What is an acrylic shower and what are its benefits?

An acrylic shower is a shower built from a finished, molded acrylic shower base and glossy acrylic wall panels in place of a tiled floor and tiled walls. The base is vacuum-molded from an acrylic-capped ABS sheet and reinforced underneath with high-density foam, so it is light to carry yet rigid enough to sit directly on a flat subfloor or concrete floor without a mortar bed, and because the acrylic is the finish, nothing is tiled, grouted, painted or coated on top of it. Ella's Bubbles offers these bases and walls as roll-in and seat showers in standard and custom sizes, which are laid out in Shower Bases and Walls: Roll-In, Seat, Custom Sizes, Thresholds and Wall Systems.

How an Acrylic Shower Base Is Made

The base, which Ella also calls a shower pan, is the molded floor of the shower. It carries the drain opening, the front threshold and the slope that sends water toward the drain, all formed as one piece. Ella's bases are vacuum-molded from a sheet of ABS plastic capped with acrylic, so the glossy surface you see and stand on is bonded to a tough structural layer beneath it, and high-density foam under the floor stiffens the whole base. That construction is why the base is light enough to carry into the bathroom yet rigid enough to be set directly on a flat subfloor or a concrete floor, without the bed of mortar a tiled shower floor needs for support. The walking surface is molded with a slip-resistant texture. Ella's shower pans are finished rather than tile-ready, so nothing is laid, grouted or sealed on top of them once they are in place.

The standard base is a 32 by 60 inch barrier-free roll-in base, offered in left and right configurations and ready to ship. For anyone who prefers a slightly raised entry over a barrier-free edge, a 3 inch step-in threshold version is also made. Wheelchair rolling shower bases for accessible installations and SMC seamless showers round out the range.

Acrylic Wall Panels Instead of Tile

Above the base, acrylic wall panels take the place of tiled walls. Ella offers large panels, including 98 by 60 inch back walls and side walls 36 to 38 inches wide by 96 to 98 inches tall, as well as three-piece acrylic wall systems in white, CNC and digital print finishes, with ADA accessories available for them. The panels are glossy sanitary acrylic, warm to the touch, and because each panel is one sheet there are no grout lines across it. Color and pattern choices are shown in shower wall sample binders, so you can see the finishes before you decide. If you would rather tile the walls, Ella can make a custom base with a tile flange, which is designed for a shower whose walls will be tiled; the standard finished pans are meant to pair with the acrylic panels. The wall kit sizes, the three-piece systems and the filler piece that closes a gap at the wall are described in Shower Bases, Walls, and Filler Pieces.

The Benefits of an Acrylic Shower

• No tile and grout. The acrylic is the finished surface on both the floor and the walls, so nothing needs to be tiled, painted or coated on top of it, and there are no grout lines to keep up.
• Light to handle, no mortar bed. The foam-reinforced base is light to carry and sits on a flat subfloor or concrete floor as it is, which simplifies the work for your contractor.
• Slip resistance built in. The texture on the base is molded into the acrylic rather than added afterward.
• Simple cleaning. The wall panels stay beautiful with nothing more than warm water and a liquid detergent, as long as the surface is never scoured.
• Comfort. The acrylic panels are warm to the touch.
• Accessible layouts. The barrier-free roll-in base, the wheelchair rolling bases, the seat base and the ADA accessories let the shower be planned around a walker or wheelchair from the start.
• Fit for odd spaces. Custom sizes, a choice of drain positions and an L-shaped filler piece mean the shower can be sized to the room rather than the room to the shower.

Choices That Shape Your Acrylic Shower

Two base styles are offered: wheelchair roll-in shower bases and seat shower bases, so the first decision is whether the bather rolls in or sits. The next is the front threshold. On a custom base the threshold can be 2 inches or 4 inches, and that choice changes how deep the basin is inside: a 4 inch threshold gives an inside basin depth of approximately 2 inches, while a 2 inch threshold gives approximately 0.25 inch. Custom bases can have the drain on the left, the right or in the center, and one example the team has made is a base 45 inches wide by 60.75 inches long. Because a custom base has a tile flange, it suits a shower where the walls will be tiled.

Where the base does not quite meet an adjoining wall or fixture, an L-shaped filler piece closes the gap. It is a plastic accessory 8 inches wide that comes with brackets for installation, and because it is plastic it can be trimmed down if it is too large for the space. For the shower itself, a 24 inch hand shower slide bar can be mounted on the wall to hold a handheld shower, a 5 foot stainless steel shower hose with a coupling kit is available, and a 10 inch rain shower is an accessory option. Those attachments are listed in Showers, Shower Screens, and Accessories for Your Ella Walk-in Tub.

Installation and Care

Ella's Bubbles manufactures the shower bases and walls but does not install them. A licensed local contractor sets the base on a flat, level floor and fits the wall panels, and Ella's technical support is available to guide that contractor. Once the shower is in use, care is simple: clean the acrylic with warm water and a liquid detergent and never scour it, because the glossy acrylic is the finish itself. Your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 can confirm which base, threshold, drain position and wall system fit your bathroom.

Related Guides

• What the Ella Acrylic Shower Base Is Made Of and How It Is Installed
• Acrylic 6-Piece Wall Panel Kit: Size, Shelves, Thickness and How It Compares to the 3-Piece Surround and SMC Panels
• Shower Base Sizes and Thresholds Compared: AcrylX Barrier-Free, SMC Linear-Drain, Molded-Seat and Cultured Marble Bases

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