Where can I buy a walk-in tub shower combo with professional installation?

An Ella walk-in tub and shower combo is purchased through your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850, and it ships nationwide from the company's Chicago facility, so where you live does not limit which model you can order. Installation is a separate job done by a local licensed plumber or electrician rather than by Ella's Bubbles, and the shower column that turns the tub into a combo has to be fitted before the tub is finally set in place. Where Can I Buy an Ella Walk-In Tub or Shower? covers the ordering side, and this page explains what a combo order contains and how the installation is arranged.

What a Walk-In Tub Shower Combo Order Contains

Ella's Bubbles is the manufacturer, and its walk-in tubs are assembled in America at its facility in Chicago. There is no separate combo model. Every Ella walk-in tub with an Ella deck-mount fast-fill faucet can be used as a shower, so the combo is put together from the tub, the faucet set and an optional column, all chosen when you place your order.

• The tub itself, with the door side, therapy package, faucet and accessories confirmed with your dealer or the team before the tub is built and tested.
• A 2-piece or 5-piece fast-fill faucet set. Both include an extendable multi-function hand shower, so even without a column you can rinse while seated.
• The shower column kit, which connects to the 2-piece or 5-piece set and adds a height-adjustable hand shower that tilts and swivels plus a large overhead rain shower head that pivots for a standing or seated shower. The rain head reaches a maximum height of approximately 90 inches, with 14 inches of adjustment to bring it down to approximately 76 inches.
• A four-fold glass screen if you want spray kept inside the tub while you stand or sit. Mention it when you order, because the tub, faucet, column and screen are chosen together.

Two-seat tubs work the same way. The Tub4Two and the Companion come with a 2-piece fast-fill faucet set, and the two-seat models are covered alongside the single-seat tubs in What Is the Best Walk-In Tub and Shower Combo?. In use, you push the diverter button on the 2-piece set or turn the diverter handle on the 5-piece set for the five-setting hand shower, and engage the diverter for the shower head to bring on the overhead rain shower.

Why the Column Is Decided Before the Tub Is Installed

The shower column kit needs access to the back side of the tub for its supply connection, so it is installed prior to the final installation of the walk-in tub. That is the single most important planning point for a combo. If you decide on the column after the tub has been set and enclosed, your installer no longer has the access the kit requires, so decide on it when you order and tell your contractor it is coming.

The first video on this page shows the column in use, with the hand shower detaching from the column and the rain head pivoting for a standing or seated shower. The second video shows the deck-side steps: the existing hand shower is removed, the column base attachment is installed into the vacant receptacle, the water supply line is replaced, and the new one-half inch supply line is attached to the diverter on the 2-piece or 5-piece faucet set. Because that connection is made below the deck, it is planned as part of the tub installation rather than added after the tub is boxed in.

Who Does the Professional Installation

Ella's Bubbles manufactures and sells the tubs, ships them nationwide and provides free lifetime technical support by phone, email and live video, but it does not perform installations and does not send its own technicians. The work is done by a licensed, experienced local contractor, typically a plumber and an electrician, and labor is warranted by the installer who does the work rather than by Ella. Here is how the pieces fit together.

1. Design first if you like. The online shower builder and walk-in tub builder tools let you scroll through the options and put together a design, and that design becomes the starting point for discussing your project with your Ella dealer or the team. After a design is built, a contractor visits your home to measure the space in person and finalize the installation details.
2. Line up the contractor before the tub ships. Any licensed installer is fine, and certification by Ella is not required. If you do not have one, the team can check its installer network by your installation address and help you locate a reputable installer.
3. Have the contractor call with questions. Technical Support answers questions from any licensed plumber, electrician or handyman by phone or live video, so prior experience with Ella tubs is not required.
4. Keep the dealer relationship in mind. A dealer installation gives you one number to call for follow-up, and some dealers will not work on tubs they did not sell or install, so ask where you purchased what follow-up service is offered.

Is Professional Installation Required?

Ella does not install the tub and does not require you to use a particular installer, but the job involves plumbing and electrical connections, and the published warranty excludes improper or negligent installation as well as modifications or repairs by anyone other than Ella's Bubbles. For that reason the practical answer is to have a licensed contractor do the work and to keep the dealer or the team in the loop before the tub is set. Once installed, repairs follow the same model: Technical Support troubleshoots with you by phone and video, ships a verified defective part at no charge under the Lifetime Limited Warranty, and a local licensed plumber, electrician or handyman fits it. Who Can Come Out and Fix My Walk-In Tub? explains that process, including what to do if your original installer is no longer available.

Shopping for a Walk-In Shower Instead

If you decide a shower suits you better than a tub, Ella's Bubbles also offers walk-in showers, and the same dealer or the team takes that order. An Ella shower kit ships with the stall, the grab bar set listed for that kit and the drain. It does not include a shower head, a hand shower, a mixing valve or valve trim, and the wall arrives without a valve cutout, so your plumber selects the valve and cuts the openings on site. That is a different shopping list from a tub combo, where the faucet package supplies the hand shower, and it is spelled out in What Comes in the Box With an Ella Shower Kit, and What You Still Need to Buy. Either way, the fixtures and the rough-in plumbing are handled by your installer, and once your order is placed, questions about it go to your Ella dealer, the team at (800) 480-6850 or where you purchased.

Watch: Easy Shower Column Installation for Your Walk-In Tub | Ella’s Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• Can I Add a Hand Shower Slide Bar or Rain Shower Column After My Tub Is Installed?
• What Comes With Your Walk-In Tub Order: Faucet, End Panel, Grab Bars, Drains and What Your Plumber Supplies
• Ella Fast-Fill Faucets: 2-Piece vs 5-Piece, Finishes, and the Waterfall Option

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