How do you put up and fasten shower wall panels?

Ella's Bubbles supplies the shower wall panels, and a local licensed plumber or contractor of your choosing puts them up, because Ella does not install shower walls or send technicians. How the panels are fastened depends on which system you bought: the cultured marble surrounds glue directly over the existing wall surface, while the acrylic and SMC kits are set from the front on a pin and slot system, with silicone on the base ledge and screws through the panel flange into the studs. What Is an Acrylic Shower, and How Does It Compare to Tile? describes the panel systems themselves; this page covers how each one goes onto the wall and what to check before anything is fixed in place.

Know Which Panel System You Are Putting Up

Ella offers three wall systems, and they are not fastened the same way.

• Cultured marble surrounds. The travertine look panels are made from natural quartz and granite composite with a gel coat surface. They come as eight, six or four panel surrounds, can be carried and installed by one person, and glue over drywall, plaster, painted walls, Durock or even existing tile. The edges are factory finished for seamless joining and can be trimmed and cut for a custom fit. Published sizes run to a back panel up to 60 inches wide by 96 inches tall, with side panels 30, 32, 34 and 36 inches wide.
• Acrylic 3-panel kit. One back panel 60 inches wide and two side panels 40 inches wide, in a 98 or 105 inch height. The panels are a 0.118 inch thick ABS and PMMA composite with a glossy acrylic surface, offered in white, CNC and digital print finishes.
• SMC kits. Like the acrylic kits, these are built for a specific alcove footprint and go up from the installation instructions and spec sheet supplied with the kit.

Whichever system you have, read the instructions packed with it before the first panel comes out of the carton. The sequence below is the general method for the acrylic and SMC kits, and the instructions for your kit govern wherever they differ.

What Has to Be Right Before the First Panel Goes Up

Wall panels hide the wall behind them, but they do not correct it. Three things decide whether the panels meet cleanly.

• The base must be level. The panels sit on the base ledge, and the wall finish comes down over the edge of the base so water runs onto the pan rather than behind it. A base that is out of level shows up as a seam gap that changes along its length.
• The back wall must be square and plumb. The corner seams between the back panel and the side panels open up when the back wall leans or the corners are not square.
• The dry fit is your reference. Set the panels in place without silicone or screws first and note the gap at each corner seam and along the base seam. Every later check is a comparison against those gaps.

Two choices also have to be made before the order ships, not on installation day. If an outside vertical edge of a side panel will be exposed, it arrives cut clean and finished but not wrapped, and it is dressed with trim unless a 2-inch bend was requested on the order. The bend is formed at the factory on white CNC walls only, and What Do I Order for a Shower Panel Bend That Has No SKU? explains how to ask for it. Soap ledges on the 5-piece stall are likewise an ordering option built into the wall panels rather than an add-on for a stall already in place, as Ordering the 5-Piece Shower Stall With Soap Ledges, a Bench, or Grab Bars describes.

Setting an Acrylic or SMC Panel from the Front

The acrylic and SMC kits use a pin and slot system, so every panel is set from the front finish side without rear access. For each panel, in order:

1. Apply 100 percent silicone to the base ledge where the panel will sit.
2. Lift the panel into place, guiding it over the alignment pin so the slot seats on the pin.
3. Check the panel for level, then compare the corner seam gap and the base seam gap against what you recorded in the dry fit.
4. Screw the flange to the studs, shimming or notching where necessary so the flange sits flat without pulling the panel out of position.

The comparison in step three is the moment that matters. If a gap is larger than it was in the dry fit, the base is not level or the back wall is not square and plumb, and that is the time to correct it rather than after the panels are fixed. Once the flange is screwed to the studs, the panel position is set, and a gap left at that stage is a gap that stays.

Gluing a Cultured Marble Surround

The cultured marble panels are glued rather than screwed, and that is why they can go over a sound existing surface instead of a stripped wall. Drywall, plaster, painted walls, Durock and existing tile are all acceptable backing, so a wall that is flat and solid does not have to come down. The panels are sized so one person can carry and set each one, and the factory finished edges are made to join seamlessly against the next panel. Where the opening is smaller or out of square, the panel edge is trimmed and cut on site for the custom fit. The video on this page shows the travertine surround panels and lists the surfaces they glue over. The adhesive itself is not named in Ella's published guides, so confirm it with your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 before the panels arrive.

Finishing the Edges and Adding a Door

Once the panels are fixed, the exposed edges and the door go on. A panel ordered with the 2-inch bend has its front edge heated and bent at 90 degrees at the factory, and the bent edge is trimmed on site to fit the opening. A panel without the bend gets a trim strip over the exposed edge. The solid white gloss 3-piece surround, at 40 inches deep by 60 inches wide and 97 inches tall, already comes with a 1-inch bend at each panel edge, so it needs neither.

A shower door mounts to the finished walls afterward. A framed door track or the wall jambs of a frameless door are fastened through the wall following the door maker's instructions, using the anchors the door maker specifies and sealant at every fastener, and the sealant cures for the time the sealant maker specifies before the first shower. Choosing a Shower Door for the Ella Liberty Three-Piece Shower walks through door sizing, mounting and sealing on one Ella stall.

Protecting the Surface While You Work

The finish you see on the panel is the finished surface, so treat it that way during installation. Keep anything abrasive or acidic off it, and never use a metal blade on it. When silicone or adhesive needs to be cleaned from the face, a plastic edge is the tool.

Watch: Transform Your Shower with Cultured Marble Wall Surround | Ella’s Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• Cultured Marble Shower Wall Panels: Stock Sizes, Cutting to Fit, and Finishing the Edges
• Acrylic 6-Piece Wall Panel Kit: Size, Shelves, Thickness and How It Compares to the 3-Piece Surround and SMC Panels
• How Do You Install Cultured Marble Shower Walls in a Bathroom?

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