How Do I Choose the Right Walk-In Tub for My Home?

Choosing a walk-in tub comes down to three decisions that are locked in once the tub is built: a size that fits your alcove and the route into the bathroom, a door side that lines up with your house drain, and a door swing that suits the floor space in front of the tub. Once those are settled, the seat height, drain style and comfort options are easy to add. Start with the measurements in Walk-In Tub and Shower Base Sizes and How to Measure for Fit, then work through the steps below with your licensed installer and your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850.

Step 1: Measure the Alcove and the Path into the Bathroom

Before you compare models, measure the width, length and height of the space where your current tub or shower sits, and measure the narrowest doorway and hallway the new tub has to pass through. The most common walk-in tub footprint is 30 inches wide by 52 inches long, which fits many standard tub alcoves. Ella also offers tubs in 32x52, 38x52, 30x60, 30x55, 28x52, 27x60 and 26x45 inch sizes, the Monaco in 32 by 53 or 32 by 52 inches, laid-down soaking tubs at 32 by 72 inches, and a transfer-style tub at 60 by 30 inches. If the alcove is a little larger than the tub, cut-to-size extension panels close the gap cleanly, so a standard size usually works without a custom unit.

Check the actual dimensions, not the nominal size. The Petite, for example, is sold as a 28 inch tub, and its actual exterior width is 27 1/2 inches. The video on choosing your walk-in tub shows where to find the specific dimensions on the download tab of each tub's page and why every doorway and hallway must be measured before you order. Left-hand and right-hand versions share the same measurements mirrored, so the footprint does not change with the door side.

Step 2: Let the House Drain Decide the Door Side

Every Ella walk-in tub except the Front Entry comes in a left-hand and a right-hand version, marked with an L or an R at the end of the SKU, and the door and seat always sit at the opposite end from the drains and the factory-drilled faucet deck. Stand where you will approach the tub. If the house drain is on the left side of the alcove, choose the tub with the right-side drain, which puts the door and seat on the left. A right-side door means left-side drains, and a left-side door means right-side drains, with left and right always taken as you face the tub. What Is Door Side (Left-Hand vs Right-Hand) on a Walk-In Tub? walks through reading the configuration.

The hand is set at the factory and cannot be reversed after delivery, so this is the decision to get right first. The house drain does not have to dictate the side in every case: there is roughly 3 inches of clearance beneath the frame, enough for a 2 inch PVC line, and the drain body has ports on both sides, so your installer may be able to route the connection. Confirm the plan with your licensed installer before the order is placed, and use Should My Walk-In Tub Door Be on the Left or Right Side? to check the toilet and wall positions on the chosen side.

Step 3: Match the Door Swing to Your Floor Space

Doors are not interchangeable, so you choose the swing direction by choosing the tub. The table below groups the current models by door style with the published clearance figures.

What this means in practice: an inward-swing door needs no floor space in front of the tub, but the bather steps in, stands and closes the door past the knees, so some room inside the tub is needed. An outward door needs clear floor on the door side. If the clear floor in front of the door side is under 21 inches, an inward-swing model is the safer fit. Where the toilet sits matters too. A U-shape door that begins 28 3/4 inches from the wall, as on the Lounger, may still clear a nearby toilet, and the L-shape Transfer door is the one built to open over a toilet. The Monaco is the Royal's outward counterpart at the same size, and the Tub4Two is the outward two-seater, so most inward families have an outward cousin if the swing is the only thing holding you back.

Step 4: Seat Height and Comfort

The video on choosing the perfect walk-in tub puts it simply: begin with your needs for mobility, comfort and safety, measure the bathroom, then select the features that improve the bath, such as hydrotherapy or heated seats, and plan on professional installation and support. On the seat, know that the molded seat on Ella tubs is about 17 inches high and is not adjustable. If a higher seat helps, the seat pillow riser is a foam cushion about 20 1/2 inches long by 13 inches wide by 3 1/2 inches high that holds to the seat with suction cups, in a standard rectangle or a U-shape with a bidet cutout so the air jets under the seat keep working. A 6 inch riser is made to order for the Ultimate, the Transfer60 takes the riser but has no separate back cushion, and risers can be added after purchase. What Is a Seat Pillow Riser on a Walk-In Tub? explains which shape fits which model.

Step 5: Know the Drain Style You Are Buying

The Standard, Standard60, Zen, Zen60 and Flow are built on a single-drain platform: one 2 inch gravity drain with one overflow, closed by a removable plug on a chain that you pull by hand. Under the tub the drain feeds a T-type body with ports on either side, and on the Standard60 the drain position is offered in a left or a right version. If you would rather not reach for a chain, or your plumbing favors another layout, compare the other families with your installer. What Is the Emergency Pull-Up Chain on a Walk-In Tub? shows how that drain works day to day.

Before you place the order, have four things written down: the alcove and doorway measurements, the side of the house drain, the clear floor in front of the door side and the toilet position, and the seat and comfort options you want. Share them with your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 and with your licensed installer, because the door side, door style and footprint are built to your order.

Watch: How to Choose Your Walk-In Tub | Ella's Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• How do I measure the soaking depth of a bathtub?
• Interior Length, Seat-to-Overflow and Seat-to-Footwell by Model: The Soaking Depth Table
• Left-Hand or Right-Hand? Choosing Door, Drain, and Faucet Side

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