In this day and age where people are ripping out their tubs to put in luxurious showers, we are faced with the opposite goal. We live in a small 2 BR 1 BA slab foundation home, built in 1952. Having had a tub at one time, a previous owner decided that yellow apparently was "their color" and likely had the tub ripped out, tiling the daylights out of the space instead as a matter of convenience (there are many bars hanging on the walls which suggests there were mobility issues for the owner.

This bathroom is the only room in the house that has not been stripped down to the studs and remodeled in the last 20 years. In the 7 years we have lived here, the mere thought of tackling this project has frightened us at the thought of breaking our concrete up and made our pocketbook shiver. We now have a 3 year old who has always bathed in a plastic tub filled with shower water (see picture), which is surely more humiliating for her parents than for her. A crack in the floor has also developed, allowing water to leak down the foundation (we see it when we go outside).

Our bathroom is 5x8. We received two bids this week. One for a local contractor for $15,000 which about made me faint upon opening the mail, and another from a bath design company for $10,000. Yes, this is for a complete gut, including all the plumbing necessary to move the drain and set a tub, however, in both cases, exorbitantly priced fixtures (the tub and surround alone were over $3,000) are being used. Both companies are very busy and in no need of work, leading me to believe we will likely not get a competitive bid from a 'do-it-all' installer.

So, we are now seeking the services of a plumber to do the hardest part (set the tub), and we will gradually do the rest ourselves as time allows. Eventually the rest of the tile will come down and we will re-finish the walls, get a new vanity/sink combo (20x24 is what we have to work with) and put in a new stool. Right now the floor is just painted concrete as there was carpet there before (yuck!) No sense putting tile down when it doesn't match the tile on the walls!

I would much rather do a tile surround than an acrylic surround, but do not know what kind of wall system to put up that would support it. I know regular drywall is not strong enough. I would probably want to do tile to the ceiling, however. Preferably neutral tones as we already have leftover floor tile to use that has been used elsewhere in the house.

We have only one bathroom and very little space so any suggestions would be appreciated! Thank you for listening to my lamentations!