The short version: A tub cut-out removes a U-shaped section of your existing tub wall and seals the opening, so you step over a few inches instead of climbing 14 to 16. It is done in a few hours, leaves the tile and plumbing alone, and costs a small fraction of a walk-in tub. Choose the convertible version if anyone still takes baths. It is the wrong fix for someone who can no longer lift a foot over a lip at all, and it does nothing about a slippery tub floor, so pair it with grab bars and a shower chair.

The problem a cut-out solves

Two-thirds of bathroom injuries happen in or around the tub or shower, and the injury rate climbs steeply with age, from about 112 per 100,000 at ages 65 to 74 to 515 per 100,000 at 85 and older.4 Much of that risk is one movement: standing on one foot on a wet floor while swinging the other leg over a tub wall that is 14 to 16 inches high on a common alcove tub.5

The usual answers are expensive. A walk-in tub runs $5,000 to $25,000 installed, and a tub-to-shower conversion $4,000 to $15,000, with the bathroom torn up for days. A tub cut-out attacks the same movement for far less by changing the tub you already have.

What a tub cut-out is

An installer cuts a U-shaped notch out of the side wall of the existing tub, smooths the edges, and caps the opening with a molded, sealed insert that matches the tub. The tub stays where it is. The surround, tile, faucet, and drain are untouched. The leading maker, CleanCut, says the work takes 2 to 4 hours, and a dealer we checked describes the same job as “less than one day.”23

The result is a step-in opening in the side of the tub. You walk in through the gap, shower standing or seated, and walk out. If the tub has a shower head and curtain already, nothing else changes.

The three cut depths

How much wall comes out decides how high the remaining lip is. CleanCut’s figures, subtracted from your tub’s original wall height:1

  • Step and Convertible: lowers the wall by 8.5 inches.
  • Deep Step: lowers it by 11 inches.
  • Ultra Low: lowers it by 14 inches.

On a 15-inch tub, that means a lip of about 6.5 inches, 4 inches, or 1 inch. The lower you go, the easier the step and the less water the tub can ever hold again.

Plain or convertible

A plain cut-out is permanent. The convertible model is the same cut with a removable, watertight center plug that “locks on and off in moments,” so you can close the opening, fill the tub for a bath, and then take the plug out to step in.12

Who should pay extra for convertible: a couple where one person still soaks, a house that hosts grandchildren at bath age, and anyone thinking about resale, since a bathroom with no tub at all narrows the buyer pool. If nobody has used the tub as a tub in years, buy the plain cut and keep the difference.

Will the step be low enough?

This is the question to settle before you spend a dollar, and it is the one the sales call skips. A cut-out lowers the wall; it does not remove it. A 6-inch lip is a big improvement over 15 inches for someone with stiff hips or a sore knee. It is still a 6-inch lip for someone who shuffles, uses a walker, or has lost the balance to stand on one foot for a second.

Do the arithmetic with a tape measure. Measure your tub wall from the bathroom floor to the top of the rim, subtract the cut depth, and then watch the person step over a stack of books that height, holding a counter. If that looks hard today, remember that it will be harder in two years. In that case skip the cut-out and go straight to a curbless walk-in shower, which removes the lip entirely, or read our walk-in tub versus walk-in shower comparison.

A cut-out removes the climb, not the slip. The tub floor is exactly as slick as it was. Every cut-out should come with a grab bar inside and outside the opening, a non-slip mat or applied treatment, and, for most people, a shower chair and handheld shower head. The CDC’s bathroom injury report makes the same point: grab bars both inside and outside the tub or shower “might help prevent bathroom injuries to all household residents.”4

Which tubs can be cut

Nearly all of them. CleanCut says its products install on “porcelain, fiberglass, acrylic, steel and even cast iron,” and the dealer we checked lists the same four materials.13 The material changes who should do the work, not whether it can be done.

  • Fiberglass and acrylic: the easy case. The wall is thin and cuts cleanly. This is where a DIY kit and a handy family member make sense.
  • Enameled steel: doable, louder, and the cut edge needs careful finishing so the enamel does not chip.
  • Cast iron: hire it out. The maker recommends professional installation with a diamond blade for cast iron.1 The wall is thick and brittle at the edge, and the cut throws heat and dust.

Not sure what you have? Tap the tub wall. Cast iron rings and feels cold to the touch. Fiberglass and acrylic sound hollow and feel room temperature.

What it costs

CleanCut’s DIY project kits “start at just $370,” and installers “most often quote the project for both Product & Installation.”1 The maker puts a professionally installed job at “just 20% of the cost compared to traditional remodeling.”1 Measured against the $4,000 to $15,000 a tub-to-shower conversion typically runs, that works out to high hundreds to low thousands installed, with cast iron, a convertible insert, and big-city labor pushing toward the top.

Put the options side by side for a typical alcove tub:

  • Tub cut-out: roughly high hundreds to low thousands, a few hours, tile untouched.
  • Tub-to-shower conversion: $4,000 to $15,000, several days, new pan and walls. See our walk-in shower guide.
  • Walk-in tub: $5,000 to $25,000, a day or more, and its own trade-offs. See walk-in tub costs.
  • Bath lift: $250 to $700, no cutting, for someone who wants to keep bathing and can sit and swing legs. See best bath lifts.

Get an itemized written quote with the kit and the labor priced separately, ask whether the installer has done your tub material before, and ask what the seal and insert are warranted against. A cut-out is a cut in a tub; the quality of the seal is the whole job.

Renters, resale, and reversibility

A plain cut-out is permanent, which matters in two situations. If you rent, you need the landlord’s written permission, and many will say no. If you plan to sell, a main bathroom with no working tub narrows your buyer pool, and the convertible version is the answer to both, since the plug restores a full tub.

Think of it the other way around, too. If a parent is likely to move to assisted living within a year or two, a cut-out’s low cost and same-day install make it the sensible bridge, where a $15,000 shower remodel would not be.

Who pays

Original Medicare will not. Medicare covers durable medical equipment used for a medical reason, and a change to your bathtub is a home modification, not equipment.7 CleanCut says the same on its own FAQ: Medicare “does not typically pay for this product/installation.”1

Three places do help:

  • State Medicaid waivers. Many home and community-based services waivers cover bathroom modifications for people who qualify, and CleanCut notes its customers have used them.1 Our guide to Medicare and Medicaid bathroom modifications explains how to ask.
  • The VA HISA grant. The Home Improvements and Structural Alterations program is a lifetime benefit of up to $6,800 for a service-connected disability, or for any disability if the veteran is rated at least 50 percent, and $2,000 otherwise. It covers “essential lavatory and sanitary facilities” such as roll-in showers, needs a VA physician’s prescription, and requires an itemized estimate and a before photo with the application.6
  • Local aging programs. Your Area Agency on Aging and state home-repair programs sometimes fund small accessibility jobs outright. Start with how to pay for home modifications.

Where a cut-out fits in the plan

A cut-out is the middle rung. Below it sit the no-cut tools: a transfer bench that straddles the tub wall so you sit and slide in, a bath lift, and a handheld shower head. Above it sit the remodels: a curbless shower or a walk-in tub. Most people who call about a walk-in tub actually need either the cut-out or the bench, and our walk-in tub quote red flags guide explains why the sales pitch skips both. If you want someone to walk the whole room with you first, a CAPS specialist or occupational therapist can do it in one visit.

Key takeaways

  • A cut-out lowers the tub wall by 8.5, 11, or 14 inches, in a few hours, without touching tile or plumbing.
  • Measure first: if the remaining lip is still too high to step over safely, go to a curbless shower instead.
  • Convertible if anyone still bathes or you may sell; plain if the tub has not been a tub in years.
  • Fiberglass is a DIY cut; cast iron is a pro cut. Get the kit and labor quoted separately.
  • Medicare won’t pay. Medicaid waivers, the VA HISA grant, and local aging programs might.

What’s next

Reviewed by John Smith, CAPS, Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist. This guide is general safety information, not medical advice. Whether a step of a few inches is safe for a specific person is a judgment an occupational therapist can make in one home visit, and it is worth making before you cut a tub.

  1. Frequently Asked Questions. CleanCut Bath (Safeway Safety Step), retrieved October 30, 2026. .
  1. CleanCut Tub-to-Shower Conversion Products. CleanCut Bath, retrieved October 30, 2026. .
  1. Converting an Existing Tub to a Walk-In Shower. Lifeway Mobility, retrieved October 30, 2026. .
  1. Nonfatal Bathroom Injuries Among Persons Aged ≥15 Years. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MMWR, retrieved October 30, 2026. .
  1. Bathtub Buying Guide: Sizes and Types. The Home Depot, retrieved October 30, 2026. .
  1. Home Improvements and Structural Alterations (HISA). U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Service, retrieved October 30, 2026. .
  1. Durable Medical Equipment (DME) Coverage. Medicare.gov, U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, retrieved October 30, 2026. .