Which Silicone or Adhesive Do Ella SMC and Acrylic Wall Kits Use?

Ella's published wall guidance names 100 percent silicone as the product that bonds and seals the SMC subway panels and the glue-up tile flange, while the acrylic 3-panel and 6-panel kits go up with a glue-only method of silicone dots braced for 24 hours, and the tongue and groove PVC tiles take adhesive on the back plus a thin bead of silicone at every joint. No brand of silicone or panel adhesive is named in the published documents, so the answer is a type, not a product. Can SMC subway wall panels be cut to fit a shorter ceiling or window? covers what each kit goes up with alongside the height question; this page puts the adhesive and silicone rules for every Ella wall family in one place.

What Each Kit Goes Up with

What the table means in practice is that one product, 100 percent silicone, does most of the work across the Ella wall lines, and where a separate panel adhesive is called for, as on the PVC tiles and the cultured marble surrounds, Ella's documents do not specify a brand. The SMC panels and the flange are the two places where the type is not negotiable, because 100 percent silicone is the product the guidance specifies for them and the flange only bonds to it. If your kit's printed installation guide names a product, follow it; if it does not, describe your wall surface to the team at (800) 480-6850 before you buy tubes.

Why the Documents Say 100 Percent Silicone

The glue-up tile flange shows why the wording is so specific. Ella tubs have a flat deck edge with no molded tile lip, so the water barrier at the wall is a strip added at installation, a rustproof, waterproof strip about 5 inches tall bonded so it overlaps the tub edge by about 2 inches. The current part is the flexible, reversible glue-up flange kit, and the video on this page shows it going in. The kit contains a roll of Sealux, alcohol surface cleaning cloths, a custom spatula tool and a strip alignment card, and Sealux is also offered in bulk form for contractors. Sealux is a flexible flange made of a durable, waterproof adhesive fabric and a siliconized membrane that reacts and chemically bonds to the applied silicone sealant. When 100 percent silicone is applied to the pink silicone-based strip it creates a tremendously strong bond that stays waterproof through general expansion and contraction and routine floor settling. A caulk that is not 100 percent silicone does not trigger that bond, which is why the same phrase appears in the SMC guidance. The steps every kit shares, including fitting this flange before any panel goes up, are in How do you install a shower wall panel kit from Ella's Bubbles?.

Prepare the Wall Before the First Tube Is Opened

• Finish the base or tub first. Level it with every leg bearing on the floor and complete the water test, because walls that go up before the fixture is proven leak-free are the walls that come down again.
• Clean the deck edge with the alcohol tissues in the flange kit, then fit the flange so it overlaps the tub edge.
• Give the panels or tiles a clean, dry, approved substrate. The PVC tiles are glued, so the wall behind them has to be sound, clean and dry; the cultured marble surrounds can go over drywall, plaster, painted walls, Durock or existing tile.
• Acclimate PVC tiles in the bathroom for 24 hours before installation, and hold back about 10 percent of the tile for cuts.
• Dry-fit and mark every location before cutting, and use a spirit level throughout. That advice comes from the niche instructions, and it applies to every panel.

Where the Silicone Goes on Each Family

SMC panels are a pressed fiberglass composite with a glossy white subway pattern, an integrated flange on each panel and a tongue and groove interlock. They go up bottom row first, in 24 inch rows, on 100 percent silicone, with each row's flange overlapped by the row above. The 12-piece kit covers 36 by 60 by 96 inches, and the bottom row has to overlap the flange at the deck edge, which is why the deck flange goes in first. The kit sizes and the cut-to-fit facts for each family are in Wall Panels and Surrounds for Walk-In Tubs.

PVC tiles are set one at a time: measure, score and snap the tile to size, apply adhesive to the back, run a thin bead of silicone at the joint, then set the tile and snap it into the one before it. Every seam in a wet area is sealed with silicone. The tile by tile method is in How do you install and seal tongue and groove PVC shower wall tiles?. The SMC kits also use a tongue and groove interlock, so name the exact product when you ask a question.

Acrylic panels, meaning the 3-piece surround and the 6-piece kit, are large acrylic pieces that glue to the wall using the glue-only method, silicone dots and 24 hour bracing described in the kit's installation guide. When acrylic panels are cut for an odd alcove or a window, the cut edges are finished with trim strips or sealant from a tile or building supply store, since Ella does not supply custom edge pieces.

Niches and soap dishes follow their own order: recess the SMC niche between studs, waterproof with a self-adhesive membrane and sealing compound, tile over the flanges and finish with silicone that cures for 24 hours before the first shower. Soap dishes are surface-mounted through two 5/32 inch holes and sealed the same way. Installing SMC Shower Niches and Soap Dishes has the full sequence.

Curing, Bracing and What Not to Do

• Allow 24 hours. The acrylic kits are braced for 24 hours, the niche silicone cures for 24 hours before the first shower, and the same wait is the safe rule for every seam.
• Never cut into packaging with a blade, and keep SMC parts flat and dry in storage rather than leaning against a wall.
• There is no grout in these systems. The SMC and PVC products are grout-free by design, and the tongue and groove joints are sealed with silicone.
• Do not rely on silicone to cure a fit problem. If the alcove is larger or smaller than the kit footprint, or the height lands between two kit heights, give the measurements to your Ella dealer or the team before ordering.

Watch: Installing a Glue-Up Tile Flange: Step-by-Step | Ella’s Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

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