Can You Get a Custom Size Shower Tray or Shower Base?

Yes. Ella's Bubbles manufactures its own acrylic shower bases in three standard sizes and in custom rectangular sizes, from a 30 by 30 inch minimum up to 44 inches wide by 80 inches long, with the drain placed left, right or center to your order. A custom base is made for the space a standard size will not fit, and it arrives as finished acrylic that needs no tile. The maker and the accessible roll-in versions are introduced in Who Makes Custom Shower Pans and Bases for Accessible Showers?, and this page answers the plain question of what you can and cannot have made.

Shower Tray, Shower Pan, Shower Base: The Same Product

The three names describe the same thing, the floor piece of the shower that catches the water and carries it to the drain. An Ella acrylic shower base is a finished surface. Standard or custom, it is ready to use once installed 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. Ella's shower wall panels are manufactured at 98 inches high, with side panels measuring 40 inches and the back wall panel measuring 60 inches, in a plain white finish, a CNC routed design with light gray grout lines, and a digital print option. The overview of how the pieces go together is in Shower Bases and Wall Panels.

Check the Standard Sizes First

The most common starting point is one of the three standard sizes: 30 by 60, 32 by 60 and 36 by 60 inches, each with a left or right drain. All three share the 60 inch length and differ only in width, so the width of your alcove usually decides which one fits. If one of them fits, it is the simplest choice because the drain sits in a set position for that size.

The same three footprints are offered as wheelchair accessible curb-less roll-in pans that a wheelchair can roll straight into, with the drain position specified at the time of order. Roll-in and barrier-free bases ship with a self-adhesive collapsible rubber dam that keeps water in while a wheelchair rolls over it. Complete multi-piece shower kits use their own pans, such as the 60 by 33 inch three-piece low-threshold kit with a molded seat. The full run of sizes is laid out in What sizes do shower pans come in, from smallest to largest?

Standard and Custom Options Side by Side

What the differences mean for your bathroom: a standard base is the easy route when your alcove is 60 inches long and your drain is to the left or the right. A custom base earns its place when the space is shorter than 60 inches, longer or wider than the standard sizes, square, in a corner, or has a drain that needs to sit in the center. The threshold is the other choice to make early. A custom base typically has a threshold of about 3 inches, while a zero threshold base sits flush with the surrounding floor for a barrier-free entry, so decide which entry suits the bather before the floor work begins.

What a Custom Base Can and Cannot Be

Custom sizes are more flexible than many people expect, and the limits are clear.

• Smaller than standard is routine. There is no stock pan smaller than the 30 by 60 inch standard, so a square or short footprint is always a custom request. Sizes such as 46 by 46, 50 by 30 and 36 by 44 inches have all been handled as custom builds, and a 58 by 30 inch base with a center drain has been produced.
• Larger has a ceiling. The largest custom base is 44 inches wide by 80 inches long, with the threshold on the longer side. A 38 by 80 inch base with a left drain is within the limits. A request larger than the maximum, such as 53 by 76 inches, cannot be produced.
• Rectangles only. Bases with angled or curved edges are not offered, so a neo-angle corner, a curved front or any other non-rectangular footprint is not a fit for an Ella base. How to work a rectangle into an awkward room is covered in Who makes custom shower pans for odd bathroom layouts?
• The drain has a rule. The drain can be placed left, right or center, but it must sit at least 9 inches from each wall. A drain only 7 inches from the threshold edge is not possible, even on a custom base.
• Alcove or corner. Custom bases are made for three-wall alcoves and for corner installations, and the team asks which layout you have so the drain and edges are placed correctly.

How to Request a Custom Base

A custom request goes smoothly when the team can see the space. Open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support with a simple drawing that shows the walls, the size you want and where the existing drain is. Say whether the space is a three-wall alcove or a corner, and mention if the installation is on a concrete slab with no access from below. The team confirms whether a base can be made to match and what drain hardware ships with it.

Confirm the size before your contractor cuts the floor. The limits are explained in detail in What Is the Largest Custom Shower Base Ella's Bubbles Can Make?, and your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 can confirm which threshold style suits your bathroom and how it meets your plumbing rough-in.

Related Guides

• Custom-Size Shower Bases: Size Ranges, Threshold Options, Drain Placement Rules, Construction, and How to Request One
• How Do I Measure for a New or Replacement Shower Pan or Base?
• What the Ella Acrylic Shower Base Is Made Of and How It Is Installed

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