How Big Is the Shower Molded Seat, and Will a Shower Chair Fit?

The molded seat on an Ella shower is part of the acrylic base, so its size depends on which base you choose: the published drawings show seat heights of 20 inches or 22 inches above the shower floor, widths from 25 1/2 inches to 31 inches and depths from 13 3/4 inches to 17 1/2 inches, while the three-piece Liberty's seat takes 18.5 inches of the interior width. The seat cannot be removed or moved later because it is molded into the shell, and a freestanding shower chair still fits in the standing area beside it, provided you compare the chair's footprint with the flat floor rather than the nominal size. How High and How Big Is the Built-In Seat on an Ella Shower? explains what the three seat numbers mean; this page puts the size, removal and shower chair questions together.

Published Seat Figures by Shower Base

Every figure below is printed on a published Specification drawing or in the Liberty three-piece listing. Where a drawing does not print a figure, the cell says not listed. The exact size for your model is on its own drawing, so use this table to see the range and then confirm the one that applies to you.

What the differences mean: width is the figure to compare with the bather's seated hip measurement, depth tells you how much of the thigh is supported, and height tells you how much knee bend is needed to sit down and stand up. The two published shower heights, 20 inches and 22 inches, both sit above the roughly 17 inch seat of a walk-in tub, so a bather moving from a tub to a shower should compare the shower figure with a chair they already use comfortably at home rather than with the tub they are leaving. The Liberty's narrower seat buys the widest standing area, which matters most when a chair or a caregiver has to share the stall with the seat.

Why the Seat Cannot Be Removed or Moved

The seat is molded into the acrylic base as a permanent part of the shell. It is not a bolt-on bench, so once the base is installed its position is fixed, and there is no later option to lift it out, lower it or shift it to the other wall. The same is true of the drain, which is molded into the base as well.

That is why the seat side is a decision for the order rather than for the day of installation. The 60 by 33 three-piece Liberty comes in a left-seat version and a right-seat version that are mirror images of each other, and Ella handles its one-piece stalls the same way: the 48 by 37 by 80 inch one-piece shower is documented as two models, E-3648LWH and E-3648RWH, handed by seat, and the 60 by 33 and 60 by 36 one-piece stalls are each listed with a left or right seat. On a left-seat shower the standing area is on the right, and on a right-seat shower it is on the left, and the drain center mirrors with the layout too. Can the Liberty three-piece shower seat be on the left or right side? walks through that choice. If the household needs a seat that can come out of the stall, the way to get one on an Ella base is a freestanding shower chair used alongside the molded seat.

Will a Shower Chair Fit Beside the Molded Seat?

Yes. A freestanding shower chair fits inside the stall with the molded seat in place, but the space to check is the flat floor, not the nominal size. An Ella shower is listed by its outside footprint, for example 60 inches wide by 36 inches deep, and that nominal size is the one to use for the alcove. Inside, the raised threshold along the entry side, the short slope where the threshold meets the floor, and the molded soap and foot ledges on the back wall all take up room. On one published example, a shower that measures 37 inches front to back loses a 2 3/4 inch threshold and a 1 7/8 inch slope, leaving 33 5/8 inches of flat floor, and the soap and foot ledges project 3 inches from the back wall, so a chair or transfer bench pushed all the way back meets the ledges before it reaches the wall. Ella Shower Dimensions: Nominal Size Versus Usable Interior Floor shows how to work the figures for your model.

1. Open the Specification drawing for your model. It shows the nominal footprint, the threshold, the slope, and the position of the seat, ledges and drain.
2. Start with the nominal front-to-back depth, subtract the threshold width and the slope shown on the drawing, and you have the flat floor depth.
3. Read the side-to-side interior width directly from the drawing, then subtract the seat width to find the standing area. On the Liberty three-piece that standing area is 37.25 inches beside an 18.5 inch seat.
4. Measure the shower chair from the outside of one foot to the outside of the opposite foot, front to back and side to side, and compare it with the flat floor depth and the standing area width. Remember that the seat and the ledges reduce clear space at their own height even though the floor continues beneath them.
5. Leave room to maneuver and for a caregiver to stand, and use the seat and ledge positions on the drawing to place grab bars and the hand shower so they can be reached from either seat.

Choosing Between the Molded Seat and a Chair

Because the molded seat is fixed, start by measuring the bather. Sit in a chair facing a wall, in a relaxed position, and measure the hips while seated; the seat must be wider than that figure to be comfortable. Measure shoulder width while seated as well. Seat sizes and soaking depth: how to measure yourself for a comfortable fit demonstrates the method for walk-in tubs, and the same numbers apply to a shower seat. Compare the hip figure with the seat width on the drawing, use the seat depth to judge thigh support, and compare the seat height with a chair the bather already gets up from easily at home. If the published height is not right for the bather, a freestanding chair at the height you choose, placed in the standing area, is the adjustable option, while the molded seat remains available for anyone else in the household.

If you are weighing a shower against a tub, the walk-in tub seat is described the same way but measured inside the shell. Ella tub seats run from 19 inches to 29 inches wide, with a seat height of about 17 inches on most models, as What Are Seat Width and Seat Height on a Walk-In Tub? explains.

Finding the Drawing for Your Model

Every Ella shower has a Specification drawing that shows the seat with its dimensions and its position in the enclosure. On the listing for your model, look under Product Details in the Additional Resources section for the Specification link. If you cannot locate it, open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support with the model name and the support team will send the drawing. When you ask, have the model name and size, the seat side you want, the bather's seated hip measurement, and the footprint of any chair or bench you plan to use, and the team can confirm the fit before you order.

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