Can You Build Your Own Walk-In Tub, and How Is One Built to Order?

An Ella walk-in tub is not a kit you put together in your bathroom. Each tub is assembled to the order at the factory, so building your own really means choosing the model, the door, the hand and the options before the build begins, then having a licensed local contractor connect the finished tub. Ella's Bubbles also offers an online walk-in tub builder tool for putting those choices together, which is mentioned in the Shower Builder Tool guide.

What Building a Walk-In Tub Means with Ella

Ella's published guides do not describe making a walk-in tub from scratch at home. What they describe is a tub that leaves the factory complete, with the shell, the door frame, the latch mechanism, the jets and the wiring already in place. Your part of the build is the set of decisions that goes on the order. The factory's part is everything behind the apron.

The video on this page takes you behind a finished tub to show what that factory work looks like. It shows the air and water lines under the deck, with the tubes bundled together, the glue joints neat and tidy, and grounding straps fitted so that everything is grounded. It also points out how many tubes and lines one tub contains, which is why the Auto Purge system matters: it blows the air lines out after your bath so they are dry before the next one.

The second video covers the electrical side. It explains that the electrical lines are labeled at the production facility for easy identification, and that the pumps, heaters and other components are clearly marked and easy to reach. With that much plumbing and wiring fitted and labeled before the tub ships, the work left for your home is connection, not construction.

Start Your Design with the Builder Tool

Ella's Bubbles offers a new walk-in tub builder tool online. To get the link, ask your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850. The companion shower builder lets you scroll through the available options and put together a custom design before your project moves forward, and what you build is a starting point for a conversation, not a finished order.

If you are still deciding between a tub and a shower, the shower route is laid out step by step in How do I build or install a walk-in shower at home?. In both cases Ella's Bubbles manufactures the product, and a local licensed plumber or contractor handles the work in your home.

The Choices That Are Locked in at the Factory

Because the tub is assembled to the order, several decisions cannot be changed once it is built. These are the ones to settle first.

1. Door family and swing. Swing direction is built into the shell, the door frame and the latch mechanism, so an installer cannot reverse it in the field and a new door or panel does not change it. The inward-swing models are the Royal, Elite, Petite, Deluxe, Ultimate, Ultra, Companion, Escape, Standard, Zen, Flow and LayDown. The outward U-shape models are the Capri, Monaco, Front Entry, Mobile, Lounger, ShaK, Big4One, Tub4Two and Big4Two. The Transfer family carries the outward L-shape door. The details are in Can My Walk-In Tub Door Be Changed to Swing the Other Way?.
2. Left hand or right hand. Every Ella walk-in tub except the Front Entry is built in a left-hand and a right-hand version. Decide the hand as you face the tub. The door and seat sit on one side and the drains and faucet on the opposite side, so a right-side door means left-side drains and a left-side door means right-side drains.
3. Floor space for an outward door. A U-shape door swings 165 degrees and needs about 21 inches of clear floor. The L-shape Transfer door needs about 36.5 inches. Measure the floor in front of the tub before you pick an outward-swing model.
4. Voltage. A standard tub is wired for 120 volts at 60 Hz. For a home with a 220 to 240 volt supply, the factory can assemble the tub with massage pumps and equipment for that supply and fit the matching plugs. This is a custom order that must be specified when the order is placed and should appear on your order paperwork. See What Voltage Does an Ella Walk-In Tub Need, and Can It Be Built for 220 to 240 Volts Abroad?.
5. A rain shower column. The column mounts on the tub and is plumbed with it, and it is offered only for certain models. It is far simpler to fit before the tub is set in place and enclosed, so confirm it for your model and faucet package before the build. The options are compared in Does a Walk-In Tub Come With a Shower Head?.

Some choices can wait. The slide bar is a wall-mounted accessory that uses the hand shower and hose you already have, so it can go in on the day the tub is installed or long afterward, with no change to the tub or its plumbing.

What Happens in Your Home: The Installer's Part

Once the tub arrives, the build is finished and the connection begins. Ella does not send technicians, so a local licensed plumber and electrician do this work.

• Electrical. The electrical video explains that dedicated GFCI-protected outlets must be used, the tub cannot share a circuit with any other appliance, and the breaker box must also use GFCI-protected breakers. The more pumps and accessories your tub has, the more dedicated lines it will need. When the right outlets are in place, the labeled lines are plugged in.
• Drains. Ella drain lines are 2 inches in diameter and connect to a 1 1/2 inch to 2 inch house drain. Plumbing can run under the tub in either direction, with roughly 3 inches of clearance beneath the frame for a 2 inch line. The four-port drain bodies connect from the left or the right, with the unused ports capped.
• Do not let the house drain choose the hand. Because the drain can be reached from either direction, pick the hand that suits the bather and the room, then confirm the plumbing plan with your licensed installer.

Technical support staff are available to answer questions from you or your installer during the connection.

A Short Checklist Before the Order Is Placed

• Ask your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 for the walk-in tub builder tool link and put your design together.
• Confirm the door family, then check that the swing suits the bather. If closing an inward door past the knees and feet is difficult, look at an outward-swing model in the size you need.
• Stand facing the tub location and decide left hand or right hand.
• Measure the clear floor in front of the tub if the door swings outward.
• Tell your dealer the country of installation, and the voltage and frequency there, if you are outside North America.
• Ask whether the rain shower column is offered for your model if you want a standing shower.
• Read your order paperwork before the build begins and ask for anything missing to be added, because tubs are assembled to the order.

Watch: Inside the Build: Under-the-Deck Piping of Our Walk-In Tubs | Voted Safest 2020 | Ella’s Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• How Ella Tubs Are Built: Acrylic Shell, Fiberglass Reinforcement, and Stainless Frame
• Video Tour: How Your Tub Is Assembled, Tested, Packed and Shipped From Chicago
• What Comes With Your Walk-In Tub Order: Faucet, End Panel, Grab Bars, Drains and What Your Plumber Supplies

Related Videos

Questions fréquentes