Tub-to-Shower Conversions in Richardson, TX

Richardson was born in 1873, when the Houston and Texas Central Railroad passed by the older settlement of Breckinridge, and it was named for railroad secretary Alfred Stephen Richardson. It incorporated in 1925 and was still a small town of 1,289 people in 1950.

The 1950s changed everything. Central Expressway was extended through the city in 1954, and the arrival of two major electronics firms, Collins Radio and Texas Instruments, set off rapid growth. Richardson's population jumped to 16,810 in 1960, 48,582 in 1970, and 72,496 in 1980. A second wave came in the 1980s, when telecom companies moved in and the area became known as the Telecom Corridor.

That first boom is still visible in the housing. According to Census estimates, about 44% of Richardson homes were built before 1980, and the 1960s and 70s together account for more than a third of everything standing today. The median home dates to 1985, because newer construction, including a sizable wave in the 2010s, sits alongside those older streets. In practice, a Richardson homeowner is far more likely than one in a newer suburb to be living with a bathroom that is close to sixty years old.

A bathroom from the 1960s or 70s was usually built around a 60-inch alcove tub made of enameled steel or cast iron, with ceramic tile walls set on a mortar bed or backer. Those tubs are durable, but they are also high-sided, slick when wet, and heavy enough that taking one out is real work. Many have been resurfaced or regrouted more than once, which does nothing about the step over the side.

About 13% of Richardson residents are 65 or older, a little under the national share. The stronger argument here is the age of the houses. A bathroom designed in 1965 was never meant for someone with a new hip or a cane, and converting the tub is the single change that removes the biggest obstacle in the room. It also tends to fit the existing alcove, so the rest of a well-kept mid-century bathroom can stay as it is.