Do Ella Acrylic Shower Wall Panels Ship Rolled or Flat?

Ella's acrylic 3-panel shower wall kits ship rolled, not flat. The three flat panels roll and travel in a 24 by 24 by 61 inch box that weighs 81 pounds, and that is how a 98 or 105 inch tall panel reaches a bathroom anywhere in the USA or Canada. The one acrylic panel that ships lying flat is a white CNC wall ordered with the 2 inch front edge bend, as How Shower Wall Edges Are Finished: 2-Inch Bends on White CNC Walls and Trim Options explains, and the SMC subway kits and cultured marble panels are rigid systems that never roll at all.

Why the Acrylic Panels Can Roll

The acrylic 3-panel kit is one back panel 60 inches wide and two side panels 40 inches wide, in your choice of 98 or 105 inch height. Each panel is 0.118 inch thick Senoplast senosan 3000 ABS and PMMA composite with a glossy, warm-to-the-touch sanitary acrylic surface. A sheet that thin is flexible enough to be coiled, which is why a kit that stands taller than most doorways arrives in a box barely longer than the back panel is wide, rather than on a pallet the height of a wall. The panels are described as 100 percent waterproof, impact and discoloration resistant, and repairable, so coiling them for the trip does not change what they are once they are glued up.

One word causes confusion here. The edge-finish article says the two outside vertical edges of a panel arrive cut clean and finished but not wrapped or rolled. That statement is about the edge profile, not the shipping method. A rolled edge would be a curled lip formed along the panel border, and the standard acrylic panel does not have one; its edge is simply cut smooth so it can be sealed with silicone or hidden under trim. The panel sheet itself still rolls up for shipping. So the panels ship rolled, and their edges are not rolled, and both statements are true at the same time.

Which Panels Ship Flat Instead

The white CNC walls can be ordered with a 2 inch bend along the exposed front edge of a side panel. The bend is formed at the manufacturing facility rather than in the warehouse. The option heats the front edge of the side panel and bends it at 90 degrees, so the panel measures 38 inches plus the bend, and the bent edge can be trimmed on site to fit the opening. A panel with a right-angle lip cannot be coiled, which is why bent panels ship lying flat rather than standing, and why the edge-finish article tells you to ask about shipping when you request the bend. The freight is packed differently from the rolled kit, so expect a different package at the curb.

Because the bend has no part number of its own, it is written onto the panel order as a request, and What Do I Order for a Shower Panel Bend That Has No SKU? walks through what to tell the team, including which side you need as you face the shower. Two points decide whether a flat-shipped bent panel is even possible. It applies to the white CNC walls only; the printed walls with a pattern or tile design are not bent, so they arrive as rolled panels and their exposed edge is dressed with a trim strip requested at order time or sourced locally. And the bend must be specified when the order is placed, because it cannot be added after rolled panels have arrived.

The solid white gloss 3-piece surround, at 40 inches deep by 60 inches wide and 97 inches tall, already comes with a 1-inch bend at each panel edge, so no request is needed for it. The published sources do not say how that surround is packed, so treat its shipping format as not listed and ask when you order.

How the Other Wall Systems Arrive

Ella's shower products are sold per item and fall into several wall families, and the acrylic kit is the only one that rolls. The table below puts the published shipping details side by side.

What the differences mean: the rolled acrylic kit is the simplest package to get through a front door, because it is one short box. The bent CNC panel and the SMC frame arrive flat and rigid, so plan a clear path from the truck to the room. Cultured marble arrives as separate molded slabs in fixed factory sizes, so you order the panel equal to or slightly larger than the wall and trim the excess rather than coiling anything. Wall Kit Sizes at a Glance lists every printed dimension for these systems, and Wall Panels and Surrounds for Walk-In Tubs explains what each family is made of and where the installation manuals live.

Receiving and Unpacking Rolled Panels

Treat the box like any other freight shipment. Inspect it when it arrives, keep all of the packaging material, and report any damage within 48 hours of receipt through ellasbubbles.com/support or (800) 480-6850, checking for concealed damage as well as the obvious kind. Open the box, unroll the three panels and look over the surfaces and the finished edges before anything is measured or cut.

Once unrolled, the panels are worked like flat sheets. They glue to drywall or over existing tile, can be cut to fit a window or an odd-shaped alcove, and are finished at the edges with molding, which is not included, or with caulking. When you cut a panel yourself, the cut edges are dressed with trim strips or sealant from a tile or building supply store, because Ella does not supply custom edge pieces. For the exposed vertical edge where a panel meets an open wall, most installers fit a white trim or J-molding from a local home improvement store and caulk it in place. The video on cutting the acrylic panels safely is on the wall panels and surrounds page.

The cultured marble video on this page shows the opposite case. Those travertine-look panels are made from a natural quartz and granite composite with a gel coat surface, each one carried in by a single person and glued over drywall, plaster, painted walls, Durock or existing tile, with factory-finished edges that can still be trimmed for a custom fit. If stone is the look you want, Where Can I Buy Cultured Marble Shower Walls, and Is Acrylic Better? compares the two materials, including how each one is cut and finished.

Related Guides

• Acrylic 6-Piece Wall Panel Kit: Size, Shelves, Thickness and How It Compares to the 3-Piece Surround and SMC Panels
• Can I Buy a Single Acrylic Shower Wall Panel Instead of a Full Kit?
• What Are Acrylic Shower Walls and How Are They Cut to Fit?

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