How Do I Install a Folding Shower Screen Over a Walk-In Tub?

Installing a folding shower screen over an Ella walk-in tub means fixing the screen's wall channel to the side wall beside the tub, setting its height and level so the rubber gasket along the bottom brushes the tub deck, and finishing the horizontal seal with its end cap. The printed installation manual packed with the screen carries the step list, and this page explains what each stage decides and what to settle before anyone drills a hole. If you have not yet seen how the screen is built, start with What Is the 4-Fold Shower Screen on a Walk-In Tub?.

Decide the Screen, the Side and the Position First

The screen is an accessory rather than a per-model feature, so the first decision is which screen suits your tub. The overview in Showers, Shower Screens, and Accessories for Your Ella Walk-in Tub lists a bi-fold screen for lay-down tubs, which are tubs without a seat, and a four-fold screen for the Capri. The four-fold screen is a 44 by 42 inch tempered glass screen in a chrome ionized aluminum frame, and it mounts to the wall beside any Ella walk-in tub that sits in a corner or alcove. Your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 can confirm which screen is right for the model you own.

The four-fold screen is reversible for a left or right installation, and it can be added after the tub is in, so there is no need to hold up the tub installation for it. Two things decide where it goes:

• The swivel tray. On the stainless inward-swing door family the tray pins into a threaded fitting in the deck beside the door, and because it sits so close to the door it can interfere with a glass screen. Plan the screen position before either the tray or the screen is installed. What Is the Swivel Tray on a Walk-In Tub? shows where that fitting sits.
• The extension panel. In a 60 inch alcove where a 52 inch tub uses an extension panel, the screen goes on the wall side away from the panel, and one section is removed so the 44 inch four-fold becomes a 32 inch three-fold. What Is an Alcove Installation for a Walk-In Tub? explains that layout, and the conversion is covered next.

Converting the Four-Fold to a Three-Fold Before Mounting

If your alcove calls for the three-fold, do the conversion on the floor before the screen goes anywhere near the wall. The three-fold assembly video on this page shows the whole process on a four-panel screen, and the order is:

1. Lay the four-panel screen carefully down on a soft surface.
2. Lift the third panel from the wall side and remove the inside screw, then do the same on the other side and remove the outside screw.
3. Use any long screw to push out the plastic retainer insert, which releases the panel connection, and repeat on the other side.
4. Go to the other side of the screen and repeat the same steps on the third panel, removing the screw and both plastic retainer inserts. The third panel is now free and lifts out.
5. Keep one plastic spacer in place, bring the outside panel in to meet the middle panel, reconnect the hinge, replace the plastic retainer insert and secure it with the same screw. Tighten securely without over-torquing, and repeat for every connection.
6. Snap the screw caps onto the top of the screen.

Once the caps are on, the three-panel screen is ready to install exactly as a four-fold would be. The video also notes that the three-panel screen can be used on its own or combined with a four-panel screen on the Big4One.

Setting the Wall Channel: Height and Level Decide Everything

The panels are 1/8 inch tempered clear glass joined by PVC geared hinges, with a doorknob on both sides and a 90 degree pivot at the wall channel, so the whole screen swings out of the way for entry and folds flat against the wall when it is not in use. Along the bottom runs an inward-angled rubber gasket that brushes the tub deck lightly and evenly. That gasket is the seal. There is no other barrier at the deck, which is why the height and level of the wall channel decide whether the screen stays dry:

• Set too low, the gasket presses hard into the deck and gets damaged.
• Set too high, water escapes underneath the gasket.
• If the channel is not level, the gasket cannot brush the deck evenly along its full length, so one end seals and the other does not.

Before the channel is fixed, confirm that the rubber gasket is angled inward toward the tub, not outward. Check the pivot swings the full 90 degrees without catching the faucet, the swivel tray or the door. Where the manual calls for sealant, let it cure before the first shower. Ella does not send technicians, so this mounting is done by your installer, and the team at (800) 480-6850 can talk your installer through the manual by phone if a step is unclear.

Trimming the Horizontal Seal and Fitting the End Cap

The horizontal seal runs along the bottom of the screen and rides on the tub deck to keep spray inside the tub. Installers cut this seal to length during installation, and the cut is the step most often done wrong. Leave enough seal beyond the last screen panel to protect the deck under the end cap. If the seal is cut short, water finds the gap at the end of the screen and the deck gets wet, and a new cap will not fix that on its own.

The end cap fits onto the end of the horizontal seal, holds it in place and covers the cut edge. Steps 4 and 5 of the printed manual cover attaching it. Clean the cap, the end of the seal and the deck, fit the cap in the position the manual shows, and secure it as those steps describe. If a cap is cracked or lost, or the seal was trimmed too short, Replacing or Reattaching the End Cap and Horizontal Seal on a Folding Shower Screen explains what to photograph and how the kit is ordered. The seal cap assembly is included whenever a seal is ordered.

The First Shower and Ongoing Care

Run the hand shower against the glass with the screen closed and watch the bottom edge. If water shows up at the bottom of the screen, level the screen, reset the height so the gasket seats on the deck, and confirm the gasket is angled inward toward the tub. Those three checks resolve most wet decks without any new parts.

Clean the glass with warm soapy water and a lint-free cloth after use. Never use alcohol, petroleum liquids or chemical cleaners on the screen, and never anything gritty. If you need to open a ticket, have your tub model and serial number, whether the screen is set up as four-fold or three-fold, and a photo of the gasket and of where the water appears.

Watch: Ella's Bubbles: Three Fold Shower Screen Assembly with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• The Four-Fold Bath Screen Printed Manual: Parts Supplied, Loose Fittings, Tools and the Eleven Numbered Steps
• Folding Glass Shower Screen: Which Side It Mounts On, How Much Room It Takes Folded, and Confirming Stock
• How Do I Fix a 4-Fold Shower Screen That Leaks or Will Not Fold Flat?

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