Can the LayDown tub door be on the left instead of centered?

No. On both LayDown sizes the tempered glass door is set in the middle of the long side wall, and it cannot be ordered at the left or right end of the tub. What you choose is the hand of the tub, listed as Drain Position on the LayDown60 and as Door and Drain Position on the LayDown72, and that choice puts the drain at the left or the right end so it lands where your plumbing already is. How that single oversized drain is built, and why the LayDown uses one drain instead of two, is covered in How does the drain work on the Ella LayDown walk-in tub?.

Why the Door Sits in the Middle

The LayDown is the Ella walk-in tub with no seat. Its floor is flat from end to end, and you lie back in the water at full length as you would in a conventional bathtub. On the LayDown60 that interior floor measures 46 inches long by 20 inches wide inside a tub that is 60 inches long, 30 inches wide and 21 inches high. With no seat end for the door to serve, the door opens onto the middle of that floor, which is where you step in and lower yourself down. The published pages describe both sizes the same way: a centered inward swing tempered glass door with an aluminum frame, a low threshold and a textured floor.

The door is a tempered glass panel in a brushed aluminum frame with a chrome locking handle. It swings inward through a 115 degree arc with a door opening of 19 5/8 inches, so nothing has to clear the floor in front of the tub, and you step over a low threshold rather than a tub wall. The video on this page shows the LayDown 30x60 with that glass door, the chrome locking handle and the low threshold, and the optional bi-fold glass screen that mounts above it.

Every Ella tub is built with a door and the LayDown is no exception, as Can I Order an Ella Walk-In Tub Without a Door? explains. The door, its gasket and the latching are engineered together with the shell, which is why a model cannot be built with the door left out. The same holds for moving it, because the only position option on either LayDown order form is the hand of the tub.

What Left and Right Mean on a LayDown

On the published LayDown pages the option you select is the left or right hand of the tub. The LayDown60 lists it as Drain Position, and the LayDown72 lists it as Door and Drain Position. In both cases the choice sets which end the drain is at, left or right as you face the tub, and the drain is the reason the choice exists: it has to end up at the end where your house drain line is.

The hand also decides where the equipment sits. On a jetted LayDown the pump is at the end opposite the drain, so a left drain puts the pump on the right, and the right is then the side where the dedicated 20 amp GFCI line for the tub should be brought in. Choosing the hand therefore settles two things at once: the drain end for your plumber and the pump end for your electrician.

• Left-hand LayDown: drain at the left end, pump at the right end.
• Right-hand LayDown: drain at the right end, pump at the left end.
• The glass door stays centered on the side wall in either case.

Because the LayDown72 option is worded as door and drain position, confirm the exact layout you want with your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 before the order is placed. Have the model name ready and describe your bathroom: which wall the tub goes against, where the existing drain is, and where the electrical can come in.

If You Add the Glass Shower Screen

Both LayDown sizes can be ordered with the optional bi-fold glass screen for showering in the tub, and the screen is handed too. Its hand follows the tub: a left-hand screen for a left-drain LayDown and a right-hand screen for a right-drain LayDown, so decide on the screen when you decide on the hand and the screen that ships will match. On the LayDown60 drawing the installed screen spans 38 1/4 inches along the deck, made up of a 21 inch and a 17 inch segment with a 1/4 inch gap, and stands 57 to 57 1/2 inches high with a base depth of 20 1/4 inches. The video shows the bi-fold door with its chrome hinges and brackets and the gasket along the bottom edge that keeps water from leaking onto the floor.

Faucet and Plumbing by Size

The two sizes handle the faucet differently, and that affects which end the plumbing wants to be on. The LayDown60 has no faucet option at all and is never sold with a factory faucet; a pre-existing or new customer-supplied faucet, typically wall mounted, is used. The LayDown72 is faucet ready and can be ordered with an optional Ella deck-mount fast-fill faucet. With a wall-mounted faucet on the LayDown60, your supply lines and your drain line are both already in the wall and floor, so the hand is a decision made from the existing plumbing with your installer rather than from the product page alone.

The drain on both sizes is a single oversized 2 inch brass drain with overflow, and it works by gravity, so there is no drain pump. It does not have to sit directly over the floor drain. The plumber can connect from the left, the right or the center and run PVC beneath the tub to the trap, and the tub can be shifted sideways within the space, as How far can the floor drain be offset from the tub drain? explains. Pick the hand that puts the drain end nearest the house drain, and let the pipe cover the rest.

Measuring Before You Choose

Take three figures from the opening: the length along the back wall, the width from the back wall to the front edge, and the height from the floor to the rim, and note which end the existing drain is on. Compare them with the actual size on the spec sheet rather than the nominal name. The LayDown60 drawing prints the overall length as 59 3/4 inches and the overall width as 30 inches, and the LayDown72 drawing prints its overall length as 71 3/4 inches, so the larger tub needs a longer run of wall than a standard 60 inch opening. The steps are in How do I measure my bathtub and alcove for a replacement?. Check the path into the room as well: the LayDown60 ships in a crate 63 inches long, 33 inches wide and 29 inches high.

Height is rarely the issue. The LayDown60 stands 21 inches high with a 15 inch soaking depth, the lowest profile Ella offers, and Do they make a bathtub that is only 15 inches high? explains where that 15 inch figure comes from.

Watch: The 3060 Walk-In Laydown Tub: A Solution for Cool & Stylish Accessibility | Ella's Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• The LayDown Walk-In Tubs: 30x60 vs 32x72 Sizes, Faucet Options, and Features
• Your LayDown Owner's Manual, Section by Section (30x60 and 32x72)
• Operating and Caring for the LayDown Tempered Glass Door

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