Can a Smaller Walk-In Tub Have a Handheld Sprayer and Overhead Shower?

Yes. On an Ella walk-in tub the handheld sprayer comes with the faucet set, not with the tub size, so a compact model ordered with an Ella fast-fill faucet gets the same pull-out hand shower as the longest tub in the lineup. If you also want a fixed overhead head, the Shower Column Kit adds a 10 inch rain shower that feeds from the diverter on the deck faucet rather than from new plumbing through the wall. Do Walk-In Tubs Come With a Shower or a Handheld Shower Wand? covers what the faucet includes; this page is about getting a handheld and an overhead shower together on a short tub.

Why Tub Size Does Not Decide the Sprayer

Ella's deck-mounted fast-fill faucets come as a 2-piece set and a 5-piece set, and both include an extendable multi-function hand shower with five spray settings on a 5 foot retractable hose, two 3/4 inch braided supply lines and a diverter. The sets are offered in chrome or a matte black finish. The Ella Standard ships with the 5-piece fast-fill faucet and pull-out hand shower, and the Capri ships with the five-piece faucet installed on the deck along with the handheld, so a compact tub ordered with an Ella faucet carries the same wand as a large one.

A few details explain what you will feel at the first shower. Flow through the hand shower is limited to 1.9 GPM by plumbing code, so a gentler spray than a wall shower is normal rather than a sign of low pressure. The handheld carries a backflow prevention valve to help protect your home's water supply, and a small blue check valve sits inside the head where it threads onto the hose. On a new tub the faucet is assembled on the deck but is not hooked up to the supply lines when it leaves the factory, so the hand shower will not run until your installer connects them.

There is one exception in the lineup. The LayDown60 is never sold with a factory faucet and has no faucet option at all; it uses a pre-existing or customer-supplied, typically wall-mounted, faucet, so it does not come with the Ella hand shower. The LayDown72 is faucet-ready and offers optional Ella deck-mount faucets.

Adding a Fixed Overhead Head Without Opening the Wall

The overhead shower is not part of the tub itself. It comes from the Ella Shower Column Kit, which connects to the diverter on an Ella 2-piece or 5-piece deck-mounted faucet. The kit gives you a dual shower system: an oversized 10 inch rain head on a stainless steel column that adjusts up to 7 feet tall, plus the hand shower riding on a bracket that adjusts for height and angle. Because the column feeds from the faucet under the tub deck, no new supply has to come through the wall. The column is anchored to the wall with screws through either a short or a long pipe connector; the longer connector is used when an extension panel is fitted in a three-wall alcove, which is exactly the situation a short tub in a standard alcove creates.

The video on this page shows the installation. The existing hand shower is removed from the deck, the shower column base attachment is installed into the vacant receptacle, the water supply line is replaced, and the new 1/2 inch supply line is attached to the diverter on the 2 or 5 piece fast-fill faucet set. The column is offered only on certain models, so give the team your model name and it will confirm whether the kit fits your tub. Where the column is not offered, a licensed plumber can fit a wall-mounted shower head on its own valve, and that is the one case where plumbing does come through the wall.

How the Diverter Works with Two Heads

The faucet's diverter decides where the water goes, and with the column kit it is a two-way on/off control. On the 2-piece set you push the diverter button; on the 5-piece set you turn the diverter handle. The spout stops and the wand takes over, and with the column fitted the diverter selects either the rain head or the hand shower. The two heads cannot spray at the same time, so you fill from the spout, switch to the rain head to rinse, and switch again to the handheld to wash your hair from the seat, pulling as much of the 5 foot hose as you need.

Ordering It Right for a Compact Tub

The faucet choice is made when the tub is ordered, and so is the column, so settle three things with your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 before the invoice is final:

• The model and size you are considering, so the team can confirm the faucet sets and the column kit offered for it.
• Whether an extension panel will be used to fill the alcove, because that decides the long pipe connector for the column.
• Who will install. Ella does not send technicians; the faucet, hose and column are connected on site by your installer or a licensed plumber.

For an older tub, the picture is similar. The column kit requires a 2-piece or 5-piece fast-fill faucet, and when an original faucet model is no longer offered, the 5-Piece Fast Fill set is the replacement Ella supplies, sized for the existing deck plate. Replacing Your Walk-In Tub Faucet Set, Valves or Hand Mixer explains the 3/4 inch supply lines on the new set and the adapter a plumber fits when the existing lines are 1/2 inch.

Keeping the Hand Shower Working Later

The sprayer head is its own part. On the fast-fill faucets it threads onto the end of the 5 foot hose by hand, so if it cracks, squeals on one setting or sprays out the side, you replace the head and leave the hose, deck mount and faucet in place. The usual culprit at that joint is a missing washer or blue check valve inside the head, and Why Does My Hand Shower Head Spray Out the Side and Can I Replace Just the Head? walks through the check. Hoses and handsets are matched to the faucet set, and the 5-piece hose does not fit the 2-piece faucet, which is why Do all shower heads fit any hand shower hose on a walk-in tub? asks you not to buy a generic head. The faucet and its fixtures fall under the Lifetime Limited Warranty for parts, for the original owner at the original installation address, once the team verifies the failure from your photos; Is My Broken Handheld Tub Sprayer Covered by Warranty, and How Do I Replace It? lists what a request should include.

Related Guides

• Installing the Shower Column Kit on Your Walk-in Tub
• Ella Fast-Fill Faucets: 2-Piece vs 5-Piece, Finishes, and the Waterfall Option
• How Do I Use the Hand Shower in My Ella Walk-In Tub?

Related Videos

Common Questions