Is the Door Seal Still Covered Under Warranty on My Older Ella Tub?

Under the published terms, yes: the door seal is named in Ella's Lifetime Limited Warranty alongside the shell, frame, door and finish, so the age of the tub does not by itself end coverage for the first purchaser at the original installation address. If your paperwork shows a shorter term, send a photo of it with your claim and the team confirms what applies to your tub. The full list of covered parts is in Is This Covered Under My Walk-In Tub Warranty?, and this page looks only at the door seal on a tub that has been in service for several years.

What the Published Warranty Says About the Door Seal

The Lifetime Limited Warranty covers the bathtub shell, frame, door, door seal and finish for life. It also covers all supporting equipment for life, including motors, pumps, fixtures, electronic controls, faucet, waste, overflow and plated finishes. The published exception is the thermostatic control valve, which carries a 1 year limited warranty, and a non-Ella faucet carries its own manufacturer's warranty. The door seal is not among the exceptions.

It is a parts warranty. When a covered part fails under normal use, Ella's Bubbles verifies the defect from photos and a description and then ships the replacement part free of charge to the original installation address. Labor, installation, removal and water damage to structures or property are excluded, so fitting the new seal is arranged and paid for by the owner. The article What Is the Lifetime Limited Warranty on an Ella Walk-In Tub? walks through the published terms.

When Older Paperwork Shows a Shorter Term

Owners of older tubs sometimes find a number of years printed in their documents and worry that the clock has run out. A few points help sort this out:

• Older owner's manuals. Some older printed manuals show a 5 year term on pumps and equipment. That text is outdated. The current published term is Lifetime Limited, and the lifetime term applies.
• The seal sits with the shell group. In the published warranty the door seal is listed with the shell, frame, door and finish, the group covered for life.
• Promises from a dealer or contractor. Promises made by a dealer or contractor do not bind Ella's Bubbles. The published terms are the ones that apply, whatever term a third party quoted at the time of your purchase.
• Sales terms are not warranty terms. A line such as all sales are final concerns returns, not defect coverage.
• A dealer that has closed. If the dealer you purchased from has gone out of business, your product coverage continues, because the warranty is from Ella's Bubbles.

If your paperwork shows a term that is not described here, do not guess. Photograph the page and attach it to your ticket so the team can tell you which terms apply to your tub.

What Actually Decides Coverage on an Older Tub

On a tub that is several years old, the owner and the address matter far more than the calendar.

• First purchaser, original address. The warranty is extended to the first purchaser and tied to the original installation address. It is nontransferable, and it is void if the tub is relocated or ownership changes.
• Activation. Warranty activation puts the warranty in force, using the two-page form signed by the customer and the installer. If you are not sure whether your tub was activated when it was installed, say so in your ticket and the team will check.
• Good standing. Keep the tub leveled correctly and follow the published cleaning routine. Leveling matters for the door in particular.
• Defect or wear. When a cause is uncertain, the team confirms it from photos rather than from the age of the tub.

If you are not the first purchaser, for example because the tub came with a house you bought, the published warranty generally does not carry over to you. You still have access to parts, paid for by the owner, and to free lifetime tech support. I Bought a House With an Ella Tub and Have No Information explains where to start in that situation.

How to Start a Door Seal Claim

Start a claim as soon as you notice the fault. Open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support, or reach your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850, and have these ready:

1. Clear photos of the seal and of the symptom.
2. The serial number. Pull the removable panel next to the door gently away from the frame, turn it over and photograph the label. The serial starts with M.
3. A short description of the problem and when it began.
4. The address where the tub was installed, and a photo of any warranty paperwork you have.
5. If the door leaks, a short video of the leak with the tub filled to the seat.

Once the defect is verified, the replacement part ships under the warranty to the original installation address.

Fitting the New Seal, and Checking That the Seal Is Really the Cause

Ella does not send technicians. Your installer or a local contractor does the work, and Ella's technical support is available to them. The door seal video on this page shows the job on a walk-in tub door gasket:

• Adhesive remover is sprayed onto the gasket to help it slide more easily into the door channel.
• A spatula presses the gasket gently into the groove until it is fully seated.
• At the curved sections of the door, diagonal cutters make four V-shaped relief cuts where the gasket bends around the outer edge, above the gasket reach line shown in the video.
• On the inner curves where the door bends inward, the cuts are straight and vertical.
• At the end point, a small angled cut lets the tip of the gasket slightly overlap while staying fully inserted in the groove.

A leak at the door is not always the seal. A broken latch mechanism behind the handle can also let the door leak, as covered in Replacing the Door Handle Mechanism Inside the Door. The second video on this page explains why on outward-swing doors: turning the handle operates gears inside the door that send tapered pins into the jamb, and those pins put increasing pressure on the seal as the door closes. If the pins are not doing their work, the seal cannot do its work either. After any door repair, close and latch the door and fill the tub above the bottom of the door to check for leaks.

Related Guides

• Caring for Your Door Seal: Cleaning, Reseating, and Replacing the Gasket
• Replacing a Leaking Door Seal: Torn Seal or Door Alignment, Warranty Coverage, and How the Seal Ships

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