Can I Add a Handheld Shower Head to My Walk-In Tub?

Yes. If you own an Ella walk-in tub, a handheld shower head is already part of it, because every Ella fast-fill faucet set includes an extendable, multi-function hand shower on a retractable hose. If you want more than the deck-mounted handheld, the add-ons are a wall bracket for the existing hand shower or the Ella shower column kit, which adds an overhead rain head while keeping the handheld. Our guide Which Handheld Shower Head Is Best for an Ella Walk-In Tub? explains why the matched Ella handset is the one to use.

What Is Already on the Tub Deck

Every Ella fast-fill faucet set ships with the same style of pull-out hand shower, and it is designed around seated use, which is the way most walk-in tub owners shower.

• Five spray settings, with flow limited to 1.9 GPM by plumbing code.
• A 5 foot retractable hose, which is comfortable to use while seated in the tub and handy for rinsing the tub after your bath.
• A backflow prevention valve to help protect your home's water supply, plus a small blue check valve inside the head where it threads onto the hose.

How you send water to the handheld depends on the faucet set. On the 2-piece faucet set you push the diverter button. On the 5-piece set you turn the diverter handle. The Capri, for example, ships with the five-piece faucet installed on the deck along with the handheld shower, so a seated shower is possible as soon as the tub is connected. Nothing has to be added for that.

If the head you have is cracked, sprays out the side or squeals, the answer is a matched replacement wand rather than a new accessory. The handset threads onto the end of the 5 foot hose, so you can replace just the head and leave the hose, the deck mount and the faucet in place. Unscrew the head by hand first and look for the washer and the blue check valve inside the threads, because a missing washer or check valve is a common reason water sprays sideways at that joint. The checklist, including which end of the hose goes where, is in Why Does My Hand Shower Head Spray Out the Side and Can I Replace Just the Head?. Hoses and handsets are matched to your faucet set, so please do not buy a generic head.

Moving the Hand Shower to a Wall Bracket

Many owners like to lift the hand shower to a wall bracket for a more traditional shower feel, so the wand hangs at standing height instead of resting in its deck base. The handheld guide asks that you not attach the hand shower to the wall on your own without following its directions, so before anyone drills, contact your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 with your tub model and a photo of the faucet, and ask what the wall mount needs.

A bracket or slide bar also competes for wall space with grab bars, a shower valve and any glass screen, so plan them together. Where Should Grab Bars Be Installed in a Shower or Around a Bathtub? gives the positions Ella follows:

• Horizontal wall bars 33 to 36 inches above the tub floor, where a standing bather reaches them naturally.
• A vertical bar near the door, at the spot where you step in and out.
• Every bar fastened into studs or solid in-wall backing, and kept clear of the door swing, the screen and the valve.

Note that the height is measured from the tub floor, the surface you actually stand on, not from the bathroom floor. In a walk-in tub that difference is significant, so point it out to your contractor before any holes are marked, and decide where the hand shower bracket goes at the same time.

Adding an Overhead Shower with the Shower Column Kit

If you want a rain shower overhead as well as the handheld, the Ella shower column kit attaches to the 5-piece fast-fill faucet set and mounts in a pre-drilled hole on the tub deck. The installation video on this page shows the whole assembly, and a few details from it are worth knowing before your plumber starts.

1. The screw collar, metal washer and rubber washer come off the column base, a thin bead of silicone goes around the metal collar and around the outside of the rubber gasket, and the base is seated in the pre-drilled deck hole and hand tightened from underneath.
2. The Allen screw at the base is tightened with room left to adjust the column height. Ella recommends seven inches of clearance from the tub deck to the center of the on-off lever.
3. The supply line runs from the bottom of the column to the underside of the five-piece faucet set, which is why the kit pairs with the 5-piece faucet.
4. The hand shower extension hose and the multifunction hand shower attach to the elbow joint, so you keep the handheld.
5. The riser tube, upper angle arm and oversized rain shower head go on last, and the mounting collars are drilled into the wall, with mollies as needed.

The video repeats one warning several times: tighten securely but never over torque, because over tightening damages the rubber washer and can cause a leak. That is a point to pass along to whoever fits the kit. Ella does not send technicians, so a local licensed plumber does this work, and the team can answer your plumber's questions at (800) 480-6850.

Alcoves, Extension Panels and Keeping the Water in

Where the tub sits changes a few accessory details. In a three-wall alcove, a shower column installed on a tub with an extension panel uses the long 4 to 5 inch pipe connector to reach the wall, so mention the alcove and the panel when you ask about the kit. What Is an Alcove Installation for a Walk-In Tub? explains how 52 and 55 inch tubs fill a 60 inch opening and why service access behind the plumbing end matters.

Showering with a handheld also means splash. Ella's four-fold glass screen is a convenient alternative to a shower curtain. It folds away when not needed and extends for showering, it can be reduced to a three panel screen with an easy adjustment, which is how it fits a 52 inch tub in a 60 inch alcove with an extension panel, and a three-fold and a four-fold screen can be used together. The accessories video shows the screen in use and makes one installation point: always attach the screen to the wall side of the tub, away from extension panels, for the most stable mounting and the maximum splash coverage.

If Your Bathtub Is a Standard Tub Rather Than a Walk-In

Ella's hand showers and hoses are matched to the Ella faucet sets they ship with, so they are not a bolt-on for another maker's faucet. What Ella does offer for an existing standard bathtub is seating, so a bather can use whatever hand shower the tub already has while sitting down. A folded bathtub seat lies flat against the wall when not in use, and a removable bathtub seat lifts off completely for full standing showers. Both mount securely and give a stable seated option without replacing the tub. They are described with Ella's other seat choices in Shower Seat Sizes and Options: Is a Larger Fold-Down Seat Available?. The grab bar heights above apply around a standard bathtub as well, and any seat should be mounted by a licensed installer who confirms the wall can carry it.

Watch: Walk-In Tub Accessories to Enhance Your Experience | Ella's Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• How Do I Replace a Cracked, Leaking Hand Shower Hose?
• Why Does My Hand Shower Have No Pressure?
• Installing the Wall-Mounted Hand Shower Slider Bar and the Extension Coupler So Nothing Leaks Behind the Tub

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