What is the difference between the Ella Duo and Primo sliding shower doors?

The Ella Duo is a framed two-panel sliding door with a bottom track, built for the 55 3/4 inch opening of Ella's 60 inch shower stalls and offered in chrome, brushed nickel or black. The Primo is Ella's thick-glass frameless slider with no bottom rail at all, published in 48 by 78 and 60 by 78 inch sizes with a standard-glass version at 60 by 72 inches, so it suits different openings and gives a different look at the floor. Glass Door and Screen Options Beyond the 4-Fold lists every Ella glass option, and this page puts the two sliding doors side by side.

The Duo at a Glance

The Ella Duo 55 by 70 is the one door Ella offers for its own shower stalls. It is a true framed door. Two panels of clear tempered glass ride in a frame, and a track runs along the bottom that guides the lower edge of the panels, keeps them aligned and forms a lip at the sill that helps hold shower water inside the enclosure. This is a conventional framed slider, not a barn-door style door where the glass hangs from an exposed top bar with nothing below. Both panels slide, so you choose which side to enter from, and the door is reversible for left or right opening. The extended horizontal handle doubles as a towel bar. The drawing measures 55 1/4 inches wide by 71 inches high, and the door carries a 2 year limited warranty. The product listings name it in three finishes, S5570C in chrome, S5570BN in brushed nickel and S5570B in black. Ella lists it for its 60 inch wide one-piece and three-piece shower stalls, whose inside opening is 55 3/4 inches, and it is fitted after the stall is assembled and sealed.

The Primo at a Glance

The Primo is Ella's thick-glass sliding door, and the first thing people notice is what it does not have. There is no bottom rail or track. Along the bottom edge of the glass sits a flexible gasket that acts as a water retainer. It expands about 3/8 of an inch, enough to redirect water running down the glass back toward the drain without a raised metal rail to step over. If someone asks for the height of the bottom rail on a Primo, the answer is that there is no rail, and the only element at floor level is that gasket. The Primo chrome sliding door appears on the site in the 48 by 78 and 60 by 78 inch sizes, and a standard-glass Primo is listed at 60 by 72 inches. The installation manual for the thick-glass sliders in those sizes gives the wall-to-wall adjustment as 46.02 to 48 inches for the 48 inch door and 58.03 to 60 inches for the 60 inch door, both 78 inches high and supplied without a tray. Does the Ella Shower Door Have a Bottom Track or Is It Trackless? covers the gasket and how to tell which door you have.

Side by Side

What the table means in practice: the Duo is the door whose published size matches an Ella stall opening. The Primo ranges of 46.02 to 48 inches and 58.03 to 60 inches do not bracket the 55 3/4 inch opening of the larger stall or the 44 3/4 inch opening of the smaller one, which is why the Duo is the door Ella lists for its stalls and the Primo is a choice for other openings that fall inside its ranges. The other difference is at the floor. A framed door's bottom track is a raised channel that collects water and soap film and benefits from regular wiping, and it gives a firm barrier at the sill. The Primo's gasket is a low, soft strip with no channel to clean out, and it depends on that gasket staying seated, because a gasket that has shifted or has a gap can let water spray out.

Measuring Before You Choose Either Door

Ella shower stalls and kits ship without a door, curtain or curtain rod, so the door is a separate purchase and the opening decides it. Does the Ella Shower Stall Come With a Door, and What Size Door Fits the Opening? gives the figures: the larger stall has an inside opening of 55 3/4 inches, and the smaller stall measures 44 3/4 inches, which door makers treat as a 45 inch opening. The Liberty three-piece low-threshold shower measures 55.75 inches wide and 73 inches high from the threshold. Measure your own stall after it is assembled and before you order, because the exact figure at the door line can shift slightly with how the walls are seated. Compare a door's published range to that measured opening, never to the nominal size of the stall, since the nominal size describes the alcove and not the door opening. Height matters as well for framed doors and fixed panels, so check a door's height against the distance from the threshold to the top of the wall panels. Some doors list a minimum opening a fraction of an inch wider than the stall. Do not assume the door can be shortened; ask the door manufacturer before buying.

Installation and Hardware Differences

A framed door like the Duo is installed as a complete frame with the bottom track in place. On an Ella stall the track and side jambs screw into the wood-backed side walls, every fastener and joint is sealed, and every screw stays out of the threshold. How do you install a sliding shower door on an Ella shower stall? walks through that sequence with your installer, and the door maker's instructions govern how the frame itself goes together. Tracks, rollers and knobs for framed doors are separate replacement parts. The thick-glass sliders are supplied without a tray, and the piece to watch over time on a Primo is the bottom gasket, since a gap there is what lets water out. Either door is fitted after the stall is assembled and sealed, by a local installer, because Ella does not send technicians.

Which One to Ask for

Choose the Duo when you have an Ella 60 inch one-piece or three-piece stall and want the door Ella lists for that opening, in chrome, brushed nickel or black, with the towel-bar handle and a 2 year limited warranty. Look at the Primo when your measured opening falls inside one of its published ranges and you want no rail at the floor. In both cases, ask your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 for the specification drawing for your stall and confirm fit before you order, and open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support if the door and the opening do not seem to agree.

Related Guides

• Missing or Broken Shower Door Hardware: Rollers, Tracks, Knobs and Frame Parts
• Replacement Parts for Discontinued Ella Sliding Shower Doors Sold Through Retailers
• Installing Framed Sliding Shower Doors and the Tidy Two-Panel Bath Screen

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