Which walk-in shower is best for an accessible bathroom?

For an accessible bathroom, the best walk-in shower is the one whose entry matches how the bather gets in. Ella's curbless roll-in shower base suits anyone who stays in a wheelchair or shower chair, the low step-in base suits a bather who prefers a slight lip, and the Accessible Caregiver Shower Base is intended for home care bathing. Walk-In Tub or Walk-In Shower: Which Accessible Retrofit Is Right for You? settles the tub-or-shower question first, and this page compares the shower side so you can choose the base, then the walls, seat and bars that go around it.

Start with the Bather, Then the Room

A retrofit has two fixed things: the person who will bathe and the bathroom that already exists. Settle the first before you measure the second, because the answer narrows the field quickly.

• The bather stays in a wheelchair or shower chair. A roll-in shower base is the better choice, because the entry has no lip to lift a wheel over.
• The bather bathes with a caregiver alongside. A walk-in shower, especially a curbless base, leaves room for the caregiver to help, and the caregiver base and the caregiver shower curtain are made for that routine.
• The bather walks in and can sit down. A seated walk-in tub is usually the better fit, because it adds a seated soak and optional massage therapy that a shower cannot offer.
• The bather transfers from a wheelchair to a seat. The Transfer family of walk-in tubs has a wide L-shape door built for seated transfers, and the Transfer 60 is the model named as wheelchair accessible in the lineup comparison.

Once you know which group applies, the room decides the size. The shower side is built from a base and wall panels sized to the alcove, so the base you pick has to match the footprint you already have.

Ella's Shower Bases Compared

The table uses only figures published in Ella's current guides. Where a figure is not published, the cell says not listed.

The differences come down to the entry. The roll-in base has no curb at all, so a wheelchair or a walker crosses the opening without a lift, and that is the base to choose when the bather never leaves the chair. The 3-inch and 3/4-inch bases keep a small lip for bathers who prefer one, and the caregiver base is the one intended for an assisted routine. The two tub rows are there for contrast: a walk-in tub can be showered in, but its threshold and door are built for a bather who steps through and sits, not for a bather who rolls in.

What Makes the Roll-In Entry Accessible

The defining feature of a roll-in shower is the floor. Ella's roll-in base is a curb-less pan, so a wheelchair rolls straight in with nothing to cross. The ADA generally limits a roll-in threshold to 1/2 inch, and a base with no threshold at all sits inside that limit, which is why the roll-in base is the choice for projects that must meet an accessibility standard.

A curbless entry raises an obvious question: how does the water stay in? Ella answers it with a collapsible rubber dam, a self-adhesive strip across the open entry. It ships standard with the roll-in bases, and the Ella product video on this page describes it as a compressible rubber dam offered to help keep water inside the stall.

Finishing the Enclosure Around the Bather

The same video describes the barrier-free walk-in shower kit as one that can be outfitted with your choice of wall tiles, shower bases, grab bars, several styles of folding seats, an extended hand shower and a caregiver shower curtain. Ella's guide to the accessibility upgrades a bathroom remodel can add puts figures to those pieces.

• Grab bars. Shower bars fasten into reinforced backing, so plan their positions with your installer before the walls go up. They give support at entry, at exit and while seated.
• Folding seat. Several styles are offered, so a bather who can stand for part of the shower has somewhere to sit for the rest of it.
• Hand shower on a slide bar. A 24 inch slide bar lets the head drop to a seated bather or rise for a standing one, so a seated or standing shower works without moving the bather.
• Caregiver shower curtain. Listed in the kit options for assisted bathing alongside the extended hand shower.

These add-ons are chosen with either entry style, and the upgrade guide notes that none of them changes the compliance status of the room on its own. The base and its threshold are what a standard measures.

When a Walk-In Tub Is the Better Accessible Answer

If the bather can step through a sealed door over a low threshold and sit down, a walk-in tub offers something a shower cannot: a seated soak with optional massage therapy. The seated Capri has a 3.5 inch step-in threshold, and most seated models put the seat at 17 inches. Every Ella walk-in tub with an Ella deck-mount fast-fill faucet can also be used as a shower, because the 2-piece and 5-piece faucet sets include an extendable multi-function hand shower, and the optional shower column kit adds an overhead rain head that adjusts in height, with a maximum of approximately 90 inches and 14 inches of travel down to approximately 76 inches. The column must be installed before the tub's final installation, so decide on it when you order. What Is the Best Walk-In Tub and Shower Combo? covers the diverter and the glass screen, and What Are the Best Accessible Tub and Shower Options for Retrofitting a Home? sorts the full tub-and-shower menu by bather.

How an Ella Walk-In Shower Is Bought

Ella's Bubbles manufactures luxury walk-in tubs at its facility in Chicago and also offers walk-in showers for anyone who prefers a shower-based bathing option, and both ship nationwide, as Ella's Bubbles Walk-In Tubs: A General Overview explains. Your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 can confirm which base sizes suit your alcove and which seat, bar and curtain options to include. Before the order goes in, have your installer confirm the alcove size, the drain location and where the reinforced backing for the bars will sit, so the stall and the fixtures arrive as one plan.

Related Guides

• What is a roll-in shower and who is it designed for?
• What Is an Acrylic Shower Base and How Does It Compare?
• Shower Base Sizes and Thresholds Compared: AcrylX Barrier-Free, SMC Linear-Drain, Molded-Seat and Cultured Marble Bases

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