Gelcoat vs Acrylic Walk-In Tub: Which Material Holds Up Better?

Every current Ella walk-in tub is built from a vacuum-formed acrylic and ABS shell, reinforced on the back with gel-coated fiberglass and bonded to a stainless steel frame, so the surface you bathe on is solid acrylic with the white running all the way through the sheet. A gelcoat tub is built the other way around: a thin sprayed gel coat is the bathing surface, and fiberglass resin is built up behind it. Because acrylic carries its color through the material rather than on top, it resists fading far better than a sprayed gel coat finish, and dull spots can be polished back rather than refinished, which is why What Are the Acrylic Shell and Stainless Steel Frame on a Walk-In Tub? is the place to start when you compare the two.

What Gelcoat and Acrylic Mean on a Bathtub

The two words describe where the color and the strength come from. Gel coat is a finish layer. In a gelcoat tub it is sprayed into the mold first, and the tub is then built up behind it as a multi-layer system of fiberglass and resin. What you touch and clean is that sprayed layer, and the fiberglass behind it is there for stiffness.

Acrylic is a sheet material. An Ella shell starts as a solid acrylic and ABS sheet that is heated and vacuum-formed over the mold into one seamless surface. The team describes the acrylic as roughly 1/8 to 3/16 inch thick, with a fiberglass backing behind it. The white is part of the sheet itself, so there is no separate finish layer to wear through.

The confusing part is that Ella shells do use gel-coated fiberglass. It is applied to the back of the acrylic for strength, and further fiberglass layers then bond the shell and the stainless frame into a single structure. In other words, an Ella tub has gel coat on the side you never see and acrylic on the side you sit on, while a gelcoat tub has the finish layer facing you.

Acrylic and Gel Coat Side by Side

The differences come down to what happens over years of hot and cold water. A gelcoat tub relies on a thin finish layer staying bonded to the fiberglass behind it, and when that layer chips or crazes the fix is a fiberglass repair followed by refinishing. An acrylic shell has no finish layer to lose. The color is the material, so a scuff or dull patch is worked out of the same sheet with a polishing compound, and staining has nothing porous to soak into. Gel coat still has a good home in your bathroom, just not as the tub surface: on Ella cultured marble shower walls it is the glossy face of a heavy quartz and granite composite, which is why those panels are described as durable and easy to clean. The panel options are compared in Where Can I Buy Cultured Marble Shower Walls, and Is Acrylic Better?.

Why the Fiberglass Behind the Acrylic Is a Strength

Fiberglass is not the weak point in an Ella tub because it never faces the water. Its job is structural. After the acrylic is formed, gel-coated fiberglass is applied to the back, the shell is set on the stainless frame, and further layers of fiberglass bond shell and frame into one piece. The rust-proof frame carries the pumps and plumbing and spreads the weight of tub, water and bather across every threaded leveling leg, and larger tubs add center legs so the frame cannot twist while the pumps run.

That construction is why there is no set bather weight limit on an Ella tub. Fit comes down to seat width and soaking depth rather than a weight rating, because the load goes to the floor through the frame rather than through the shell. Two handling rules follow from it. Lift the tub only by the frame, never by plumbing or panels, since air jets on the underside break off if the tub is set down on them. And install grab bars with the large metal washer under the shell, because omitting it can crack the acrylic.

What Acrylic Means for Cleaning and Repair

• The non-porous surface wipes clean with approved non-abrasive cleaners. Avoid bleach and bath bombs.
• Dull spots or light scratches come back with a fine-grade automotive polishing compound. Never use abrasives.
• A crack in the shell, door or base is a different matter from a cosmetic mark and should be reported right away.
• Acrylic varies a little from batch to batch, and the composite door frame on the outward-swing tubs takes pigment differently than the shell, so a small white-on-white difference is expected. That is explained in Why the Tub Door Is a Slightly Different White Than the Tub Shell.

Before any tub leaves Chicago, quality control fills it and runs the motors for several hours, followed by mechanical, electrical and water tests, as described in Where Are Ella Tubs Made? Chicago Assembly, Testing, and Company Background. The shell and its own door are proven together as a set in that test.

What the Video Shows

The video is a dealer who installs Ella tubs explaining, from their own service experience, why they chose acrylic over fiberglass. They describe acrylic as one solid piece of material over the entire tub that can be buffed out if it ever goes dull, and they describe gelcoat fiberglass as a multi-layer system whose finish is brittle, so it chips and cracks as hot and cold water makes the tub expand and contract, and a repair means a full fiberglass patch, refinish and polish. Treat the dealer's own warranty remarks as that dealer's terms; the Ella warranty is the published parts warranty, and a local licensed plumber or electrician does any labor.

Watch: Acrylic Over Fiberglass: The Better Walk-In Tub Choice | Voted Safest/Best 2020 | Ella’s Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• Scratches, Scuffs, or Discoloration on the Acrylic: Surface Care and Touch-Up Kits
• Cracks or Stress Marks in the Acrylic Finish: How a Local Refinisher Repair Is Arranged

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