Can the Liberty three-piece shower seat be on the left or right side?

Yes. The Ella Liberty three-piece low-threshold shower comes in a left-seat version and a right-seat version, and the seat side is chosen when you order rather than decided by the installer. The two versions are identical except that the layout is mirrored, so one spec sheet covers both with the drawing flipped, as How to Get the Installation Guide, Spec Sheet and Manual for Your Ella Shower Wall Kit or Enclosure explains.

Why the Seat Side Is Fixed Once the Shower Is Built

The three-piece Liberty ships as a base plus two wall sections that assemble from the front, which is what lets it pass through finished doorways during a remodel. The seat on the 60 by 33 three-piece is a molded seat, part of the shower itself rather than a bolt-on bench, and the drain position is molded into the base as well. Neither can be moved to the other side on site, so left or right is a decision for the order, not for the day of installation.

Ella handles its one-piece stalls the same way. The 48 by 37 by 80 inch New Construction One-Piece Shower is documented as two models, E-3648LWH and E-3648RWH, handed by seat, and the 60 by 33 and 60 by 36 one-piece stalls are each listed with a left or right seat. The three-piece follows the same convention: you specify the seat side, and the shower arrives built for that side. If you are describing the shower to the team, name it the way the spec sheets do: three-piece, the size, which side the seat is on, and which side the drain is on.

What Changes with the Seat Side, and What Does Not

Because the left-seat and right-seat versions are mirror images, everything you would measure for stays the same. The interior opening is 55.75 inches wide and 73 inches high from the threshold on either version, the overall footprint fills the same alcove, and the construction is the same fiberglass reinforced with the AcrylX applied acrylic finish and Armorcore reinforced walls. The door choice for the Liberty opening does not depend on the seat side either, since the Ella Duo framed sliding door and any third-party door sized to the opening fit the same 55.75 inch width on both.

What does change is where the seat and the standing floor land. The molded seat takes 18.5 inches of the 55.75 inch interior width, which leaves a 37.25 inch standing area beside it. On a left-seat shower that standing area is on the right, and on a right-seat shower it is on the left. The drain center, which the specification drawing locates by its distance from the back wall and the side wall, mirrors with the layout too, so the drawing for the handing you order is the one your plumber should work from. Ella Shower Rough Opening, Standing Area and Floor Width: What to Measure Before You Frame walks through reading that drawing.

Choosing the Side for Your Bathroom

• Where the standing floor needs to be. When a bather uses a shower chair or a caregiver stands alongside, measure the 37.25 inch standing area against those needs rather than the nominal size of the stall. Put the seat on the side that leaves the standing floor where the helper or the chair will actually be.
• Where the drain will land. The drain position is fixed per model and cannot be moved to the other side, so compare the drain center on the drawing for each handing with where your waste line is now. Whichever you choose, dry fit the unit, mark the drain center through the base opening, and only then cut and set the drain pipe.
• How the pieces will come in. The three-piece kit exists so the shower can reach a finished bathroom in sections. The handing does not change the size of the pieces, so the doorway check is the same for both versions.
• The alcove itself. Frame to the specification drawing rather than the nominal size, check the pocket for square, plumb and level, and fur out any extra width before the unit goes in. None of that depends on the seat side, but the drawing you frame from should be the one for the handing you ordered.

Seat Handing Across the Ella Stall Range

The pattern across the range is consistent: wherever an Ella stall has a molded seat, the seat is offered left or right and the shower is built for the side you name. The Liberty three-piece is the version of that choice for remodels, since it reaches the bathroom in pieces, while the one-piece stalls give the same left or right seat in a single molded unit for new construction. If you want no seat at all, the 60 by 33 one-piece with a center drain and the five-piece kit with a bench are the alternatives. Ella Shower Stalls Compared sets out the full spec sheets for each family.

Getting the Right Spec Sheet for Your Handing

If you bought the shower through The Home Depot, open the product page for the layout you bought, matching the size, seat side and drain side on your order, scroll to Product Description, and open Additional Resources to download the Warranty, Installation Guide, Specs and User Manual. Otherwise, ask through ellasbubbles.com/support or your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 and give them the model number from your order or from the box, or describe the shower: three-piece, 60 by 33, seat left or right, drain left or right. Because the two handings share one sheet with the layout flipped, the team can also confirm which way to read the drawing for your version and link the installation video for the three-piece.

Related Guides

• Installing the 60 x 33 Three-Piece Low-Threshold Shower With Molded Seat (Liberty 24 and 36)
• Ella Shower Dimensions: Nominal Size Versus Usable Interior Floor
• How High and How Big Is the Built-In Seat on an Ella Shower?

Common Questions