Can Ella make a custom shower base with an off-center drain?

Yes. Ella's Bubbles builds custom-size acrylic shower bases to your own length and width, and on a custom base the drain can be placed left, right, center or in a custom position, so an off-center drain is available as long as it sits at least 9 inches from the back wall and from the side wall. The drain on a stock 30 by 60, 32 by 60 or 36 by 60 inch base is molded into the floor of the pan and cannot be moved for an individual order, so lining up with a pipe already in your floor means choosing the stock base whose set drain position matches, ordering a custom base, or having a licensed plumber relocate the line. Who makes custom shower pans for odd bathroom layouts? covers which footprints a rectangle can solve, and this page is about the drain alone: where it can go, where it cannot, and how to describe your layout so the base arrives matching the pipe in your floor.

Stock Drain Positions Versus a Custom Position

Ella makes every base as a rectangle, and the drain rules differ by base type. The table puts the published limits side by side.

What the table means for your drain: a stock base gives you two choices, left or right, and nothing in between, because the drain is part of the mold. A custom base opens up the center and any custom position inside the 9 inch rule, but it is a step-in pan with a 2 or 4 inch threshold, not a roll-in pan, and it does not carry the stainless steel threshold reinforcement that the stock roll-in bases have for wheelchair use. A wheelchair user whose drain line falls in an odd spot is therefore usually better served by relocating the line to suit a stock roll-in base than by going custom. Ella's low threshold and barrier-free acrylic bases carry a 30 Year Limited warranty. The maximum sizes, the corner limit and the threshold choices are laid out in What is the largest custom shower base Ella makes, and which threshold heights?.

The 9 Inch Rule and What It Rules Out

Every custom drain, whether left, right, center or custom, must sit at least 9 inches from the back wall and from the side wall. That one rule answers most of the questions the team hears about odd drain spots:

• A drain only 7 inches from the threshold edge is not possible, even on a custom base.
• A drain set off center toward one side is fine, provided the center of the drain still lands 9 inches or more from the nearest wall.
• A custom 58 by 30 inch base with a center drain has been produced, and a 38 by 80 inch base with a left drain is within the limits.
• Requests such as 53 by 76 inches or 89 by 48 inches are past the size limits and cannot be produced, however the drain is placed.

The threshold always runs along the longer side of a custom base, so note which long side is the entry when you describe where the drain sits. If your room would only work with an angled or curved pan, that is the point at which to look at another maker, because Ella bases are rectangles only.

Lining Up with an Existing Drain Line

When the pipe in your floor does not land on a stock left or right position, there are three routes, and the right one depends on what is under the floor.

1. Pick the stock base and side whose set drain position lands over your line. This is the simplest order, because there is nothing to specify beyond size and side.
2. Have a licensed plumber relocate the drain line to meet a stock base. Tell the team if the floor is a concrete slab with no access from below, since that limits how far the line can be moved.
3. Order a custom base with the drain placed to your measurements, within the 9 inch rule and the 80 by 44 inch maximum.

Whichever route you take, measure the opening from finished wall to finished wall rather than from the framing, and measure from the center of the existing drain to the back wall and to each side wall. Custom bases are built to the values you submit, and those orders are final once paid, so a contractor's measurement of the finished opening is worth having before anything is ordered. The installation video on this page shows the step that catches mistakes before they cost you a bathroom: dry assemble the pan and panels in a clean open space, confirm the drain location matches your floor, and delay demolition of the old tub until you are sure the unit is the right size and condition.

How to Describe Your Layout When You Order

The team places the drain and the finished edges from your description, so give them the layout in this order:

1. Say whether the space is a three-wall alcove or a two-wall corner, and which side is the entry.
2. Give the length and width of the finished opening in inches, in quarter inch increments.
3. State the drain as left, right, center or custom, with the distance from the drain center to the back wall and to each side wall.
4. Name the threshold you want: 2 inch low threshold alcove, 4 inch threshold alcove, or 4 inch threshold corner.
5. Add a simple drawing of the walls, the size and the drain position, and send it through ellasbubbles.com/support or call (800) 480-6850.

Where to place the order and what to have ready is covered in Where can I buy a custom-sized shower base for my bathroom?.

Why You Do Not Need to Build Your Own Pan

Many searches for a custom pan start from the idea of building one from mortar and tile. An Ella custom base is finished white acrylic, so it is ready to use once set and does not need to be tiled over. Your contractor sets the base, connects the drain and finishes the walls around it. Shower products are sold per item, so a complete shower is put together from the base in your size and drain position, a wall system sized to the base, and accessories such as grab bars or a shower door, and Ella's wall panels are manufactured 98 inches high. Can You Get a Custom Size Shower Tray or Shower Base? explains how those pieces go together.

Watch: Step-by-Step Low-Threshold Shower Installation for Remodeling | Ella’s Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• Custom-Size Shower Bases: Size Ranges, Threshold Options, Drain Placement Rules, Construction, and How to Request One
• How Do You Measure a Shower Base, Including a Corner Base?
• What if my existing shower drain does not line up with the Ella base?

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