How Do You Install a Tile Flange on a Tub or Shower Base?

A tile flange is installed by bonding a flexible waterproof strip to the clean edge of the tub or shower base with 100 percent silicone, so the strip overlaps the fixture edge and rises up the wall, and then bringing the tile or wall panels down over it. The flange goes on after the fixture is leveled and water tested, and before any wall is finished. Choosing the right strip and length is covered in My Tub Has No Tile Lip. Which Flange Do I Use?, and this page walks your installer through the installation itself, in order.

Why the Flange Is Added on Site

Ella walk-in tubs and shower bases have a flat deck edge with no molded tile lip, and that is by design. No Ella walk-in tub ships with a tile flange attached, so the water barrier at the wall is a strip added during installation. The installation manual describes the generic version of that strip: any 1/8 inch or 3/16 inch rust-proof, waterproof material such as acrylic, thin stainless steel or fiberglass, about 5 inches tall, glued to the tub edge with 100 percent silicone so it overlaps the tub edge by about 2 inches.

The current Ella part that fills this role is the Flexible Glue-Up Tile Flange kit, listed as FlangeBand. It is a 124 inch strip of 4 inch wide flexible membrane with an integrated 1 1/4 inch siliconized adhesive strip, packed with a spreading spatula, a cardboard alignment guide and alcohol cleaning tissues. The video on this page opens with these kit contents and notes that the membrane is also offered in bulk form for contractors. Because the membrane is flexible, it follows the small movement between the tub and the wall that a rigid plastic lip cannot follow. The background on what the part is and what it does is in What Is a Tile Flange on a Walk-In Tub?

What Must Be Finished Before the Flange Goes on

The flange is one of the last steps before the walls, not one of the first. Work through this list before anyone opens the silicone:

• Level the fixture. Every leveling leg must bear on the floor, with no leg floating.
• Complete the water test. Ella's instructions are clear that no wall is finished before the water test, because fixing a leak behind finished tile is far more disruptive than fixing it in the open.
• Measure the wall run. Measure the total length of tub edge that meets a wall, the back plus each end, at deck height. The 124 inch kit suits most Ella tubs in a standard three-wall 60 inch alcove, and longer strips are listed for larger models such as the Big4One, TransferXXL, LayDown72, Escape and Big4Two.
• Have the kit in hand. The flange ships separately by parcel carrier, not in the crate with the tub, so it is not missing if it is not in the crate on delivery day. When you request one from where you purchased or the team at (800) 480-6850, include your tub model so the right length ships.
• Check the model. The ShaK is the one exception to note. It is not designed to be tiled in directly, so talk with technical support before planning tile around a ShaK.

Marking the Strip Position, as the Video Shows

The first installation step in the video is marking where the strip will sit on the walls, so it goes on straight and at the right height. The kit's alignment card sets the distance, and the video shows two ways to use it.

• First method, shown on a two-wall enclosure. Set the tub or shower floor temporarily in its working position. Rest the alignment card on the ledge against the wall and mark each wall at least twice at the top of the card. Also mark the wall where the tub or shower floor ends. Remove the fixture, draw horizontal lines through the upper marks, and draw vertical lines just outside the end marks.
• Second method, for tighter three-wall enclosures. The lines can be marked without sliding the tub into its working position. The installer works out how high the ledge of the fixture will sit above the floor after installation, adds the alignment card distance to that height, and marks the upper edge of the strip on the wall at the result.

Either way, the lines give the installer a level reference for the top edge of the strip all the way around the wet walls.

Bonding the Flange, Step by Step

1. Clean the edge. Wipe the tub or base edge with the alcohol tissues supplied in the kit so the silicone bonds to a clean surface.
2. Choose which side faces out. The strip is reversible, with a pink side and a red side, and which side faces out depends on whether the fixture already has an integral flange. The pink portion is the membrane that bonds with the silicone. The rest of the strip is a cloth-like material that gets tiled or paneled over.
3. Use 100 percent silicone only. The video explains why: the siliconized pink strip reacts with the applied silicone sealant and chemically bonds to it, which creates a tight, durable waterproof seal. The video states that this bond holds through general expansion and contraction and through routine floor settling.
4. Bed the strip so it overlaps the fixture edge. The flange must overlap the edge of the tub or base and rise up the wall to the marked line. The kit includes a spreading spatula for working the silicone.
5. Treat a shower base the same way. The same flange approach applies to an Ella shower base, and the flexible strip can go on after the base is set.

This is installer work. Ella does not send technicians, so your local licensed contractor bonds the flange, and free technical support is available to that contractor by phone, email and video.

Finishing the Wall over the Flange

A flange only works when the wall finish comes down over it. Run the tile or wall panels down over the flange and onto the deck, never stopping above it, then silicone every joint, including where the extension panel meets the tub and where the end panel meets the wall. The three finishing gaps that put water at the corners, even when the fixture itself is sound, are tile that stops short of the flange, a flange that does not overlap the fixture edge, and corners left uncaulked. How the wall surface, the flange and the silicone work together as three layers is explained in What should I use to waterproof the walls of my shower?

Existing wall tile that is sound and properly sealed can stay, with your installer confirming its condition. If you are using Ella wall panels instead of tile, the panels follow the same rule and go up only after the flange is bonded, as laid out in How do you install a shower wall panel kit from Ella's Bubbles? After the job is done, keep the caulk line between the tub and the wall in good condition, and re-caulk if it cracks or pulls away.

If you are unsure which flange length fits, or the walls are already partly finished, open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support with your model, a sketch of the alcove with wall lengths in inches, and a photo of the tub edge at the wall. Your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 will confirm the kit and how to place it.

Watch: Installing a Glue-Up Tile Flange: Step-by-Step | Ella’s Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• How Do I Caulk and Seal a Walk-In Tub Against the Walls?
• Tile Flange, Caulking, and Finishing the Walls Around Your Walk-In Tub

Common Questions