternoon lightning shutdowns that hit like clockwork from June through September. Here’s the sequence we follow, day by day.
Stage 1: Protect Everything, Then Tear Out the Old
Day one, our crew lays floor protection from the front door to the bathroom and plastic-sheaths the hallway. The existing shower pan, wall surround, valve trim, and any glass get cut out and hauled off. If we find water damage behind the tile-and in Lely homes built in the ’90s with original showers, we regularly find soggy greenboard and failing pans-we’ll stop and show you exactly what we’re seeing before we touch another square inch. This stage takes one day for a standard alcove shower, two days if we’re pulling a tub and reworking the footprint.
Stage 2: Rough-In Plumbing and Valve Work
With the walls open, our plumber repositions the mixing valve to your preferred height, upgrades the supply lines if the home still has original polybutylene or CPVC from the build era, and sets the drain at the correct location for the new pan. Moving a drain even six inches in a concrete-slab Lely home means cutting into the slab, which adds a day and requires a plumbing rough-in inspection from Collier County before we can pour back. Most shower remodels don’t need the drain moved, but when they do, we handle the dewatering if the water table shows up-common in this part of unincorporated Collier.
Stage 3: Pan, Substrate, and Waterproofing
Whether you choose a prefabricated solid-surface pan or a custom mortar bed with tile, this is the stage where waterproofing either gets done right or costs you thousands later. We install a sloped base, a bonded waterproof membrane up the walls, and seam tape at every change of plane, then flood-test the pan for 24 hours before a single tile goes up. For curbless walk-in designs, we recess the subfloor so the finished tile flows level with the bathroom floor-a detail that takes careful framing and often triggers an accessibility code check. This stage runs three to four days, counting the flood test.
Stage 4: Tile, Niches, and Trim
This is the part you see every day: wall tile, accent banding, recessed niches with a slight pitch so water never pools, and the valve trim and showerhead you selected at the start. We set tile from the bottom up, use leveling clips on large-format panels to eliminate lippage, and let the thinset cure a full day before grouting. In Lely’s high-humidity summer months, we’re strict about cure times-rushing grout or caulk before the substrate has fully dried leads to adhesion failures we’ve seen too many times in rushed resort-area remodels. Tile and trim work takes three to five days on a typical walk-in.
Stage 5: Glass, Fixtures, and Final Walkthrough
The glass enclosure gets measured after tile is complete so every panel fits exactly against the finished wall, not the rough opening. That’s a one-to-two-week lead time for fabricated tempered glass, and install takes half a day. We mount the showerhead, hand sprayer, and controls, seal all perimeter joints with 100% silicone, and run the shower to verify temperature, pressure, and drainage. Before we leave, you walk the shower with Derek Hollenbeck or the project lead and sign off-anything that’s not right gets fixed under our 730-Day Done Right Promise, no debate.
The Choices That Shape Your Shower
Every walk-in shower we build in Lely starts with four decisions. Each one moves the number and changes how the shower feels day to day. Here’s what you’ll choose between, with the honest trade-offs of each.
- Prefab pan vs. mortar bed with tile floor. A solid-surface or acrylic pan installs in a day, never needs sealing, and keeps the budget at the lower end. A mortar bed with tile feels custom underfoot, lets us slope to a linear drain for a curbless entry, and costs $1,200 to $2,200 more. Tile grout lines on the floor require occasional resealing. Most Lely homeowners who plan to age in place choose the curbless mortar bed.
- Wall material: acrylic surround, large-format porcelain, or natural stone. Acrylic is tough, seamless, and the most affordable. Large-format porcelain (24×48 or similar) gives you near-zero grout lines and a clean, modern look at mid-range pricing. Marble, travertine, or quartzite slabs run at the high end, look stunning, and need annual sealing against hard-water etching-a real consideration with Collier County’s mineral-heavy water supply.
- Showerhead and valve configuration. A single showerhead with a pressure-balanced valve keeps things simple and affordable. Adding a hand sprayer on a slide bar adds a few hundred dollars and makes cleaning the enclosure far easier. A full thermostatic valve with body sprays and a rainfall head pushes the plumbing and trim budget up by $1,500 to $3,000 but gives you independent temperature and volume control.
- Enclosure type: framed, semi-frameless, or frameless glass. Framed sliding doors are the budget choice and work fine. Semi-frameless adds a cleaner look with minimal upcharge. Full frameless 3/8-inch or 1/2-inch tempered glass with a swing door is what most Lely Resort homeowners want-it shows off the tile work and makes a modest shower feel larger. Count on $1,800 to $4,000 depending on panel count and hardware finish.
Derek Hollenbeck and the team walk you through samples of each category at the estimate so you can see and touch the actual materials, not just look at a brochure. Upfront pricing means you know what each tier costs before you commit to anything.
What a Walk-In Shower Remodel Costs in Lely, FL
We price walk-in showers in Lely between $9,000 and $28,000. Where your project lands inside that range depends on a handful of variables we’ll map out during the estimate.
- Enclosure size and footprint. A standard 3×4-foot alcove shower replacement starts at the low end. Expanding the footprint, bumping into a closet, or going curbless with a linear drain adds material and labor and moves toward the high end.
- Plumbing reconfiguration. Leaving the drain and supply lines where they sit keeps costs predictable. Moving the drain in a slab-on-grade Lely home or upgrading old polybutylene supply piping adds $800 to $2,500, depending on the scope.
- Material grade. Acrylic surrounds with a prefab pan and framed glass hit the lower third of the range. Large-format porcelain, a mortar bed, full frameless glass, and high-end trim put you in the upper third.
- Water damage remediation. If the original shower pan was failing-and in 1990s Lely houses with builder-grade showers, this is common-we may need to replace rotted subfloor, sill plates, or bottom plate sections. We won’t know until demo day, but we’ll flag the possibility and price it as a separate line item so it’s never a surprise.
- Permit scope and ARC review. A straightforward replacement with no footprint change typically clears the Lely Resort Architectural Review Committee with minimal review time. Adding square footage or moving plumbing triggers a fuller review and a building permit from Collier County. Permit fees and the ARC submission process add modest cost and about a week to the front end of the schedule.
Every written estimate from Groundwork Construction Co. includes the full scope, material allowances by product category, and a fixed price with no change orders unless you ask us to add something mid-project. We also offer 0% financing for 18 months and $1,000 off projects over $10,000, which pulls a walk-in shower at the higher end of our range into a manageable monthly payment. For a detailed breakdown tailored to your bathroom, call (844) 638-7249-estimates are free and a real person answers the phone, day or night.
How Lely Shower Remodels Are Different From Anywhere Else
If you live in one of the Lely Resort villages, your shower remodel comes with a step most homeowners in other parts of Naples don’t face: the Architectural Review Committee submission. Lely Resort requires ARC approval for any interior project that touches the building envelope-a shower remodel that moves a wall or changes an exterior window in the bathroom counts-and that approval must be in hand before Collier County will process the building permit. Our team has worked with the Lely ARC long enough to know exactly what they look for: no exposed PVC waste lines visible from the street during construction, adherence to the community’s material palette if the work is visible from outside, and a clean site throughout the project. We handle the submission paperwork, and because we know the process, our submittals rarely come back with comments.
The age of Lely’s housing stock also shapes the work. Most homes in the resort were built between 1995 and 2005, and the original showers in those houses used builder-grade pans with thin vinyl liners that crack over time, greenboard that wicks moisture, and shower valves that no longer meet current anti-scald code. When we open those walls, we’re not surprised to find damage-we plan for it. The upside is that the concrete-block construction common across Lely means the structure itself is sound, so the remodel stays contained to the bathroom and doesn’t ripple into framing repair that blows out the budget. For homeowners pairing a shower remodel with other upgrades, many of our Lely clients also look at Roof Replacement & Installation in Lely or Metal Roofing in Lely while they’re planning their off-season construction window.
You also have to work with the calendar here. Lely’s snowbird homeowners overwhelmingly schedule major work between May and October when they’re back north. That puts every shower remodel squarely in peak rainy season. Our crews are used to shutting down outdoor cutting by 2 p.m. when the lightning rolls in, running dehumidifiers to keep cure times on track, and building material lead times around the hurricane-season supply chain bumps that hit every August and September. If you’re planning a shower remodel for next summer, call early-our May-through-October schedule in Lely fills up fast. We’re part of a larger Bathroom Remodeling crew that serves the area, but Derek books projects first-come, first-served.
For homeowners whose shower remodel is part of a bigger project, we also recommend looking at our Bathroom Remodeling in Lely options, where a walk-in shower fits into a full bathroom overhaul. And if you’re new to the area, our work across Lely has put us inside hundreds of resort homes, so we know the typical floor plans and the quirks that come with them.
Serving Lely, FL - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Lely area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
Frequently Asked About Walk-In Showers & Shower Remodeling in Lely
Most walk-in shower remodels in Lely take 10 to 14 days, start to finish, with a one-to-two week gap between tile completion and glass installation while the enclosure is fabricated. If we’re moving a drain in a slab foundation or waiting on a custom material order, add a few days. Our crew works Monday through Friday, respects Lely Resort’s quiet hours, and keeps the job site contained so your home stays livable throughout.
Yes, if the remodel involves any plumbing reconfiguration, moving walls, or changes to the building envelope. A simple pan-and-surround replacement with no plumbing moves may not require a permit, but any project inside Lely Resort that touches a wall or window shared with the exterior must clear the Architectural Review Committee before a building permit can be issued by Collier County. We handle the ARC submission and the permit application as part of the project, so you never have to chase paperwork. Call (844) 638-7249 and we can tell you over the phone whether your specific scope will need ARC review.
In most Lely bathrooms, yes-especially if you’re replacing an existing shower or tub footprint with a walk-in of the same dimensions. Keeping the drain and valve in their current locations speeds up the timeline and keeps the cost toward the lower end of our $9,000 to $28,000 range. We’ll assess during the free estimate and tell you honestly whether moving anything is worth the added cost or if a layout that works with the existing rough-in will give you the shower you want.
A shower toward the lower end typically uses a prefabricated acrylic or solid-surface pan, an acrylic or mid-range tile surround, a single showerhead with a pressure-balanced valve, and a framed or semi-frameless enclosure in a standard alcove footprint with no plumbing moves. At the upper end, you’re looking at a custom mortar-bed pan with large-format porcelain or natural stone tile, a curbless entry with a linear drain, full frameless glass, a thermostatic valve with multiple outlets, and some footprint expansion or plumbing reconfiguration. We show you a line-by-line estimate at the start so you control exactly where your money goes. $1,000 off projects over $10,000 and 0% financing for 18 months can bring the higher range within reach.
Every walk-in shower and shower remodel we build in Lely is covered by our 730-Day Done Right Promise-if something isn’t right two years out, we fix it, full stop. The tile, pan, glass, and valve manufacturers carry their own material warranties that run anywhere from five years to lifetime, and we stand behind our installation workmanship. No fine print, no chasing subcontractors. Derek Hollenbeck oversees every shower project personally, and our post-installation support is a phone call to (844) 638-7249, answered by a live person.
Get a Walk-In Shower Estimate in Lely-Free and Straightforward
You’ll get a written, line-item price for your specific bathroom, not a round number over the phone. We’ll walk through material samples, measure the space, and tell you exactly what the timeline looks like for your Lely home. There’s no pressure, no vague bids, and a real person answers when you call (844) 638-7249-24 hours a day, seven days a week. The estimate is free, and the price you see is the price you pay.
Written by Derek Hollenbeck, Owner at Groundwork Construction Co., serving Lely with upfront pricing and a 730-Day Done Right Promise on every shower remodel.