Does Ella's Bubbles sell bathroom flooring or only shower walls and bases?

Ella's Bubbles does not sell bathroom flooring. The product line is walk-in tubs, shower bases, the wall systems that go above those bases, and shower accessories, as laid out in What Products Does Ella's Bubbles Offer?, so the floor around a shower or tub is something your contractor supplies and installs. The one Ella product that reaches the floor is a flexible glue-up tile flange that seals the joint where a shower base or tub meets the wall and floor finishes.

What the Shower Line Actually Covers

Ella makes the shower bases themselves, in acrylic, SMC and AcryliX, with low threshold and barrier free designs for safe entry and wheelchair access. Above the base it makes the wall coverings: tongue and groove groutless tiles and easy to install shower wall panels. The same line carries the accessories that finish an enclosure, and every item in it sits on or above the base rather than on the bathroom floor.

• Shower bases in two styles, wheelchair roll-in and seat bases, plus custom sizes when a standard footprint does not fit. Shower Bases and Walls: Roll-In, Seat, Custom Sizes, Thresholds and Wall Systems walks through the base styles, thresholds and drain positions.
• Acrylic wall systems in white, CNC and digital print finishes, and a cultured marble travertine wall surround made from a natural quartz and granite composite with a gel coat surface.
• Grab bars, several styles of shower seats, shower niches, soap dishes, corner shelves and an assisted bathing shower curtain.
• An 8 inch wide L-shaped plastic filler piece that closes a gap between a shower base and an adjoining wall or fixture, described in Shower Bases, Walls, and Filler Pieces.

Flooring, whether tile, vinyl or anything else that runs across the rest of the room, is not on that list. The first video on this page shows the cultured marble shower bases, which come in three sizes with an ADA compliant slip resistant textured floor molded into the base itself. That textured surface is the closest thing to a floor Ella makes: it is the floor inside the shower, and it ends at the threshold.

Ella Products Compared with What Your Contractor Supplies

The pattern in the table is the point. Every Ella shower item is the base, something that sits on the base, or something that seals the edge of the base. When you plan a shower replacement, the Ella order covers the enclosure from the drain up, and the flooring material and labor stay with the contractor doing the room.

The Tile Flange, the One Part That Touches the Floor

Ella's flexible glue-up tile flange seals the perimeter joint at the shower base or tub. It goes in before the wall and floor tiles are set, and its job is to protect the wall and the floor from long term water damage at the seam where they meet the acrylic. A custom size base also has a tile flange built in, which is why it works well in a shower where the walls will be tiled. If your contractor plans tile on the walls or the floor, mention it when you order so the flange is part of the conversation, because it has to be in place before the tile goes on.

How the Base Meets the Finished Floor

Because the flooring outside the shower is your contractor's work, the main thing to settle with them is the threshold, which is where the Ella base and the bathroom floor meet.

• A custom base can have a 2 inch or a 4 inch front threshold. A 4 inch threshold gives an inside basin depth of approximately 2 inches, and a 2 inch threshold gives an inside basin depth of approximately 0.25 inch.
• A three-inch step-in threshold is offered for anyone who prefers a slightly raised entry, and a custom shower base typically has a threshold of about 3 inches.
• Zero threshold bases sit flush with the surrounding floor for a barrier free entry, and the 32 by 60 inch barrier-free roll-in base comes in left and right configurations.

Ella shower pans, standard or custom, are finished acrylic and ready to use once installed. They are never tiled over. The contractor sets the base, connects the drain, finishes the walls around it and runs the flooring up to the threshold. What Is the Largest Custom Shower Base Ella's Bubbles Can Make? covers the size limits and drain placement rules if a standard base will not fit.

Planning a Shower Replacement with Ella Parts

1. Decide whether you need a roll-in base or a seat base, and whether you want acrylic wall panels or tile on a custom base with the tile flange.
2. Measure the finished size of the opening and note where the existing drain line sits. With those two facts the team can confirm which base and wall system suit the old shower you are replacing.
3. Choose the threshold height and the drain position, left, right or center.
4. Ask your contractor to plan the flooring, since it is not an Ella item, and let them know the base is a finished pan that needs no tile.
5. Share the choices with your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850. Shower wall sample binders are available if you want to see the colors first.

The second video shows the cultured marble travertine wall panels going up over an existing wall, which is a useful picture of where the Ella portion of the job stops and the rest of the room begins.

Watch: Transform Your Shower with Cultured Marble Wall Surround | Ella’s Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• What Is an Acrylic Shower Base and How Does It Compare?
• Custom-Size Shower Bases: Size Ranges, Threshold Options, Drain Placement Rules, Construction, and How to Request One
• Shower Base Sizes and Thresholds Compared: AcrylX Barrier-Free, SMC Linear-Drain, Molded-Seat and Cultured Marble Bases

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