Can I Remove the Slide Bar Later and Use Only the Handheld Hose?

Yes. The hand shower slide bar mounts only to the wall and works with the hand shower that came with your faucet, so taking it back off leaves the tub and its plumbing exactly as they were. Unmount the bar and its brackets, remove the coupling and the 5 foot extension hose, and reattach the hand shower to its own hose so it sits in the deck holder again, which is how the pull-out hand shower is meant to be used. The reason the bar comes off as easily as it went on is set out in Can I Add a Hand Shower Slide Bar or Rain Shower Column After My Tub Is Installed?.

Why the Slide Bar Comes Off Cleanly

The slide bar is an accessory, not part of the 5-piece fast-fill faucet. The kit is a 24-inch wall-mounted bar with a holder that slides up and down, a 5-foot hand shower hose, and a coupling kit, and the coupling seals the hand shower connection, which is why the kit is also called a leak elimination kit. Nothing in that kit is plumbed into the tub. The bar is anchored to the wall, the extension hose couples to the hand shower connection, and the water still comes from the faucet and diverter on the tub deck. Adding the bar simply gives the hand shower a second place to park, so removing it takes that second place away and nothing else.

That is the difference between the slide bar and the rain shower column. The column replaces the hand shower holder on the tub deck and is connected from behind the tub, which is why it is best ordered and installed with the tub and why a finished installation needs access from behind to add or change it. A slide bar has no connection behind the tub, so its removal never involves the apron, the deck or the plumbing under it. Showers, Shower Screens, and Accessories for Your Ella Walk-in Tub lists the slide bar, the 5-foot stainless steel shower hose with coupling kit and the 10-inch rain shower as separate accessory options.

Taking the Bar Down, Step by Step

1. Turn the faucet off and lift the hand shower out of the bar's holder.
2. Unscrew the coupling and the 5 foot extension hose from the hand shower connection. The kit joins the tub at that coupling only.
3. Reattach the hand shower to its own hose. On the fast-fill faucets the handset threads onto the end of the hose by hand, with the conical connector on the handset and the hex nut end at the deck mount.
4. Push the hand shower back into the deck holder so the hose retracts into the tub.
5. Unmount the bar and its brackets from the wall. The brackets are anchored into the wall, so you will have the mounting holes to patch once the bar is down.
6. Run the hand shower with the diverter open and check the deck connection for drips before you call the job done.

Where the Hand Shower Lives Without a Bar

On the 5-piece faucet as it ships, the hand shower and its hose sit inside the tub, pushed into the deck holder. Every Ella fast-fill faucet set includes an extendable multi-function hand shower with five spray settings on a 5 foot retractable hose, with flow limited to 1.9 GPM by plumbing code. On the 2-piece set you push the diverter button to send water to the hand shower, and on the 5-piece set you turn the diverter handle. The pull-out hand shower is meant to be used while seated and returned to its position after use, which is exactly the arrangement the tub had before the bar was added. If you do not use a slide bar, the handheld shower is simply pushed into the tub when it is not in use. Walk-In Tub Accessories and Add-Ons: What Is Available and How They Work describes the leak elimination kit alongside the other add-ons.

The One Thing Not to Do

Do not leave the hand shower hanging on the wall, or on a leftover hook or holder, without the coupling kit in place. The coupling is what seals the hand shower connection when the handset is out of the tub, and without it the open deck insert hole lets water run down behind the tub. That is the leak the kit was designed to eliminate, and it is the one way a half-finished removal can put water under the tub. Either the bar and its coupling stay together on the wall, or the hand shower goes back into the deck holder. There is no in-between arrangement.

Checking the Hand Shower Connection After Reassembly

Reconnecting the handset to its original hose is the same threaded joint used when only the head is replaced, so give it the same check. Unscrew the head by hand and look inside the threads for the washer and the small blue check valve, because a missing washer or check valve is a common reason water sprays sideways at that joint. Thread the head back on hand tight with the conical connector on the handset, and try each of the five spray settings. If the hose has been coupled and uncoupled, confirm the washer at the deck mount end is still seated as well. Why Does My Hand Shower Head Spray Out the Side and Can I Replace Just the Head? covers each of those checks.

One quirk is specific to the 2-piece faucet. In rare instances, when the water is turned off after hand shower use, the diverter button can become stuck in the closed position. The video on this page shows the fix: unscrew the hose from the handset and remove the plastic restrictor, which relieves the air lock so the button snaps back, then replace the hose on the handset.

Putting the Bar Back Later

Removing the bar does not close the door on it. A hand shower slide bar can be added at any time, including long after the tub is installed, because it mounts to the wall and works with the hand shower you already have, so the same kit can go back up in a new position or a different bathroom later. Keep the coupling and extension hose with the bar so the set stays complete. If you need the kit, or just the coupling, for an existing tub, your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 can help with your model and serial number. The waterfall faucet already includes a slide bar, so a tub with that faucet does not need the add-on kit.

Watch: Ellas Bubbles: Two Piece Faucet Airlock Issue with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• Installing the Wall-Mounted Hand Shower Slider Bar and the Extension Coupler So Nothing Leaks Behind the Tub
• Installing the Shower Column Kit on Your Walk-in Tub

Common Questions