What Are the Best Accessible Tub and Shower Options for Retrofitting a Home?

The best accessible option for a home retrofit depends on how the bather enters. A seated walk-in tub suits someone who can step through a door and sit, a Transfer walk-in tub suits a seated transfer from a wheelchair, and a curbless roll-in shower base suits someone who stays in a wheelchair or shower chair. What accessibility upgrades can a bathroom remodel add? lists the individual upgrades, and this page sorts the complete tub and shower choices so you can pick the one that fits the room you already have.

Start with the Bather, Then the Room

A retrofit has two fixed things: the person who will bathe and the bathroom that already exists. Settle the first before measuring the second.

• The bather walks in and can sit down. A seated walk-in tub is usually the best fit. The bather steps through a sealed door over a low threshold and sits at about chair height, with no tub wall to climb over and no lowering down to the floor.
• The bather transfers from a wheelchair. The Transfer family has a wide L-shape door built for seated transfers. The Transfer 60 is the model named as wheelchair accessible in the lineup comparison.
• The bather stays in a wheelchair or shower chair. A roll-in shower base is the better choice, because the entry has no lip to lift a wheel over.
• The bather wants to stretch out. A lay-down walk-in tub keeps a low step-in while giving a full-length soak.

Once you know which group applies, the room decides the size. Ella's Bubbles offers 27 walk-in tub models, all in white, so there is usually more than one footprint to choose from. Comparing Ella's Bubbles Walk-In Tub Models shows how the lineup differs by size, door and seating.

The Retrofit Options Side by Side

The table uses only figures from Ella's current guides. Where a figure is not published in those guides, the cell says not listed.

What the differences mean for you: the threshold and the seat are the figures that matter for a tub, and the entry is the figure that matters for a shower. A 3.5 inch threshold is a small step for someone who walks, but it is still a step, so a bather who cannot lift a foot or a wheel belongs on the curbless base. Several options share a 60 inch length, which gives you more than one way to use the same wall. A shorter tub such as the Elite, at 30 inches by 52 inches by 35 inches, serves a tighter space, and the Old Dominion at 30 inches by 60 inches is the longer seated choice. Measure the space your current tub or shower occupies before you settle on a model.

Walk-In Tubs: What a Retrofit Gains

Every Ella walk-in model is built around the same accessibility elements, so the retrofit gains them together instead of one at a time. They include a low step-in threshold, a seat height of 17 inches on most models, grab bars, and textured, slip-resistant floors. The door is watertight and closes on an integrated gasket with a multi-latch gear and shaft mechanism. The 2-piece and 5-piece fast-fill faucets include a pull-out hand shower, and the 2-piece faucet cartridge is certified with an ADA lever.

Comfort options can be added on models that accept them, including a heated seat and backrest, easy-touch or digital controls, a 24 inch hand shower slide bar, and a shower column with a 10 inch rain head for seated or standing showers. Which accessible bathtub options work best for elderly users? goes through these features one by one for an older bather.

The lay-down style is worth a look when the household wants both a soak and a shower in one fixture. The video on this page shows the 3060 lay-down walk-in tub with a chrome locking handle, a tempered glass door and a low threshold for easy step-in. It also shows a bifold glass shower door with chrome hinges and a gasket along the bottom, which allows easy access to shower in the tub. The video notes that this tub can be ordered as a simple soaking tub, with air massage, with hydrotherapy jets, or with microbubble therapy.

Showers: Roll-In Base, Low Step-In Base or Stall

The defining feature of a roll-in shower is the floor. Ella's roll-in base is a curbless pan, and it ships standard with a collapsible rubber dam, a self-adhesive strip across the open entry that keeps water inside a stall that has no curb. The low step-in bases keep a slight lip for bathers who prefer one. Grab bars supplied with Ella showers are fastened into the reinforced backing built into the wall panels, so plan the grab bar positions as part of the installation.

An Ella shower stall is an accessible residential shower with a low step-in and factory grab bars. It is not ADA compliant as a complete unit, which Are Ella Shower Stalls ADA Compliant? What the Answer Means for Home and Commercial Projects explains in full.

What ADA Means for a Home Retrofit

The ADA regulates places, not products. Its standards apply to public accommodations and commercial facilities, and private homes are not covered unless part of the home is open to the public as a business. There is no ADA certification for any walk-in tub, because the U.S. Access Board does not evaluate or certify products. Ella tubs are residential tubs with many ADA-compatible elements, as Are Ella walk-in tubs ADA compliant? Accessibility and wheelchair answers describes.

For most home retrofits that means you can choose on practical accessibility: the threshold, the seat, the door and the grab bars. If the project is a rental unit under accessibility rules or will be inspected against the ADA standard, confirm the requirement with your local code official before your order is placed. The ADA generally limits a roll-in threshold to 1/2 inch, which is why the curbless base is the option to discuss for those projects.

Planning the Retrofit

• Measure the space the current tub or shower occupies, and note which side the bather approaches from.
• Decide whether the bather walks in, transfers or rolls in, using the list above.
• Choose grab bar positions with your installer so the bars go into reinforced backing.
• Hire a licensed, experienced local contractor for the work. Ella's Bubbles does not perform installations, and its technical support is available to your contractor with manuals and guidance.
• Talk with your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 about the model and options that suit the bather and the room.

Watch: The 3060 Walk-In Laydown Tub: A Solution for Cool & Stylish Accessibility | Ella's Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

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