Does Ella sell a portable walk-in tub for care facilities?

No. Ella's Bubbles does not offer a portable, freestanding-on-wheels or temporary walk-in tub, and no Ella model can be used without installation. Every model is built for permanent installation by a licensed plumber and, for jetted models, a licensed electrician, as Are Ella Walk-In Tubs Portable or Movable? explains. A care facility can still put an Ella tub in a resident bathing room, but it goes in as a fixed fixture and the facility's own review process applies before it does.

Why There Is No Plug-And-Fill Version

An Ella walk-in tub is a plumbing fixture in the same sense as a conventional bathtub. The faucet is connected to hot and cold supply lines, the floor drain and overflow are connected to the building drain, and the tub is leveled on its frame, sealed to the walls with its tile flange in an alcove, and finished with panels. Hydro, air and microbubble systems, in-line heaters and heated seats all need an electrical connection. None of that can be undone and redone in another room, which is why a rolling or movable version is not among the options and Ella cannot supply an alternative. If a facility's situation does not allow plumbing work at all, a walk-in tub is not the right fit.

The one flexibility the sources allow is electrical rather than plumbing. A soaking-only tub, with no jets, needs no electrical connection at all. It is still plumbed and installed permanently, but it is the answer for a bathing room where water can be run and a dedicated circuit cannot.

What a Facility Installation Involves Instead

Ella does not designate its tubs as residential-only or commercial-only, so they can be considered for bathing rooms at nursing homes, assisted living and memory care communities, and long-term care facilities. Can Ella Walk-In Tubs Be Installed in Nursing Homes, Assisted Living and Long-Term Care Facilities? covers the full review; the points below are the ones that matter most when a facility was hoping to skip installation altogether.

• Plan review and permits. Building, plumbing and health department reviews are supported with the model spec sheet and the Certificate of Compliance. Every Ella tub is UL certified and tested to UL 1795 for hydro-massage bathtub systems, CSA C22.2 No. 218.2, ASME/ANSI A112.19.7 (2012) for water retention, and ASME/ANSI A112.19.15 (2012). No additional commercial-use document exists.
• Facility approval. Some communities route the request through plant operations or regional management, who may ask to see blueprints and speak with the installer before approving. Start that conversation before purchasing, because a facility can decline an installation after its own review.
• Installer policy. Some facilities require their own maintenance staff or approved contractors, while others allow an outside licensed installer. Ella does not perform installations anywhere and does not send technicians; its technical support team works with whichever licensed installer the facility approves.
• Temperature control. Not every faucet configuration includes a thermostatic control valve. If the review calls for thermostatic mixing at the fixture, choose the Ella thermostatic faucet package, which includes the built-in Ella thermostatic control valve.
• Electrical. Ella's electrical video shows that every jetted tub needs dedicated GFCI-protected outlets and GFCI-protected breakers, that the tub cannot share a circuit with any other appliance, and that the more pumps and accessories a tub has, the more dedicated lines it needs. This is the work a portable tub would have avoided, and it is exactly what a facility electrician has to plan.

Permanent does not mean the tub must sit in a three-wall alcove. Any Ella tub, including the largest models, fits an alcove or stands against one or two walls, and in every layout it is still plumbed, wired and secured in place.

Why Moving the Tub Between Rooms Is a Warranty Problem

Facilities often ask about portability because they expect to reassign a bathing room later. The Lifetime Limited Warranty is extended to the first purchaser only and is tied to the original installation address. It is void if ownership changes or the tub is relocated, and moving the tub to another location on the same property that changes the installation address voids coverage as well. A plumber can physically disconnect a tub, but the warranty does not travel with it, so plan the installation location as a permanent one. What continues regardless of address or owner is free lifetime technical support by phone, email and live video, and access to replacement parts matched to the serial number. The scenarios are laid out in Is my walk-in tub warranty transferable if I move or sell my home?.

What Ella Does Supply

Ella's Bubbles manufactures luxury walk-in tubs, assembled in America at its facility in Chicago, and also offers walk-in showers for a facility that prefers a shower-based bathing option. Both ship nationwide, as Ella's Bubbles Walk-In Tubs: A General Overview describes. Replacement parts ship under the warranty, and a local licensed plumber or electrician does the labor. A facility planning a project should ask your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 for the spec sheet of the model under consideration and the Certificate of Compliance early, so the plan reviewer, the facility's management and the approved installer are all working from the same documents before the order is placed.

Watch: Ella's Bubbles: Proper Electrical Installation For Your Walk-In Tub with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• Electrical requirements by model: dedicated GFCI circuits for your walk-in tub
• Does a Soaking Walk-In Tub Need Electrical Wiring or Keep the Water Warm?
• How do you install a walk-in tub step by step?

Common Questions