Is the legacy ESM gel coat shower stall still available or replaced?

Ella's published documents treat the ESM series as the legacy gel coat line, and the stalls that followed it are the fiberglass units finished in AcrylX with Armorcore reinforced walls that the July 2022 specification manual documents. The knowledge base does not print a discontinuation date for the ESM stalls, so ask your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 whether any ESM unit is still stocked before you plan around one. The spec-by-spec comparison of every current stall, with a section on where the older ESM units fit, is in Ella Shower Stalls Compared: One-Piece AcrylX E-Series, Three-Piece 60x33 Molded Seat, and the Legacy ESM Gel Coat Stalls.

What Legacy ESM Means in Ella's Documents

Two families of Ella stalls carry a gel coat finish: the ESM series one-piece stalls and the low-threshold gel coat multi-piece showers. Both are built as a gel coat surface over a fiberglass shell, and the documents published for them print a 3 year limited warranty. Ella's product pages and care documents refer to them as the older gel coat units, and the comparison those documents draw is not between one acrylic and another. It is between these gel coat units and the AcrylX units that came after them.

The current specification manual, dated July 2022, documents the New Construction One-Piece Shower in the AcrylX construction, models E-3648LWH and E-3648RWH, handed by seat. The same manual series and the product pages cover the other one-piece sizes and the three-piece low-threshold kit in the same construction. No gel coat stall appears in that current manual series, which is why the knowledge base calls the ESM line legacy. What the documents do not say is when the last ESM unit shipped, so treat the word legacy as a description of the product generation rather than a statement about stock on hand.

What Replaced It: AcrylX with Armorcore

AcrylX is the applied acrylic finish used on Ella's made-in-the-USA shower stalls, multi-piece shower kits and barrier-free roll-in bases. The fiberglass gives the unit its shape and strength, the AcrylX layer is the surface you see and touch, and Armorcore reinforced walls on all sides mean grab bars and seats can be mounted anywhere on the wall. That matters when a bather's needs change after the shower is installed. What is AcrylX and how does it compare to acrylic? explains that AcrylX is acrylic and that Ella's care instructions treat it exactly like any acrylic fixture.

The clearest practical difference between the two generations is the printed warranty. The AcrylX with Armorcore one-piece stalls, including the 48 by 37 by 80 inch E-3648 unit and the 42 by 42 by 80 inch Millennial unit, print a Lifetime Limited Residential Warranty and a 30-Year Commercial Warranty on the stall. The gel coat ESM documents print a 3 year limited warranty. For the E-3648 the current sheet also lists a 4 inch threshold, a center drain, a net weight of 160 pounds, a shipping weight of 280 pounds, white as the only color, Basic or Liberty packages, and square corners at the base that accept a framed or frameless shower door or a curtain.

Legacy and Current Stalls Side by Side

Read the table from the top down and the story is a change of surface and a change of warranty term. The AcrylX unit is the one with the current specification sheet, the reinforced walls that accept grab bars anywhere, and the lifetime residential term on the shell. If you are deciding whether to keep an ESM stall or replace it, the 3 year printed term against the lifetime term is usually what decides it.

If You Own an ESM Stall Today

Nothing about the legacy label changes how you care for the stall. The one rule in every Ella care document is no abrasives. Clean with warm water and liquid detergent or a non-abrasive cleanser made for fiberglass bathroom fixtures, and never use scouring powders, scouring pads or steel wool.

For its discontinued walk-in tub models, Ella keeps lifetime technical support and a Legacy Parts section, as Legacy Ella Models: Chi OAC3252, Malibu OA3052, Tramo WT5932 and the Gel Coat Wheelchair-Access Line describes. The knowledge base does not print a matching legacy entry for the ESM shower stalls. If you need a document or a part for one, open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support with photos of the stall, any model number from your paperwork, and where it was purchased. The 3 year limited warranty is the published term for the gel coat stalls. Whether a particular stall is inside that term is a determination the support team makes from your purchase record.

Where Gel Coat Still Appears in Ella's Lineup

Gel coat did not leave Ella's catalog with the ESM stalls. It is the surface of the cultured marble line. The first video on this page shows the cultured marble shower bases, offered in three sizes and molded from solid cultured marble with a glossy gel coat finish and an ADA compliant slip-resistant textured floor. They are heavy and need at least two people to install. The second video shows the cultured marble travertine wall surrounds, a natural quartz and granite composite with a gel coat surface, sold as eight, six or four panel surrounds that one person can carry and install. The panels glue over drywall, plaster, painted walls, Durock or existing tile. So if what you liked about the ESM stall was the gel coat look, that finish is still offered on a base and a wall surround, just not on a one-piece stall.

Replacing an ESM Stall with a Current Unit

The first decision is one-piece or multi-piece, and it is decided by the route into the bathroom. A one-piece stall is molded as a single unit with an integral base and seamless walls, and the product pages warn that if you are remodeling you must make sure the stall fits through every doorway and hallway into the bathroom before placing your order, and otherwise use the multi-piece line. The three-piece kit ships as a base plus two wall sections that assemble from the front.

The current one-piece sizes are 60 by 33 by 77 inches with a left or right seat, 60 by 33 by 77 with a center drain and no seat, 60 by 36 by 77 with a left or right seat, 48 by 37 by 80 with a left or right seat, and 42 by 42 by 80 with a center drain. Complete one-piece and multi-piece kits are carried by Home Depot, while bases, the collapsible dam and wall systems come through your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850. If the ESM stall is coming out and you want acrylic walls over a separate base instead of another stall, What are acrylic shower walls, and how do they hold up? covers the three-piece wall kit that pairs with those bases.

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

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