What is a shower screen, and how is it different from a door?

A shower screen is a set of hinged glass panels that mounts in a channel on the bathroom wall and rests on the deck of a walk-in tub to keep spray inside the tub while you use the hand shower or a rain shower head. It is not the tub's entry door, which is hinged to the tub and sealed against the water in the bathing well, and it is not a framed sliding shower door, which rides on rollers along a track. Where the screen sits on the deck decides whether it works, as Where Should the 4-Fold Shower Screen Sit on the Tub Deck? explains.

What the Screen Is and How It Goes on

Ella's screen for walk-in tubs is the 4-fold glass shower screen. The panels are joined by hinges held with plastic retainer inserts, and the assembly video shows that one inside panel can be removed to turn the four-panel screen into a three-panel screen, which can be used on its own or combined with a four-panel screen on the Big4Two. The installation video shows the sequence: the wall channel is measured, set perfectly level, drilled and anchored to the wall; a gasket is slid into the channel along the bottom of the screen, with a little silicone lubricant if needed; end caps from the parts bag are glued onto the molding and the excess gasket is trimmed; the chrome knobs are fitted with their rubber gaskets and tightened without over-torquing; then the screen is placed onto the wall channel to set the height and check level. When the screen is opened across the tub, its bottom edge must follow the inner lip of the deck along its full length, with the closest attention to the panels over the door and on the hinge side.

Screen Versus the Walk-In Tub's Own Door

The tub door is the way in. Every Ella model belongs to one door style: the inward-swing brushed stainless steel door, the inward-swing acrylic S-shape door, the outward-swing U-shape door in white composite and tempered glass, or the L-shape outward transfer door. The outward doors close with a gear-and-shaft mechanism, three latches on the U-shape and two on the Transfer door. That door and its seal hold back the water inside the bathing well. The screen does a different job on the other side of that seal. It stops the spray that bounces off the bather and the panels from leaving the tub by sending that water back into the well. If the screen sits too far out on the deck, spray runs down the panels into the narrow gap between the door edge and the deck, outside the seal, and follows the door jamb to the floor. That is why a tub can leak on the hinge side only when the jets or hand shower are running even though the door seal itself is fine. In short, the door keeps the bath in and the screen keeps the shower in.

Screen Versus a Sliding Shower Door

A framed sliding shower door is a different product. It hangs from roller wheels and bearings that travel in a top track, and its knobs, track and rollers are the parts that wear or arrive damaged. The rollers are universal within a model, so they fit any top rail for that door, and the support team sends wheels and bearings rather than the whole bracket because the bracket is fixed to the glass. A shower screen has no rollers or track; the parts the team locates for it are the bottom aluminum frame and the knobs, with other pieces checked on request. Ella also lists the Tidy two-panel screen and the LayDown tub screen, and on the LayDown screen some pieces ship attached to the glass and must be separated before installation, so a part that seems missing may still be on the door. Missing or Broken Shower Door Hardware: Rollers, Tracks, Knobs and Frame Parts covers what can be replaced on each.

What the table means in practice: if you own a walk-in tub and want to shower in it, the folding screen is the product to ask about, and it adds to the tub door rather than replacing it. If you are enclosing a shower stall, the sliding door with its track and rollers is the product, and its parts are not interchangeable with screen parts. When you request a replacement piece, name which of these you have, because the team compares your photo against the right assembly drawing before shipping anything.

Before You Add a Screen to Your Tub

• Plan around the swivel tray. The tray pins into the deck beside the stainless door and can interfere with a glass shower screen, so settle the screen position before either is installed. What Is the Swivel Tray on a Walk-In Tub? shows where the tray sits.
• Pair it with the rain head. A 10 inch rain shower head can be installed on the wall above most Ella tubs, and the tub can be enclosed with a glass shower screen to keep the spray inside, as noted in Lounger Versus Transfer60: A Side-by-Side Comparison From the Spec Sheets.
• Check what a clearance listing includes. Listing photos sometimes show a tub with a glass shower screen that is not part of that unit; the team confirms what ships with the serial and can add the screen to your order. See Confirming What a Clearance Tub Includes by Serial Number: Model, Size, Door Side, Therapies and Faucet.
• If it leaks after installation, photograph the screen from directly above where the bottom edge meets the deck, plus the door seal and the two panels furthest from the wall, and open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support with your model and serial number.

Related Guides

• How Do I Fix a 4-Fold Shower Screen That Leaks or Will Not Fold Flat?
• Why Does My Shower Screen Gasket Have a Gap and Spray Water?
• How Do I Replace the Bottom Gasket on an Ella Glass Shower Door?

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