Can I Get the LayDown Walk-In Tub With the Door on the Left?

Both LayDown tubs can be ordered as a left-hand or right-hand tub, but the tempered glass door itself is always centered on the long side of the tub and is never moved to the left or right end. What you choose on a LayDown60 or LayDown72 is the drain position, left or right, and the inward-swing door opens from its center position toward the drain end. How does the drain work on the Ella LayDown walk-in tub? covers the drain itself; this page explains what left and right mean on a LayDown and how to pick the side for your bathroom.

Where the Door Sits on a LayDown

Every Ella walk-in tub has a door, and on the seated models that door is at one end of the tub next to the seat. The LayDown is different because there is no seat. It has a flat floor from end to end, and the door is a tempered glass panel in a brushed aluminum frame with a chrome locking handle, set in the middle of the long side so you step in and lie back in either direction. The 3272 video on this page points out that the uniquely positioned center door leaves extra deck space at both ends, which is what makes options like the folding tempered glass screen an easy add-on. The 3060 video shows the same centered glass door, low threshold and chrome handle on the smaller tub.

The door swings inward, so no floor space is needed in front of the tub. On the LayDown60 spec sheet the glass door opening is 19 5/8 inches wide with a 16 1/2 inch panel, the swing arc is 115 degrees, and the drawing shows 20 1/4 inches of clearance for the swing. The LayDown72 uses the same centered inward-swing glass door with an aluminum frame, a low threshold and a textured floor. Because the door is centered and swings into the tub, it does not change hand when the tub changes hand. What changes is where the drain and the pump end up.

What Left and Right Mean on a LayDown

On the seated models, a right-hand tub has its door on the right and its drains on the left as you face the tub, so the hand describes the door. On a LayDown the door is always in the center, so the hand describes the drain end. The LayDown60 lists the choice as Drain Position, and the LayDown72 lists it as Door and Drain Position. Both come down to the same decision: the end of the tub where the single oversized 2 inch brass drain sits, left or right as you face the tub.

• Drain end. The drain has to land where your house drain is, so this is the first thing to settle. The LayDown drains by gravity through one 2 inch threaded brass drain with an overflow, opened and closed from a control on the tub.
• Pump end. On a jetted LayDown the pump sits opposite the drain, so a left-drain tub puts the pump on the right, and that is the end where the dedicated 20 amp GFCI line should go.
• Screen hand. If you add the bifold glass shower screen, its hand follows the tub: a left-hand screen for a left-drain LayDown and a right-hand screen for a right-drain LayDown. Each hand is stocked separately, as Folding Glass Shower Screen: Which Side It Mounts On, How Much Room It Takes Folded, and Confirming Stock explains.
• Door swing. The centered door swings inward toward the drain end, so it reads as a left-hand or right-hand door in use even though its position on the side of the tub does not move.

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 ordering, with the model name and a sketch of your bathroom ready.

How to Choose the Side

1. Stand where you will face the tub and note which end your existing drain is on. That is the end the LayDown's drain should be ordered on.
2. Measure the opening the tub will sit in: the length along the back wall, the width from the back wall to the front edge of the old tub, and the height from the floor to the rim. The LayDown60's actual size is 60 inches long by 30 inches wide by 21 inches high, and the LayDown72's drawing prints an overall length of 71 3/4 inches, so the longer tub needs a longer run of wall than a standard replacement. How do I measure my bathtub and alcove for a replacement? walks through the figures.
3. Check the route in. The LayDown60 ships in a crate 63 inches long by 33 inches wide by 29 inches high, with a shipping weight of 220 pounds and a net weight of 160 pounds, so verify doorway and hallway clearance.
4. Decide where the pump end can take a dedicated 20 amp GFCI line if you are ordering air, hydro or microbubble therapy.
5. Decide whether you want the bifold screen, and ask the team to confirm stock for the hand that matches your drain side.
6. Confirm the hand with your installer and the team before you order, because the tub is built with the drain on the side you choose.

What Else Is Fixed on a LayDown

A few things cannot be changed no matter which hand you order. There is no doorless LayDown, as Can I Order an Ella Walk-In Tub Without a Door? explains, and there is no end-door version either. The LayDown60 has no factory faucet option at all and needs a pre-existing or new customer-supplied faucet, typically wall mounted, so plan the faucet wall at the same time you plan the drain end. The LayDown72 is faucet ready and can be ordered with an optional Ella deck-mount fast-fill faucet. Both sizes offer a soaking depth of 15 inches compared with about 11 inches in a standard bathtub, and both can be ordered as a soaker or with air massage, hydro massage or microbubble therapy. The LayDown60 air massage package carries 20 air jets with a three-speed pump and auto purge, and the 3272 video shows a hydro massage build with seven adjustable hydro jets, an intensity control dial and an in-line water heater.

One more point for anyone comparing the LayDown with a seated model: on the seated tubs the door side is driven by the drain side because the two are on opposite ends. On the LayDown that trade does not exist. You get the centered glass door either way, and the only question is which end the plumbing is on.

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• How does the drain work on the Ella LayDown walk-in tub?

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