How do I choose the right size alcove bathtub for my bathroom?

Choose an alcove bathtub by measuring the opening first and then matching it to a tub's actual size, never the nominal size in its name. Take the length wall to wall along the back of the alcove, the width from the back wall to the front edge of the old tub and the height from floor to rim, then note which end the drain is on. How Do I Choose the Right Walk-In Tub for My Home? covers the whole buying decision, and this page concentrates on the size question for a three-wall alcove.

Start with the Opening, Not the Old Tub

Most bathtubs, walk-in or conventional, are built around the same three-wall alcove that a standard 60 inch bathtub occupies, so the opening is what every replacement is measured against. The old tub is only a rough guide. Measure the alcove itself in three directions and note the drain.

1. Length. Measure wall to wall along the back of the alcove. A 60 inch opening is the common case.
2. Width. Measure from the back wall to the outer front edge of the existing tub. A few inches of width is what separates one model from the next, so take this figure as carefully as the length.
3. Height. Measure from the floor to the top of the rim. The height sets where the deck and the seat land and what the faucet wall and any shower curtain have to clear.
4. Drain end. Note which end of the alcove the house drain is on. On an Ella walk-in tub the door and the drains are on opposite sides, so a right-side door tub has its drains on the left and a left-side door tub has its drains on the right, with left and right taken as you face the tub.

Then measure the route in. The tub has to pass through the narrowest doorway and hallway on the way to the bathroom, so take those widths before you compare models. How do I measure my bathtub and alcove for a replacement? walks through each measurement and what to do with the numbers.

Nominal Size Versus Actual Size

Every Ella tub carries a nominal size, the rounded figure used in its name and on the brochure, and an actual size printed on the spec sheet drawing. Always compare your alcove against the actual size. A tub named 28 inches wide measures 27.5 inches, and a tub named 60 inches long can measure 59 inches. The spec sheet for each model is on the download tab of its page, and the first video shows where to find those dimensions and why every doorway and hallway must be measured before you order. Left-hand and right-hand versions share the same measurements mirrored, so the footprint does not change with the door side.

The table lists alcove tubs whose actual figures appear on the current spec sheets, with the standard bathtub as the reference row. Where a figure is not published, the cell says not listed.

Read the table in the direction of your tape measure. Length separates the 52 inch tubs from the 60 inch tubs and sets the LayDown72 apart from both. Width climbs in steps of a few inches, from 27 inches on the Lounger to 32 inches on the LayDown72, and that is where most alcove decisions are made. Height is the figure people forget. A 21 inch LayDown wall, a 35 inch Petite or Elite deck and a 40 inch Lounger or Transfer60 deck put the rim, the faucet and the shower curtain in very different places on the same wall.

Filling a 60 Inch Alcove with a 52 or 55 Inch Tub

You do not need a tub exactly as long as the opening. The 60 inch models fill a 60 inch alcove outright, and Ella's 52 and 55 inch models use an extension panel to fill the leftover gap at one end. The extension panels, which Ella also calls a fill kit, can be trimmed to size and placed on the right or the left side of the tub, so a standard tub fits an alcove that is out of square or an unusual size without a custom unit. They come with integrated stainless steel shelf support brackets that are fully adjustable and part of the tub frame, so the panel doubles as a place for towels, shampoo and soap. The second video shows the panels on the tub and how they close the gap. The full list of standard footprints, 30x52, 32x52, 38x52, 30x60, 30x55, 28x52, 27x60 and 26x45 inches, plus the Monaco at 32 by 53 or 32 by 52 inches, is in Walk-In Tub and Shower Base Sizes and How to Measure for Fit.

A tub longer than the opening is the one case the panels cannot solve. The LayDown72 prints an overall length of 71 3/4 inches on its drawing, so it needs a longer run of wall than a standard 60 inch alcove offers. What is the difference between the Ella LayDown60 and LayDown72? sets the two lay-down sizes side by side, including the LayDown60 shipping size of 63 by 33 by 29 inches, which is the figure to check against your doorways.

Size the Tub to the Bather as Well as the Room

An alcove tub that fits the wall still has to fit the person. The first video walks through the body measurements to take before you choose. Measure your hips, because the tub seat must be wider than your hip size. The Lounger seat is 20 inches wide against 22 inches on the Transfer60, so the three inches of shell width between those two tubs shows up in the seat. Measure your shoulder width as well, since different body sizes call for different size tubs. For length, sit in a chair facing a wall in a relaxed position and measure from your head to your feet, then compare that figure with the tub drawings on the website. Ella makes two extra-large tubs with very long seats for taller bathers that would be uncomfortable for a normal to shorter person, so a bigger tub is not automatically a better one.

Soaking depth depends on three factors: the interior length of the tub, the length of the seat, and the depth from the top of the seat to the overflow drains. A standard bathtub soaks at about 11 inches, while both LayDown sizes put you in 15 inches of water. Which 60 inch Ella walk-in tubs come without jets, and how big are they? puts the seat widths and interior figures of the 60 inch soakers side by side.

What to Confirm Before You Order

Once you have a model in mind, confirm three things with your licensed installer and your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850: that the actual size on the spec sheet fits your alcove in all three directions, that the door side puts the drains at the end where your house drain sits, and that the crate can make the trip through your doorways and hallways. The hand of the tub is set at the factory and cannot be reversed after delivery, so the drain-end check is the one to get right before the tub is built.

Related Guides

• Walk-In Tub Dimensions Explained: Which Figure Is the Width, the Length and the Height, and Where to Find the Spec Drawing
• How to Read an Ella Spec Sheet: Actual Versus Nominal Size, Shipping Size, Occupied Versus Unoccupied Capacity, Package Jet Tables, Amp Disclaimers and Known Misprints

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