How Far Will an Ella Installer Travel, and Is There a Travel Charge?

Ella's Bubbles does not have installers who travel to your home, so there is no Ella travel radius and no Ella travel charge to ask about. Ella designs, assembles and tests your walk-in tub in Chicago and ships it by freight carrier to your curb, and the installation itself is done by a licensed local plumber and electrician you hire, or by an installer Ella suggests from its nationwide network. White Glove and Inside Delivery Options for a Walk-In Tub Order describes exactly where the carrier's job ends and your installer's job begins.

Why Ella Has No Installer to Send

Ella is a family-run business based in Chicago that manufactures and sells walk-in tubs. It does not operate a call center, does not run national in-home sales teams, and does not pay private contractors to install its tubs. That is a deliberate choice. Ella never performs or charges for installation and will never try to sell you an installation package. When you buy an Ella tub you are free to choose your own installer, and certification by Ella is not required. Any licensed, experienced local contractor can set the tub.

The practical consequence is that the questions a traveling installer would normally answer, such as how far they will drive and whether a trip fee applies, are questions for the contractor you hire rather than for Ella. Each installer sets their own service area and their own terms, and Ella does not estimate or publish labor pricing because that work is never Ella's. The same is true after installation. Ella does not send technicians for repairs; replacement parts ship under the warranty, and a local licensed plumber or electrician does the labor.

What Ella Provides Instead

• A lifetime limited parts warranty. The published warranty covers the tub and its supporting equipment as parts only. It never covers labor, installation or removal, and Ella is not liable for incidental expenses connected with removing or replacing a part.
• Free lifetime technical support. The team is available by phone, email and video for the life of the tub, and it guides your contractor through the installation with the manuals and live video help at no charge.
• Installer referrals. If you would rather not find your own contractor, Ella can suggest a qualified installer from its wide national network, which includes Angi Pro. Ask with your location through ellasbubbles.com/support or (800) 480-6850.
• Labor warranted by the installer. The work itself is warranted by the independent contractor who performed it, so ask your installer what they guarantee before you hire them.

A repair shows how the parts-not-service rule works in practice. When a drain handle sticks open, the team replies to your ticket with photos of the overflow assembly marking where a small self-tapping screw stop goes, and can ship an interim pull-up drain plug under the parts warranty; the drilling is done by you or your local tradesperson, as Drain Lever Stuck in the Open Position explains. Likewise, when a Transfer tub's striker plate loosens, the team reviews your photos and ships a replacement as a warranty part, and your installer fits it and rechecks the leveling legs, as covered in L-Shape Transfer Door Pins Do Not Line Up or the Striker Plate Is Loose.

Delivery Day: The Curb, Not the Bathroom

Because no Ella crew is coming, it helps to know what does arrive. Every tub ships with curbside delivery with liftgate service. The carrier lowers the crate to the ground at the curb, and moving it from there is up to you and your installer. Ella does not offer white glove delivery, where a crew unpacks the product and places it in the room. If you need the crate carried past the curb into a garage, onto a patio or into a room, inside delivery can often be arranged as an added carrier service for an additional charge, which the team confirms with the carrier and adds to your order only after you approve it. Inside delivery still does not include placing the tub in the bathroom or any installation work. Ask for it before the tub ships, describe the route in detail, and name the person who will meet the truck, often your contractor.

The video on this page follows a Transfer60 installation in the greater Chicago area and shows what a hired installer actually does. The installer removes the crate and packing material, takes off all end and side panels before moving the tub into the house, and fills the tub outside to check for leaks while running all pumps. Inside, the installer adapts the floor for the oversized 2 inch dual drains, caps one side of the T-type drains to connect a single line to the house drain, and uses the 5 foot water supply lines included with the Ella fast fill faucet set. A licensed electrician adds the proper breakers and GFCI outlets at the panel, and the tub is leveled carefully because an unlevel tub keeps the door from closing properly. Every one of those steps belongs to your contractor, with Ella's team on the phone if questions come up.

Choosing a Local Installer

1. Decide whether to find your own contractor or ask Ella for a referral from the national network. Either path is fine, and neither changes the price of the tub.
2. Ask the installer directly about their service area and any travel terms. Those terms are the installer's own, and Ella does not set, collect or quote them.
3. Confirm the installer is licensed for the plumbing and electrical work, or has both trades lined up. The installation video shows a licensed electrician making the breaker panel connections.
4. Ask what labor guarantee they offer, since labor is warranted by the installer rather than by Ella.
5. Give the installer the Ella technical support number, (800) 480-6850, so they can reach the team during the installation.

One warranty point is worth stating plainly. Improper or negligent installation, and modifications made by anyone other than Ella, are excluded from the lifetime parts warranty, and the door and seal warranty is valid only while the door alignment remains correct. The choice of installer is yours, but their skill matters. Fortunately most later adjustments are modest. A door that has become tight, for example, is usually traced to a handle lock nut or a tub that has drifted out of level and is corrected with basic hand tools, as Why Is My Walk-In Tub Door So Tight or Hard to Open? shows, with the team guiding whoever is holding the wrench.

Related Guides

• Who Installs My Walk-in Tub? Hiring a Licensed Contractor and How Ella Supports Them
• Installation Documents for Your Contractor: Spec Sheets, Electrical Diagrams, Manuals and the Live Video Session
• Before Your Installer Leaves: The 16 Checks Explained in Plain Language and Why Each One Protects Your Warranty

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