Which Companies Offer Consultations for Accessible Bathing Solutions for the Elderly?

Ella's Bubbles offers personalized consultations through a live video virtual showroom, where a team member shows you the walk-in tubs on camera and helps you match a model to the person who will bathe. Ella's Bubbles does not send staff to a home to give a presentation or take measurements, so the in-person side is handled locally by the companies that sell and install Ella products. A good place to prepare is Which accessible bathtub options work best for elderly users?, and this page explains how the consultation itself works and what to bring to it.

How a Consultation with Ella's Bubbles Works

Ella's Bubbles has been family-owned and family-run in Chicago since 2005 and holds an A+ BBB rating. Every model is on display in the Chicago showroom, and customers who cannot visit are offered live video tours instead. The company overview video describes this as a live video virtual showroom for personalized consultations with Ella's Bubbles team members, so you can see a door open, a seat, a faucet and a threshold on a real tub while you ask your questions.

Two points are worth knowing before you book.

• Product presentations are handled live over video. Ella's Bubbles does not send staff to a customer's home to give a presentation.
• Ella's Bubbles staff do not take measurements in your home either, so the measuring of the bathroom happens locally.

To arrange a consultation, contact your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850, or open a request at ellasbubbles.com/support. The background on the showroom, the build and the testing of each tub is in Where Are Ella Tubs Made? Chicago Assembly, Testing, and Company Background.

Who Does What: Ella's Bubbles, Dealers and Resellers

It helps to know which company you are talking to, because each one plays a different part.

• Ella's Bubbles. The focus is walk-in tubs and safety bathing equipment, along with acrylic shower walls and shower bases. Products ship from the Chicago warehouse to the dealer network. The team provides the live video consultation and the product knowledge.
• Your Ella dealer. The tubs, shower walls and shower bases reach your home through an Ella dealer, and the specific models and shower components available to you depend on that dealer. What Products Does Ella's Bubbles Offer? explains how the line reaches your home.
• Resellers that sell and install. The reseller program is for companies that want to sell and install Ella's Bubbles walk-in tubs and showers. Approval looks at the company's website content, its prior walk-in tub sales or installation experience and its marketing of walk-in tubs. Approved resellers receive catalogs, full product details and live video presentations, as described in the Ella's Bubbles Reseller Program.

If you are not sure which dealer serves your area or which products they currently carry, your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 can point you in the right direction.

What to Settle Before the Conversation

A consultation goes further when you arrive with a clear picture of the bather. The right accessible option depends on a short list of questions, and each one narrows the choice.

1. Does the bather walk in or transfer from a wheelchair? A seated walk-in tub suits a bather who steps through the door and sits. Transfer-style tubs are built so a bather can move in from a wheelchair.
2. Does the bather prefer to sit upright or stretch out? Some models are shaped for sitting upright in deeper water, while others have an extended seat area so a bather can scoot down and stretch out.
3. Will a caregiver help with bathing? Ella offers models designed for assisted bathing, including one with its own battery hoist for a bather who cannot bear weight or slide across.
4. How much room does the bathroom have for the door to open? Depending on the model, the door swings inward into the tub or outward into the room, so floor space in front of the tub matters.
5. Does the person stay in a wheelchair or shower chair? In that case a roll-in shower base with a nearly flush entry is the better choice than a tub.
6. Is a spa-style soak part of the goal? Depending on the model, therapy options include a heated seat and back, hydro jets, air jets, microbubbles and hydrofoot therapy, and most Ella models can also be ordered as a soaker with no jets.

Accessible Options to Ask About in a Consultation

The table gathers the options that come up most often for elderly bathers, with the figures published in the current articles. Where no figure is published in those articles, the cell says so.

What the differences mean for you: the first decision is how the bather gets in, not the size of the tub. A bather who walks picks among seated tubs by posture and door swing. A bather who transfers from a wheelchair looks at the transfer family, and a bather who cannot transfer at all needs either a hoist model, a caregiver model or a roll-in shower. Naming which of these describes your situation at the start of the consultation lets the team show you the right tubs on video first. What is a walk-in tub and who is it designed for? describes each group of bathers in more detail.

Features and Door Styles to Ask to See on Video

A live video tour is the moment to look closely at the accessibility elements built into every Ella walk-in model. Ask the team to show you each of these on the tub you are considering.

• The low step-in threshold, which varies by model.
• The seat. A 17 inch seat height on most models is similar to a standard chair, so sitting down and standing up use the same motion as rising from a dining chair.
• The grab bars and the textured, slip-resistant floor found on all walk-in models. Most seated tubs include one or two deck-mount bars, and more can be added to the surrounding walls.
• The watertight door, which closes on an integrated gasket with a multi-latch gear and shaft mechanism.
• The hand shower on the deck. The 2-piece and 5-piece fast-fill faucets include a pull-out hand shower.
• Comfort options such as a heated seat and backrest and easy-touch or digital controls.

The door styles video on this page is a helpful preview. It shows the brushed stainless steel door with frosted tempered glass, which detaches so hard-to-reach places are easier to clean, the outward swing U-shaped door with three latches, and the lightweight aluminum L-shaped outward swing door with two latches. It also shows that the L-shaped door opening allows toilet clearance of up to 21 inches in height and leaves convenient space for a wheelchair, which is a useful point to raise if the toilet sits close to the tub.

One more fact keeps expectations clear. There is no ADA certification for any bathtub, because the U.S. Access Board does not evaluate or certify products, and private homes are not covered by the ADA. Ella tubs are residential tubs that carry many ADA-compatible elements, which is what matters in a home bathroom.

Watch: Wheelchair Accessible Walk-In Tub Door Options for Elderly & Disabled | Ella’s Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• How to Reach Ella's Bubbles Support: Hours, Location, the Ticket Form, the Phone Line, Live Chat and What to Have Ready
• Installation Documents for Your Contractor: Spec Sheets, Electrical Diagrams, Manuals and the Live Video Session

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