Can I Buy Ella Shower Wall Panels Without the Shower Base?

Yes. Ella's shower wall products are sold per item rather than only as a bundle with a base, so a single back wall, a single side wall or a complete three-piece wall system can be ordered on its own through your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850. That covers a one-wall project, a replacement for a damaged panel in a shower you already have, and new walls over a shower floor that is staying put. The per-item approach and the published panel sizes are introduced in Can I Buy a Single Acrylic Shower Wall Panel Instead of a Full Kit?, and this page focuses on what a walls-only order looks like, what the panels need from whatever base they will meet, and the cultured marble surround that is made to go over the wall surface already in your bathroom.

What Can Be Ordered on Its Own

Ella's acrylic wall family is built from a small number of large sheets, and each sheet is a product in its own right. That is what makes a walls-only order possible in the first place. The back wall is the long panel, published at 98 by 60 inches. The side walls are published at 36 to 38 inches wide by 96 to 98 inches high, and the plain white panels come 98 inches high. The familiar three-piece system is simply one back wall and two side walls bought together, and a six-piece kit is offered for larger layouts. Because the pieces exist separately, you can order the set without a base, or order one panel without the rest of the set, and neither is treated as a special order.

For a walls-only buyer the table splits into three jobs. If you are enclosing an alcove over a floor that is staying, the three-piece system gives you the whole enclosure in three large sheets with very few joints. If one wall was damaged, a single back wall or side wall replaces it, and the finish choices are the same whether you buy one panel or a set. If you want to cover the walls around a shower without rebuilding anything, the cultured marble surround is the product designed to be glued over the surface already there.

Acrylic Panels or the Cultured Marble Surround

The two wall products do the same job in different ways, and the choice matters more on a walls-only order because there is no new base dictating it. The acrylic panels are large sheets that attach above the shower base and come down over its edges. They are offered in three looks: plain white acrylic, a CNC finish with a pattern engraved into the acrylic by routing, and a digital print finish that includes a marble look. The cultured marble travertine panels are made from natural quartz and granite composite with a gel coat surface, and they come as multi-piece surrounds of eight, six or four panels. They can be carried and installed by one person, and they are glued over drywall, plaster, painted walls, durock or even existing tiles. The edges are factory finished for seamless panel joining, and they can be trimmed and cut for a custom fit. The video on this page shows the travertine surround and names the surfaces it goes over, which is exactly the situation a buyer who is keeping the existing shower floor is in.

What the Walls Need from the Base They Will Meet

An Ella shower built from a base and wall panels works as one system, and each part has a simple role. The base is the finished floor. It arrives with its slope, threshold and drain molded in, and it carries water down the molded slope to the drain. The wall panels attach above the base to form the sides of the enclosure, and the wall finish comes down over the edge of the base. Water that hits the wall runs down the panel, passes over the edge of the base and lands on the pan, where the slope takes it to the drain. It runs onto the pan and not behind it. What are acrylic shower walls and how do they work in a shower? explains that this overlap is the whole principle, and that it is the same idea whether the wall finish is an Ella panel or another material.

When the base is not arriving in the same shipment, that overlap is the detail to plan around. Before you order, have your installer look at the floor you are keeping, or the base you are sourcing elsewhere, and confirm that the panel can come down over its edge so water lands on the pan. Share that plan with your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 along with the panel sizes you intend to order. The open side of the shower is finished with a curtain rod, a glass door or a screen, and those pieces are selected alongside the walls rather than included with them. If you are going the other direction and want to tile instead of using panels, Shower Bases and Walls: Roll-In, Seat, Custom Sizes, Thresholds and Wall Systems notes that a custom base has a tile flange made for exactly that.

Finish, Color and What Else to Decide

Ella's bases, panels and stalls are offered in white only, so a walls-only order is a decision about pattern rather than color: plain white, CNC or digital print. Shower wall sample binders are available and show the different finishes, so ask about them before committing to a pattern you have only seen on a screen. If a smooth surface is the goal, remember that the one-piece molded stalls come only with the tile pattern formed into the walls, so a flat acrylic panel over a separate base is the way to get a plain wall. ADA accessories are available to go with the wall systems, and accessories such as grab bars or a shower door are chosen at the same time.

A walls-only order does not change what the enclosure is. Does Ella Offer a Dome, Ceiling Panel or Light for Its Showers? explains that an Ella shower kit is the acrylic base, the wall panels and, if you choose one, a glass door or screen, and that the enclosure stays open to your bathroom ceiling. There is no dome, top panel or light fixture, so lighting comes from the room or from a fixture your electrician installs, and any wiring above the shower should be finished before the panels go up.

Replacing One Damaged Panel in an Existing Shower

Replacing a single end wall or a single back wall is a normal request. Contact your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850, or open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support, and say which panel you need and which finish the rest of the shower has. The single-panel article notes one situation where the warranty department sends a full set instead of a single panel, so if your replacement is a warranty matter, ask the team which applies before anything ships. Save the damaged panel until the replacement is confirmed so the team can see what it is matching.

Related Guides

• Acrylic 6-Piece Wall Panel Kit: Size, Shelves, Thickness and How It Compares to the 3-Piece Surround and SMC Panels
• Cultured Marble Shower Wall Panels: Stock Sizes, Cutting to Fit, and Finishing the Edges
• How do you install or attach Ella shower wall panels and surrounds?

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