How Do You Install and Plumb the Ella Pet Spa Grooming Tub?

Installing the Ella Pet Spa comes down to five jobs done in order: choose a protected indoor spot, rough in the drain and a dedicated 120 volt, 20 amp GFCI circuit from the drain location drawings, carry the unit in by its stainless steel frame, connect the 2 inch drain and the two water supply lines, then fill above the jets and test everything. A local licensed plumber and a licensed electrician make the connections. The pipe-by-pipe detail lives in How Do I Plumb the Drain and Water Supply for an Ella Pet Spa?, and this page puts the whole installation in sequence so nothing is left for delivery day.

Step One: Choose the Location and the Door Swing

The Pet Spa is a 51 x 32 inch acrylic grooming tub, and the first decision is where it will live. The owner's manual states plainly that the Pet Spa is not intended for outdoor use. The electrical and water pump requirements behind its microbubble features call for a protected location, so Pet Spas are typically placed in garages, homes or stores. Wherever you choose, the spot needs three things within reach: a drain connection, hot and cold water, and power for the microbubble pump.

Think about what will sit near the tub as well. The manual asks you to keep electrical appliances such as hair dryers, lamps, phones and radios at least 3 feet from the tub. In a grooming shop that often decides where the drying station goes, so it is worth settling before any pipe is run.

Next, decide the door swing. The Pet Spa is ordered with a left-hinge or a right-hinge door, and the hinge side only determines which way the door opens. That is good news for planning, because you can pick the swing that suits the groomer's working position and the room without changing anything about the plumbing. The full feature list, including the 20 adjustable sidewall jets and the removable platform, is in the Ella Pet Spa specs.

Step Two: Rough in the Drain and the Power from the Drawings

The drain is the part of this installation that rewards planning the most. The 2 inch drain outlet sits between the bottom of the tub and the subfloor, so the drain line runs beneath the unit and not out the back or the side. It is in the same place on every unit, whichever hinge side you order. That is the opposite of an Ella walk-in tub, where the drains sit on the side opposite the door, and it is explained in Where the Pet Spa Drain Is and Whether the Door Side Changes It.

Because the outlet is under the tub, the question on most installs is how much room there is between the outlet and the floor, and whether the line can slope properly to an existing floor drain or to a new core in concrete. The support team answers that with drawings and photos of the drain location instead of a single figure over the phone, because the answer depends on how your line is routed. Ella does not send technicians, so the layout and the labor belong to your local licensed plumber and electrician, working from those drawings. A dependable rough-in sequence looks like this:

1. Confirm the hinge side on your order, since it sets the door swing.
2. Request the Pet Spa drain location drawings and the owner's manual from the support team at ellasbubbles.com/support or (800) 480-6850, and state your hinge side when you ask.
3. If the supply lines or the electrical outlet must come from a particular wall, send a marked-up sketch of the room with your request so the connections can be checked against the space.
4. Mark the drain outlet position on the floor where the unit will sit.
5. Have a licensed plumber verify the slope from the outlet to the floor drain or core location before any concrete is cored or any floor is cut.
6. Have a licensed electrician run one dedicated 120 volt, 20 amp GFCI-protected line to the planned outlet location. The Pet Spa uses a single plug-in connection.
7. Keep the drawings on site for delivery day.

Doing all of this before the unit arrives means the Pet Spa can be set straight onto a finished rough-in.

Step Three: Carry the Pet Spa in by Its Frame

The owner's manual is specific about how the Pet Spa is moved. Before carrying it into the building, remove the two side access panels and the one end panel. With those panels off, you can grip the stainless steel frame, which is the only part meant to take the load.

• Carry the unit by the stainless steel frame only.
• Do not lift it by the plumbing or by any other parts.
• Once it is in place, inspect the plumbing for anything that loosened in transit or during the carry.

That inspection is easy to skip when everyone is eager to see the tub working, and it is the simplest check in the whole job. A fitting that worked loose on the way in is far easier to find and snug up while the panels are off and the plumbing is in plain view than after the first fill.

Step Four: Connect the Drain and the Water Supply

With the unit sitting over the marked outlet position, your plumber makes two sets of connections.

The drain. The Pet Spa uses a 2 inch PVC drain with a cable-operated lever. It is glued to a 2 inch drain pipe, or to a reducer down to 1 1/2 inch as the spec sheet permits. The owner's manual adds one adjustment that matters for the life of the drain: the screw on the drain plug is adjusted first, and then the backnut is tightened securely. A backnut that is not tight loosens over time, comes apart and falls down the drain, so this is worth a second look before the job is called finished.

The water supply. The supply side is two 5 foot stainless steel braided lines with 3/4 inch IPS connectors. They feed the multi-function faucet set, which includes an extendable hand shower and the microbubble handset with built-in ozone. The faucet has a thermostatic control valve that limits the water temperature at the faucet to prevent scalding. The length of the supply lines is the reason the marked-up room sketch is so useful, because it shows in advance whether your hot and cold stubs sit within reach of the unit.

Step Five: Power Up, Fill and Test

Once the plumbing is connected, the electrician's dedicated line comes into play. The Pet Spa plugs into its GFCI-protected outlet with a single plug-in connection. Push the GFCI test button, which should trip it to reset mode. If it does not trip, there may be a ground current or a device fault, so turn off the power and do not use the tub until the cause is found and corrected. The manual asks that the GFCI be tested periodically after that, so it is a good habit to show whoever will use the tub where the button is.

Then run a first fill and work through these checks:

• Close the drain with the lever and confirm it closes completely to hold water.
• Fill the tub and keep the water above the jets before any pump runs.
• Check the water temperature on your own hand, even with the thermostatic valve in place.
• Open the drain and confirm it opens completely, which it must do to drain properly.
• Never step on an open drain, during testing or afterward.

When those checks pass, the installation is complete and the Pet Spa is ready for its first bath. The everyday rules from the manual, including rinsing hair from the tub after each bath so it does not reach the drain, are gathered in the Pet Spa Owner's Guide. For a walk-through of a first bath with the platform in place, see What is a pet spa tub and how do you bathe a small dog?

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