How we verify listings | Tub-to-Shower Cost Guide

In most cities, the compact list ranks contractors by license tenure, oldest first, cross-checked against that state's own contractor file for status, class and how long it's been in effect, with a link back to the state's record for a second look. A city with no contractor file on this site yet shows a different compact list instead, built from whichever tub-to-shower businesses earn the strongest combined rating-and-review score on Google there.

Neither version is a workmanship review. We don't inspect, rate or vet a contractor's finished jobs; a license-based list shows what the license file currently says, and a rating-based list shows what Google currently shows.

Where the listings come from

California: contractor license records of the California Contractors State License Board, from the CSLB Public Data Portal: License Master file dataset. CSLB notes that license status can change at any time and points to its license check for the most current status. How to check a license in California.
Connecticut: contractor license records of the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection. How to check a license in Connecticut.
Florida: contractor license records of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, from the Construction Industry Public Records (licensee files) dataset. How to check a license in Florida.
Nevada: contractor license records of the Nevada State Contractors Board. How to check a license in Nevada.
Oregon: contractor license records of the Oregon Construction Contractors Board. How to check a license in Oregon.
Virginia: contractor license records of the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, Board for Contractors. How to check a license in Virginia.
Washington: contractor license records of the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, from the L&I Contractor License Data - General dataset. data.wa.gov lists this dataset as updated three times a day. How to check a license in Washington.

Each license listing also links to its own record on the state agency's website, so you can check it at the source.

What we check before a business is listed

The license is active in the registry when we pull the data. Businesses with any other status are left out.
The license hasn't passed its expiration date.
The business matches tub-to-shower conversion. We match on the registry's specialty classification, the registered business name, or both. That's why every listing shows its license class: check that it fits your job.
The business address on record is in a city with at least 3 matching businesses. Smaller cities don't get a page yet.

What each listing shows

Business name: As registered with the state, with capitalization tidied up.
Category: Our label for why the business is listed on this site, based on its specialty or registered name.
License class: The specialty the registry lists for the business, for example General or Roofing.
License number: The contractor license or registration number the registry uses.
Status: Active as of the date we checked. We don't list any other status.
Effective and expiration dates: When the current license took effect and when it expires, as the registry reports them.
Business type: For example limited liability company, corporation or individual, shown on each business's profile when the registry provides it.
City and ZIP: From the business address on record. They show where a business is based, not the area it serves, which is why we say “based in”.
Verify license: A link to the business's own record on the state agency's website.

What we leave out on purpose

We don't publish phone numbers, street addresses or the names of owners and principals, even where the registry lists them. The business name is the only name we show.

How often we refresh

We re-pull the registry data and rebuild these pages from it. Every city page shows the date its listings were last checked; the current listings were checked on September 30, 2026. A license can change between our checks, so the Verify license link, which opens the live record, is always the final word.

Top-rated lists

If a city has no contractor file behind it on this site, the estimate above still runs on national cost data and local wages, but the list below it comes from somewhere else: a Google Maps search built around a tub-to-shower conversion query for that city. From whatever that search returns, we subtract the closed businesses, the ones in a mismatched Google category, the ones sitting an unreasonable distance outside the city for its size, the ones with next to no reviews, and the ones that are really a person's name, a supplier or a lead-generation site rather than a contractor.

Whatever survives that subtraction gets ordered by a score built from two inputs together, the star average and the number of reviews propping it up, so one lucky five-star review never outweighs a strong average with hundreds standing behind it. A city only earns a published list once five or more businesses pass every filter, and even then the list stops at ten names.

Every list names the month its ratings were pulled, since those numbers move around. None of this touches licensing: it's a ratings ranking, not a records check, so get a license or registration number from any business before you pay a deposit, and don't assume the business that eventually calls about your request is the one whose name you read here.

The details, the same on every top-rated page (3,372 city pages on this site):

One Google Maps search per city for “tub to shower conversion”, for cities of 10,000 or more people where this site has no license page. In 2,082 of those cities, where that search turns up too few businesses for a list, the list comes from the broader “shower remodeling contractor” search, filtered the same way.
Left out: businesses marked closed, businesses outside a matching Google category (stores, suppliers and showrooms among them), businesses far from the city center (about 6 to 25 miles, depending on the city's size), businesses with fewer than 3 reviews, and names that are a person's name or belong to a lead marketplace or a big-box store.
Ranked by a Bayesian average of the Google rating, (rating × reviews + 4.3 × 15) ÷ (reviews + 15), so a 5.0 from 3 reviews ranks below a 4.8 from 300.
A city needs at least 5 businesses that pass; the page shows the top 10.
Each listing shows its rank, Google rating, number of Google reviews, Google category, the town and ZIP in its address, and a link to its Google Maps listing. No phone numbers, websites, street addresses or review text.
Ratings were checked between September 2026 and October 2026. They change every day, so open the Google reviews link for the current figure.

A rating is not a license check and not an endorsement. Before you hire anyone, ask for the license or registration number your state or city requires and check it with the office that issued it.

What we don't do

We don't review or endorse contractors, and a listing isn't a recommendation. License listings are sorted alphabetically; top-rated lists are ranked only by Google rating and review count, as described above. No business pays to be listed, to be left off or for its position. If we ever add paid placements, they will be marked Sponsored. How we make money.

Something wrong?

Business owners can claim a listing to ask for a correction, or ask us to remove it.