What is the difference between the Ella LayDown60 and LayDown72?

The Ella LayDown60 and LayDown72 are the two sizes of the same full-length lay-down walk-in tub, and the difference between them is footprint, interior room and faucet readiness rather than design. The LayDown60 measures 30 inches wide by 60 inches long by 21 inches high and is never sold with a factory faucet, while the LayDown72 measures 32 inches wide by 72 inches long, has a wider interior floor, is offered with a left or right drain, and is faucet-ready for an optional Ella deck set. Both share the flat floor, the inward-swing tempered glass door and the single 2 inch brass drain described in What is the Ella LayDown walk-in bathtub and which sizes are available?.

The Two Sizes Side by Side

Every figure below comes from the current LayDown spec sheets and drawings. Where the published documents do not print a figure for one size, the cell says not listed rather than an estimate, and your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 can read you the current sheet for either model.

Read the table from the bather outward. Both tubs put you in 15 inches of water, behind the same glass door, over the same single brass drain, so the bathing experience is the same. What changes is how much room there is around you and how much room the tub takes from the bathroom. The LayDown60 fits the footprint of a common 30 by 60 inch bathtub, which is why it is the usual choice for a straight replacement in an existing alcove. The LayDown72 is for a bathroom that already has, or is being built with, a longer and wider opening, and for a bather who wants the extra width across the floor of the tub. The faucet row is the one that surprises people, so it has its own section below.

Measuring the Alcove for Each Size

Because the LayDown72 is wider as well as longer than the LayDown60, measure the width of the alcove as carefully as the length. A space that takes a 60 inch tub comfortably in length may still be too narrow for the 32 inch model once the walls are finished. The overview above notes that the LayDown72 drawing prints the overall length as 71 3/4 inches, so use that figure, not the nominal 72, when the fit is tight.

• Measure the finished length and width of the opening at the floor and again higher on the wall, since walls are rarely perfectly square.
• Locate your house drain. The LayDown72 is offered with a left or right drain, so the drain end of the tub has to be chosen to match the plumbing that is already in the floor.
• Do not reserve floor space in front of the tub for a door swing. The glass door swings inward through a 115 degree arc with a 19 5/8 inch opening on both sizes, so a vanity or toilet close to the tub does not block it.
• For the LayDown60, note the shipping size of 63 by 33 by 29 inches when planning how the crate comes through doorways and hallways.

If the brochure cover shows a different length for the smaller tub, treat it as a known cover misprint. The LayDown60 is 30 inches wide by 60 inches long, as the spec sheet confirms.

Faucets: The Practical Difference That Decides Many Orders

No LayDown tub includes a faucet by default, but the two sizes handle the faucet question very differently. The LayDown60 has no faucet option at all. It is never sold with a factory faucet and relies on a pre-existing or new customer-supplied faucet, typically mounted on the wall. Because the wall faucet is yours to choose, it is also the one item on a LayDown60 that can come in a finish other than chrome; the drain opener and cover are chrome only.

The LayDown72 is faucet-ready. At order time you can add either Ella fast-fill set, and the deck is drilled at the factory for the set on your order, so the choice has to be made before the tub is built. The two sets are mapped model by model in Which Ella walk-in tub models come with the 2-piece or 5-piece faucet?. In brief:

• The 2-piece set has a single lever for on, off and temperature, a diverter button under the spout for the hand shower, and is designed for 16 GPM at 60 PSI.
• The 5-piece set has separate red hot and blue cold handles with the diverter as the middle lever, and is designed for 18 GPM.
• Both include the same pull-out hand shower with 5 flow settings, limited to 1.9 GPM, on a 5 foot braided hose, and both ship with two 3/4 inch by 5 foot braided supply lines.

The brochure diagram of the 32x72 shows this deck faucet in place, with the hot water switch, spout, diverter, cold water switch and pull-out hand mixer each labeled. Where Everything Is on a LayDown Tub: The Brochure Callout Diagram Explained walks through every callout and points out where the brochure's family-level wording is broader than what ships with each size.

What Both Sizes Share

Beyond size and faucet, the two tubs are the same product. Neither has a molded seat; the floor is flat from end to end, and if a listing shows seat width or seat height figures they do not describe anything inside the tub, as Does the LayDown Tub Have a Seat? explains. Ella offers two removable seat options that can be placed in either LayDown, and grab bars go on the wall beside the tub because the deck has no room for hardware; grab bars are not listed on the LayDown spec sheets.

Both use the tempered glass door in a brushed aluminum frame with a chrome locking handle. Swing it in, step over the low threshold, close and lock it while standing, and drain the tub completely before opening it again. The routine, and the care of the glass and its seal, is covered in Operating and Caring for the LayDown Tempered Glass Door, which also embeds the video tour of the 30x60 tub. Both sizes take a single therapy system rather than a combination, a folding tempered glass shower screen is an optional accessory on both, and the drain opener and cover come in chrome only on both. The two sizes share one owner's manual.

Common Questions