How do you build a custom shower pan for your bathroom?

You do not build an Ella custom shower pan on site. It is molded at the factory as one finished acrylic piece, made to your length and width, with the drain and the threshold already formed into it, and your installer sets it into a framed pocket rather than forming, lining or grouting a pan in the room. Who makes custom shower pans for odd bathroom layouts? covers who makes them and which layouts they solve. This page covers how the build actually happens: the three decisions that define the pan, the limits the factory works within, and what setting a molded pan involves, as shown in the installation video.

Why the Pan Is Molded Rather Than Built in the Bathroom

Ella's Bubbles manufactures its own acrylic shower bases. A custom base comes out of a mold at the factory as a finished acrylic piece that already carries the drain and the threshold, so there is no bed, liner or grout to form in your bathroom. Because the base is molded, its shape is settled at the factory, and the molds produce rectangles. 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, standard or custom.

The finished surface is acrylic and is ready to use once it is set. It must not be tiled over. Everything that can change from one base to the next is decided before the base is molded, which is why the measurements have to be settled before the order goes in. Custom bases are built to the values you submit, entered in quarter inch increments, and custom orders are final with no returns or refunds.

The Three Decisions That Define a Custom Pan

Whether the base is going into a three-wall alcove or a corner, the factory needs three things from you, and the whole menu of what can change is in this table.

What this means in practice: length is where a custom base is flexible, and width is where it is not. A pan shorter than the standard 60 inches is routine. A 58 by 30 inch base with a center drain, a 36 by 36 inch corner base, and sizes such as 46 by 46, 50 by 30 and 36 by 44 inches have all been produced. A pan under 30 inches on either side cannot be built in any style, and a request such as 53 by 76 inches is over the limit. Can you make a custom shower base smaller than 30 by 30 inches? works through what to do when a space asks for less than the minimum. If you are after a clipped corner for an angled door, Does Ella Make a Neo-Angle Shower Pan With a Curb for Corners? explains what a rectangular corner base with a raised threshold can do instead.

The team also asks whether you have a three-wall alcove or a corner, because that decides where the drain and the edges are placed. Standard bases, for comparison, come in 30 by 60, 32 by 60 and 36 by 60 inches with a left or right drain, and all three share the 60 inch length, so any square or short pan is already a custom request.

What Setting a Molded Pan Involves

The installation video on this page follows a low threshold three-piece shower from the box to the framing pocket, and the first steps belong to the pan. Your installer should refer to the printed installation manual for the specifics of your unit. The sequence below is what the video shows.

1. Dry assemble before demolition. Put the pan and panels together in any clean, dry, open space before moving into the bathroom. This confirms you received the correct panels and the correct drain location, that the pan and panels are free from damage and defect, and that the panels align properly when assembled. Take a picture of the assembled unit for a later step.
2. Hold off on removing the old tub. The video advises delaying demolition of the existing bathtub area until you are confident the new unit is the correct size and condition, so nobody is left without a working bathroom while waiting for a replacement. As the video puts it, slow is fast.
3. Check the framing pocket against the drawings. Compare the pocket with the dimensions on the framing diagrams page in the installation instructions, then check it for square, plumb and level. The video notes it is more common than not that adjustments will need to be made.
4. Plumb the back wall first. Hang a plumb bob from the framing at the back wall. In the demonstration the wall was not plumb, and the fix is either to shim the pan away from the wall or to notch the stud. Slight variances affect plumb walls and show up as uneven grout lines in the panels above.
5. Inspect the subfloor. Before the pan goes down, the subfloor under it is inspected, since the molded base rests on it directly.

Because the slope, drain and threshold are already molded in, the pan is not built up once it is in the pocket. The work is in getting the pocket square, plumb and level so the pan sits as the factory intended, and in matching the drain to your rough-in.

Pairing the Pan with Walls and Planning the Order

Custom bases are usually paired with multi-piece wall kits rather than used alone. Ella shower wall panels are manufactured 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, or a digital print option. Shower Bases and Wall Panels covers how the pieces go together, including zero threshold bases for a barrier-free entry.

To get a custom pan built, settle the rectangle, the drain position and the threshold style, and note whether the space is an alcove or a corner. The online Shower Builder Tool lets you put a design together first, after which a contractor visits to measure the space and finalize the installation details. Your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 can confirm the threshold style for your bathroom and how it meets your plumbing rough-in before the base is molded. If your room truly only works with an angled pan, that is the point at which an Ella base is not the right fit and it makes sense to look elsewhere.

Watch: Step-by-Step Low-Threshold Shower Installation for Remodeling | Ella’s Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• Custom-Size Shower Bases: Size Ranges, Threshold Options, Drain Placement Rules, Construction, and How to Request One
• How do you build a custom shower pan or base?
• Who Makes Custom Shower Pans and Bases for Accessible Showers?

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