Door seal or gasket looks worn, loose, or leaks: care, repair, and replacement

The walk-in tub door gasket is the flexible silicone seal that makes your door watertight, and it responds very well to simple care. A door gasket that looks worn, loose, or leaks is often just dirty, compressed from shipping, or unseated from its channel, and each of those has a quick fix at home. When a gasket truly is damaged, it is a replaceable part: open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support with your serial number and photos, and a replacement seal can be sent, as a warranty parts item when within terms.

Start with the Simple Causes

• New tub, seal looks deformed: the silicone seal can stick or deform in shipping. Squeeze the seal with your fingertips and pull it gently away from the door frame to restore its shape, then clean it with rubbing alcohol.
• Debris: any residue or debris left in the seal or in the door frame can cause leaks. Clean both regularly.
• Leveling: the number one cause of door leaks is a tub that is not level. All leveling legs must touch the floor with equal weight so the door closes smoothly into a watertight seal. Our leveling guide shows how to check every leg.
• Door kept latched: a door that stays closed all the time keeps the gasket compressed. Leave it ajar for about a day, then fill and check the seal line again; many leaks clear with this step alone.

Routine Seal Maintenance

The maintenance video covers both inward and outward doors. Proper door seal maintenance begins with keeping the seal itself clean and free from any debris: Watch: Ella's Bubbles: Proper Door Seal Maintenance-Inward and Outward Swing Doors with chapters and a full transcript.

1. Clean the seal on a regular basis with a common household cleaner, and clean the door frame regularly as well.
2. For inward swing doors, wipe down the gasket and the inner frame the same way on a regular basis.
3. If a seal becomes loose, secure it with a thin bead of silicone placed into the gasket channel. Allow the silicone to set up for 20 minutes before reinserting the gasket, then wait 24 hours for it to dry.
4. To add silicone on an inward swing door, roll the seal gasket away from the frame and run a bead of silicone down the corner where the gasket meets the frame. You can also add a bead to the other side of the gasket if necessary. Wait 24 hours to dry.
5. Leave your walk-in tub door open slightly when the tub is not in use. This prevents unnecessary compression of the gasket and extends its flexibility and life.

The silicone the team names for this job is GE Advanced Silicone 2 Kitchen and Bath, clear. Use a thin bead only, and always allow the full cure time before filling the tub.

Replacing the Door Gasket

Replacing an Ella walk-in tub door gasket is easier than it looks. With the right tools and a few well placed cuts you will have a watertight fit. You will need spray adhesive remover, a plastic spatula, and diagonal cutters. Watch: How To Install a Walk-In Tub Door Seal (Step-By-Step) with chapters and a full transcript.

1. Spray adhesive remover onto the gasket to help it slide more easily into the door channel.
2. Using the spatula, gently press the gasket into the groove until it is fully seated.
3. At the curved sections of the door, use the diagonal cutters to make four V-shaped relief cuts on the gasket where it bends around the outer edge. Be sure to make the cuts above the gasket reach line, as shown in the video.
4. For the inner curves where the door bends inward, make straight vertical cuts instead.
5. Continue applying adhesive remover and guiding the gasket into place with the spatula until you reach the end.
6. At the end point, make a small angled cut so that the tip of the gasket slightly overlaps but is fully inserted into the groove.

After the new gasket is in, run the watertight check: fill the tub and let it stand for 20 minutes while you inspect the door edge, which is the same check used at warranty activation. The LayDown glass door uses its own seal and its own short clip; see our seal installation video guide, including the LayDown door.

What to Send When You Need a New Seal

Replacement seals are matched to your door, so the team starts from your tub model and serial number, found on the label behind the magnetic access panel next to the door. Add clear photos of the door and the seal, a note on exactly where the water appears and whether it is the same spot every time, whether you leave the door open between baths, and where the tub was purchased. If the warranty activation form was never submitted, the team may ask you to complete it as part of the request; our article on activating your warranty explains how. Once a defective seal is verified, the replacement ships to the original customer address.

Protecting Your Coverage

The door and door seal warranty remains valid when the door alignment is correct and the seal is not changed by a bather leaning weight on the door, since the door holds its own weight only. If the leak follows the bottom corner of the frame rather than the gasket line, please re-check leveling before replacing any parts. For the full first-check sequence, see water at the door: what to check first.

Related Guides

• Replacing the Door Handle Mechanism Inside the Door: Seal, Glass and the 5mm Hex Key
• Cracks Spreading Along the Door Near the Hinges or Latches: When a Replacement Door Is the Answer
• Ordering a Complete Replacement Door: What It Includes, What the Team Needs, and How It Installs
• Found a Small Soft Rubber Piece in the Tub? It Is the Door Latch Bumper
• Water Leaking From the Door Handle Screws: Reseal the Screws Before Replacing the Door Seal
• Door Still Leaks at the Hinge After Resetting the Hinges: Remove the Door and Reseal Behind the Bottom Hinge

Common Questions

For anything specific to your model or serial number, open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support or call (800) 480-6850, and please attach photos so the team can help you quickly. The team is glad to walk you through it, including by live video.