Which shower screen or curtain fits your Ella walk-in tub model?

The screen that fits your Ella walk-in tub is decided by the tub type rather than by the model name on your paperwork: every seated walk-in tub takes the 4-fold tempered glass shower screen, and the LayDown tubs take their own bi-fold screen, which will not fit a seated model. A plain shower curtain fits any Ella tub and is the answer whenever the tub does not sit in a full three-wall alcove. Which Glass Shower Screen Fits Your Ella Tub and Where It Mounts explains the two screens themselves; this page maps each screen, and the curtain, to the tub situations owners actually ask about so you can see at a glance what to request.

The Two Screens Ella Offers, and the One It Does Not

Ella makes two glass screens, and both are alcove screens designed for a tub whose back and both ends sit against finished walls. The 4-fold screen is tempered glass in a chrome finish, 44 inches wide by 42 inches high, and it folds back out of the way once you finish showering so the tub keeps an open, airy feel. It mounts to the wall, ideally into a stud, never to the tub, and a rubber seal along its bottom edge keeps water inside the tub. The bi-fold screen is offered only for the LayDown tubs, the Ella models without a seat, and it uses its own mounting positions and hardware with an installation diagram rather than the 4-fold installation video. Ella does not currently offer a walk-in tub with a full glass door in place of a folding screen, so if you were picturing a fixed glass enclosure, a folding screen or a curtain is the choice to make.

One size of 4-fold screen has to fit every seated Ella tub, which is why it is 44 inches rather than the full length of the tub. The screen normally starts at the back wall at the seat end and runs toward the grab bar at the front, crossing the door, so it covers the entire seating area where most showering happens. Starting it at the standing end instead may not be possible because the grab bar can be in the way.

Screen or Curtain by Tub Type

The pattern in the table is simple. If your tub has a seat, the 4-fold screen is the one to ask about, whatever the model name, and the only variations are whether a section comes off to suit a shorter tub in a 60 inch alcove and whether a second 3-fold screen joins it on a two-seat tub. If your tub is a LayDown, the bi-fold screen is the only glass option. And if the tub does not have finished walls at the back and both ends, no screen will finish the job on its own, which is where a curtain comes in.

Seated Tubs: The 4-Fold Screen and How It Adapts

Most Ella bathrooms were framed around a 60 inch opening, and tubs of 60 inches or longer fill that space on their own. On a 60 inch tub the 44 inch screen leaves an opening of about 16 inches at the standing end, and because the screen covers most of the area where the hand shower is aimed, there should not be much splashing at that end. The splash question is covered more fully in Is There a Lock on the Walk-In Tub Door, and How Do I Stop Hand-Shower Splashing?.

Shorter seated tubs usually fill a 60 inch alcove with an Ella extension panel at one end, and the screen adapts to that too: the 4-fold screen converts to a 3-fold screen by removing one section, which is how it fits a 52 inch tub in a 60 inch alcove with an extension panel. Mention the alcove and the panel when you ask about the screen, and if a shower column is also planned, note that a column on a tub with an extension panel uses the long 4 to 5 inch pipe connector to reach the wall. What Is an Alcove Installation for a Walk-In Tub? explains the extension panel and why the actual size on the spec sheet, not the nominal name, is what you plan around.

The Big4Two takes the idea one step further. Ella's accessories video for that tub shows the 4-fold glass screen combined with a 3-fold glass screen to create a bright, airy alternative to a shower curtain across the two-person tub, alongside dual rain shower heads and dual extendable hand showers so one bather can stand while the other sits.

LayDown Tubs: The Bi-Fold Screen

The LayDown tubs are the Ella models without a seat, and they take the bi-fold glass screen made for them. On the LayDown72 the bi-fold screen covers about 44 inches from the plumbing side of the tub, which is where people stand to shower, and the rest of the tub stays open. The bi-fold screen is not a smaller or larger version of the 4-fold; it has its own mounting positions and hardware and ships with an installation diagram, while the 4-fold has an installation video. When an owner of a large seated model, the ShaK, asked whether the bi-fold could go on that tub, the answer was that it would not work for that unit. The two sets of instructions are not interchangeable, so always ask for the one that matches your tub and name the model when you do.

When a Curtain Is the Right Answer

Both Ella screens assume a true alcove. If only two walls are available and the drain end or the seat end would be exposed, the screens cannot close off that open end. Staff have suggested two approaches: frame and finish a wall on the open side so the tub sits in a proper alcove, or hang a shower curtain on a curved rod that turns the corner to cover the open end. Settle this before the screen ships, because the screen alone will not solve an open end.

A curtain is also the usual answer when a walk-in tub doubles as a standing shower. Households that add a shower column often use a regular shower curtain from any home and hardware store, either instead of the folding screen or in addition to it, because a curtain covers the whole length of the tub and slides out of the way when the shower is not in use. The curtain option, and the curtain rod Ella offers for its walk-in shower kits, are described in Can You Use a Shower Curtain With a Walk-In Shower?. The hardware that goes with either choice, including the 24-inch hand shower slide bar, the 5-foot stainless steel shower hose, and the 10-inch rain shower, is listed in Showers, Shower Screens, and Accessories for Your Ella Walk-in Tub.

What to Have Ready Before You Ask

• Your tub model and whether it has a seat, since that alone decides 4-fold or bi-fold.
• The alcove width measured wall to wall at the back and at the front, and whether an extension panel fills part of it.
• Which end of the tub has the door and which has the plumbing, because the 4-fold screen starts at the seat end and the LayDown bi-fold covers the plumbing side.
• Whether any end of the tub is open to the room, which points you toward a curtain or a framed wall.
• Whether a shower column, rain shower or slide bar is also planned, so the right connector and mounting instructions arrive together.

With those details, your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 can confirm the screen, the number of sections, and the matching instructions for your tub, and you can open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support if a question comes up during installation.

Watch: Big4Two: 2 Person Walk-In Tub Accessories For Couples | Ella's Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

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