Does an inward swing door leak less than an outward swing door?

Neither door style leaks on a tub that is level and has a clean gasket. Every Ella door, inward swing or outward swing, closes against a silicone gasket, and the two families hold that gasket shut in different ways: an inward swing door is pressed tighter into its seal by the water as the tub fills, while an outward swing door is pulled tight by a gear and shaft lock with three latches on the U-shape door and two on the L-shape door. When water does appear at the door, the cause is almost always a leveling leg that has lost contact with the floor or residue on the gasket, not the direction the door swings. If you are not sure which door your tub has, Is My Tub Door Inward or Outward Swing, and Which Door Do I Have? settles it by model name.

How Each Door Holds Its Seal

An inward swing door swings into the tub and closes with a handle on the inside. You enter, stay standing, swing the door closed toward you and turn the interior handle to lock, which pulls the door into its seal. As the tub starts to fill, the weight of the water presses the door more firmly into place, so the door stays shut on its own for the whole bath. The same pressure is why the door cannot be opened until the tub has fully drained, which is a safety feature rather than a fault. The brushed stainless steel door is the best known of these, and Does the stainless steel walk-in tub door only open inward? explains that every stainless door Ella makes swings inward.

An outward swing door swings into the room, so water pressure works against it rather than with it. That is why the U-shape and L-shape outward doors use a proprietary gear and shaft locking mechanism. Rotating the handle drives three latches on the U-shape door, or two on the L-shape Transfer door, and pulls the door tight to the gasket. In the door styles video on this page, Ella points out that while other walk-in manufacturers use a single latch, the U-shape door uses three. The result is a tight, leak-proof seal on a door that can be opened wide for easy entry and exit.

The Five Ella Doors Compared

Every figure in this table appears in a published Ella article or video. Where no figure is printed, the cell says not listed.

What the table shows is that the inward and outward doors solve the same problem from opposite directions. The inward doors let the bath water do part of the work, so they need no floor clearance and no multi-latch lock, but they cannot be opened until the tub is empty and they need room inside the tub to swing closed past your knees. The outward doors need a mechanical lock strong enough to resist the water, which is what the three latches and the gear and shaft mechanism provide, and in return they give an easier, wider entry and clear floor space in front of the tub is required. Neither design is published as leaking more or less than the other. The variable that decides whether a door leaks is the condition of the tub under it, not the swing.

What Actually Causes a Door to Leak

• A leveling leg off the floor. This is the number one cause of a door leak on either door style. A leg that has lost contact with the floor warps the frame so the door no longer meets the seal evenly, and the leak shows up along the bottom edge. Have every leveling leg checked before anything is done to the gasket.
• Residue or debris in the gasket or frame. Soap film, body oils, grit and hair in the seal channel keep the gasket from sitting flat. Wipe the seal and the frame with a common household cleaner on a regular basis, and leave the door slightly open between baths so the gasket is not compressed for days at a time.
• Handle position on an outward door. The handle should face away from the hinges when unlocked and toward the hinges when locked. A handle fitted the other way will not pull the door tight to the seal.
• Opening an outward door too early. On a U-shape door, wait until the tub is completely empty before rotating the handle. Opening early lets more water reach the frame than usual.

Water in the door frame after draining is a separate thing and is normal. When an outward door opens after a bath, water on the inside face of the door, in the gasket and on the sill runs down the frame and threshold, sometimes into the latch openings, and may leave a few drops on the mat. That is drainage, not a leak. Is It Normal for Water to Sit in the Door Frame After Draining? explains how to tell the two apart. The test is timing: watch the outside of the frame while the tub is full. Dry while full means the seal is fine. If water pools in the frame every bath, check the leveling legs, the handle position and the full gasket loop, then run a 20 minute fill test.

Choosing a Swing for Your Bathroom

Since leak behaviour does not separate the two, choose the swing that suits your room and your mobility. Inward swing doors need no floor space in front of the tub, so they suit small bathrooms and a toilet close to the tub, but the bather steps in, stands and closes the door past the knees, so some room inside the tub is needed. Outward U-shape doors swing 165 degrees and need about 21 inches of clearance in front, and the outward L-shape Transfer door swings 172 degrees, needs about 36.5 inches of clearance and has an extra wide opening that fits over a standard toilet and accommodates wheelchair users. Doors are not interchangeable, so the swing is chosen by choosing the model. Talk the floor plan through with your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 before you order, then keep the gasket clean and every leveling leg firmly on the floor, and either door will stay dry.

Watch: Pick the Perfect Walk-In Tub Door: 5 Elegant Door Options | Ella’s Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• Caring for Your Door Seal: Cleaning, Reseating, and Replacing the Gasket
• Water at the Door: What to Check First and Why You Should Never Lean on the Door
• How Do I Check That My Walk-In Tub Is Level After Installation?

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