Are do-it-yourself walk-in shower kits worth it for your bathroom?

A do-it-yourself walk-in shower kit is worth it when you go in knowing what the kit does and what it leaves to a licensed trade. An Ella kit supplies the enclosure: the stall or base, the grab bars listed for that kit, and the drain, with wall panels built to a fixed footprint. It does not supply the valve, the trim, the shower head or the rough-in plumbing, and the wall arrives solid with no valve cutout, so the realistic project is one where you handle measuring, wall panels and finishing while a licensed plumber connects the water and the drain. What is included in a basic DIY walk-in shower kit? lists the carton contents; this page is about deciding whether the kit route makes sense for your bathroom.

What the Kit Gives You, and What It Does Not

Ella's published documents describe the products and how to care for them. They do not rate a kit against a tiled shower or a contractor-built enclosure, and this knowledge base does not publish prices, so worth it has to be judged on scope, fit and finish rather than on a number. On scope, the kit does something a site-built shower cannot: the base arrives with the drain and the threshold already formed, some models have a molded seat, and the walls are manufactured pieces that glue to the room's existing surfaces. The cultured marble surrounds, for example, can be carried and installed by one person and go over drywall, plaster, painted walls, Durock or existing tile, which means a sound wall does not have to come down.

What the kit does not do is supply the water. There is no valve, no trim, no shower head and no hand shower, and the rough-in piping and fittings behind the wall come from your installer. The wall also has no preset height or offset for the valve. That is deliberate, because the correct location depends on the valve you choose, the rough-in behind the wall and the needs of the person using the shower, so the openings are marked and cut on site rather than at the factory. Nothing in the box detaches for hand-held use either, so a hand shower and a slide bar are separate purchases.

Which Parts Are Realistic to Do Yourself

What this split means: the do-it-yourself part of a DIY kit is the enclosure and the finishing. Anything that carries water, the valve, the supply lines and the drain connection, is plumber's work, and the openings in the wall are cut only after the plumber has chosen the valve. If you were expecting one carton that becomes a working shower with no trade involved, the kit is not that, and it is better to know before it arrives. Read the installation manual before you order so you can decide which steps you will take on yourself.

Fit Decides More Than Skill

Most disappointing kit projects are fit problems, not workmanship problems. Ella manufactures its own shower bases in standard sizes of 30 by 60, 32 by 60 and 36 by 60 inches, each available with a left or right drain, and also builds fully custom sizes; a custom 58 by 30 inch base with a center drain has been produced. A custom base typically has a threshold of about 3 inches, while zero threshold bases sit flush with the surrounding floor for a barrier-free entry. Shower wall panels are made 98 inches high, with 40 inch side panels and a 60 inch back panel, in a plain white finish, a CNC routed design with light gray grout lines, and a digital print option. Shower Bases and Wall Panels covers how bases and walls pair up.

The acrylic kits are sized to specific footprints as well. The 6-piece Carrara White kit covers a 36 by 60 inch alcove to a finished height of 92 inches, with storage shelves on the left side and panels 1/8 inch thick. The solid white glossy 3-piece surround is 40 inches deep by 60 inches wide and 97 inches tall, with a 1 inch bend at each panel edge, so it needs more depth and more ceiling height. The SMC subway-look kits are 36 by 60 by 96 inches in 6-piece or 12-piece form. The 6-piece kit guide compares the three. Before you decide anything, measure the alcove width, the depth and the height from the base or tub rim to the ceiling, and give the team those figures if your space is larger or smaller than a kit footprint.

Where Kit Projects Go Wrong

• Cutting for the valve too early. The wall arrives solid on purpose. Choose the valve with your plumber first, then mark and cut the openings once.
• Assuming walls come with a base. Ella's bases, walls and filler pieces are separate items. Confirm whether your order is a stall or a base with walls before the carton arrives.
• Ordering by the name instead of the tape measure. Each kit is built for a specific footprint, and a 40 inch deep surround does not shrink to a 36 inch alcove.
• Choosing the 3-piece surround without checking the ceiling. At 97 inches tall it is the tallest of the acrylic formats, so confirm ceiling height and alcove depth first.
• Tiling over the acrylic base. Acrylic is a smooth finished surface that does not accept thinset, so an Ella acrylic base must never be tiled over.
• Buying the hand shower last. If you want a hand shower on a slide bar, choose that hardware with your plumber at the same time as the valve so the openings are planned together.

How to Decide

The kit is worth it if a standard base fits your alcove, you are comfortable measuring and gluing panels, and you already have or can hire a licensed plumber for the valve and drain. It is a harder case if the alcove is off-size, because a custom base changes the project, or if you expected to skip the plumber entirely. Acrylic walls in particular are judged on fit, finish, edge detail and upkeep, as What Are Acrylic Shower Walls, and Are They Worth It? explains. When you are ready, the base, walls and panels are ordered through your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850, either together or for a bathroom you already have, as described in Where can I buy acrylic shower wall panels for my Ella bathroom?. Ask for the spec sheet and the installation manual at the same time so your plumber and you are working from the same drawings.

Related Guides

• What Comes in the Box With an Ella Shower Kit, and What You Still Need to Buy
• Installing Ella Shower Bases, the Flexible Shower Dam, and Shower Walls
• Choosing a Shower Valve and Cutting the Valve and Shower-Head Openings

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