How Much Floor Clearance Does the Transfer Door Need to Swing Open?

Plan on 36.5 inches of clear floor in front of the Transfer door, measured straight out from the tub on the door side, so the L-shape door can swing through its full 172 degree arc. That is the figure Ella's door styles video quotes for the L-shaped outward-swing door, and the team confirms that the door reaches about 36 inches into the room when it is opened to 90 degrees. The published arcs and openings for every door family are collected in How Wide Is the Door Opening? Published Door Widths, Swing Arcs and Clearance by Door Family.

Why the Transfer Door Needs More Room Than Any Other Ella Door

The Transfer family (Transfer26, Transfer30, Transfer32, Transfer60 and TransferXXL) uses an outward-swinging L-shape door that removes the whole sidewall beside the seat, so a wheelchair can pull up alongside the tub for a lateral transfer. That extra-wide opening is why the door is the largest in the lineup and needs the most open floor in front of it. The family drawing prints a 172 degree door opening angle, and the Transfer26 and Transfer32 drawings add a 20 inch door swing clearance callout. The door uses a two-latch gear and shaft mechanism with the handle on the front of the door, so it is locked and unlocked from outside the tub, and the L-shape and U-shape outward doors share a mechanical locking system that prevents leaks.

Because the door swings outward, nothing inside the tub limits it; the room does. Inward-swing doors on the stainless steel family, the Ultra, the Standard, Zen and Flow, and the LayDown open into the tub and need no floor space outside it, which is why a tight bathroom often points toward an inward model. The Transfer door trades that compactness for the open side that makes a seated transfer possible.

The Three Transfer Numbers and What Each One Means

• 36.5 inches of clearance. This is the planning number for the full swing. Measure it straight out from the tub on the door side and keep that strip free of the vanity, hamper and anything else that would stop the door.
• About 36 inches at 90 degrees. The team confirms this projection for the Transfer32. With the door square to the tub, its outer edge reaches about 36 inches into the room, so use this number to check a toilet, vanity or opposite wall that sits directly in front of the door.
• Roughly 55 degrees to step through. The door does not have to reach 90 degrees for you to get in. On the Transfer, an opening of roughly 55 degrees is usually enough to step through, which shortens the projection considerably. Treat that as the fallback for a day when something is in the way, not as the design.

The Transfer26 and Transfer32 drawings also print a 20 inch door swing clearance callout. Treat the 36.5 inch figure as the room you set aside for the full arc, and if you are working to a tight layout, ask your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 to read the CAD drawing for your specific model.

How the Transfer Compares with the Other Ella Doors

The differences decide how much of your bathroom the door claims. A Transfer needs a strip of floor more than half again as deep as the U-shape family needs, and an inward door needs none at all, so the same alcove can take an inward model, a U-shape model with about 21 inches to spare, or a Transfer with 36.5 inches to spare. If the open side for a wheelchair is the reason you are shopping, the floor space is the price of that feature and is worth planning for rather than squeezing.

Toilets, Walls and Which Side the Door Goes on

The most common obstruction is a toilet. The L-shaped door fits over a standard size toilet, and its opening clears a toilet up to about 21 inches tall, so a toilet beside the tub is not automatically a problem. What stops the door is a toilet, vanity or wall that sits inside the 36.5 inch strip at a height the door cannot pass. Switching the door to the other side is the first thing to look at, but the door and the drains sit on opposite sides of an Ella walk-in tub. A right-side door puts the drains on the left and a left-side door puts the drains on the right, with sides taken as you face the tub, so the door side also decides where your plumber's drain connection lands. Should My Walk-In Tub Door Be on the Left or Right Side? walks through that choice. Confirm the side with your installer before you order, because the tub is built with the door on the side you order.

Laying Out a Wheelchair Approach

If the Transfer is going in for a wheelchair user, the door envelope is only part of the floor plan. The 2010 ADA Standards describe a clear floor space of 30 by 48 inches for a single stationary wheelchair and a turning space 60 inches in diameter. In a private home those figures are a planning reference rather than a requirement, but they describe the space a real chair needs to park beside the open door and turn away afterward. Wheelchair Clearances, Turning Space and Ella Door Swing Envelopes sets the ADA figures beside the Ella envelopes, and what the open side allows a caregiver to do, from a lateral transfer to a sit-and-swing entry or a step-in, is covered in Transfer Techniques by Walk-In Tub Door Type: What Each Door Allows a Caregiver to Do.

How to Check Your Bathroom Before You Order

1. Decide the door side from the house drain, then stand facing the tub location and look at the floor on that side.
2. Measure straight out from where the door edge of the tub will be. You want 36.5 inches of clear floor for the full arc, with nothing fixed in the way at about 36 inches for the 90 degree position.
3. Note the toilet. If it sits in the strip, compare its height with the roughly 21 inch figure the door clears.
4. If the room cannot give the door its full arc, decide whether a roughly 55 degree opening is acceptable as a fallback, or look at a U-shape outward model with its about 21 inch requirement.
5. Send a sketch or photos with your measurements to ellasbubbles.com/support, or call (800) 480-6850, so the layout can be checked against the drawing for your model.

The door styles video below shows all three Ella door styles side by side and states the L-shaped door's 36.5 inch clearance and its fit over a standard size toilet. How Far Does the Open Door Stick Out in Front of the Tub? covers the 90 degree projection for every family if you are still choosing between models.

Watch: Walk-in Tubs With Stylish, High Quality Doors for Easy Access | Ella's Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• Operating the L-Shape Transfer Door: Front Handle, Closing, and Wheelchair Entry
• What are the door widths and step-in heights for each Ella door style?

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