Does the walk-in tub tile flange sit against the wall or the floor?

The tile flange sits against the wall, not on the floor. It is a thin waterproof strip bonded with 100 percent silicone to the edge of the tub deck where the deck meets a wall, overlapping that edge and rising up the wall so the tile or wall panels can come down over it. Nothing about it touches the floor. The part itself is described in What Is a Tile Flange on a Walk-In Tub?, and this page covers exactly where it goes, which edges get one, and why the floor line is never part of it.

Where the Flange Sits

Ella walk-in tubs have a flat deck edge with no built-in lip, and that is by design. The water barrier at the wall is a strip added at installation. The installation manual describes it as any 1/8 inch or 3/16 inch rust-proof, waterproof material such as acrylic, thin stainless steel or fiberglass, about 5 inches tall, glued to the tub edge with 100 percent silicone so it overlaps the tub edge by about 2 inches. Picture it as an L: the short leg lies on the deck edge and the long leg stands up against the wall. The wall tile or panels then overlap the flange and come down onto the deck, and every joint is caulked with silicone. Water that runs down the wall meets tile, then flange, then deck, and goes back into the tub instead of behind it.

The current Ella part that fills this role is the Flexible Glue-Up Tile Flange kit, listed as FlangeBand: a 124 inch strip of 4 inch wide flexible membrane with an integrated 1 1/4 inch siliconized adhesive strip, packed with a spreading spatula, a cardboard alignment guide and alcohol cleaning tissues. Because the membrane is flexible, it follows the small movement between the tub and the wall that a rigid plastic lip cannot. The video on this page opens with the kit contents and then shows the first installation step: marking the strip position on the walls above the deck ledge using the alignment card, so the strip lands at the correct height on the wall before any silicone is opened. That marking step is itself the answer to the question, because every mark is made on the wall at deck height, never at the floor.

Read from the bottom up, the tub's weight is on its legs, the deck edge is where the flange starts, and the wall finish is what covers it. The floor line never appears in the sequence, so an installer who is holding the strip at the baseboard has the wrong joint.

Why It Is Never on the Floor

The tub does not rely on the walls or on a floor seal for support. It stands on its own stainless steel frame and leveling legs, and every leg must bear on the floor. The flange is a splash barrier for water running down the wall from bathing and from the hand shower, and that water meets the tub at deck height. Where the tub is placed away from a bathroom wall, a contractor-built knee wall behind the walk-in tub gives the tile flange and silicone a surface to finish against, exactly as an alcove wall would, which again puts the flange at the deck edge rather than at the floor.

Which edges get a flange is simple to work out. Measure the total run of tub edge that meets a wall, the back plus each end, at deck height. The 124 inch kit suits most Ella tubs in a standard three-wall 60 inch alcove, and longer strips are listed for larger models such as the Big4One, TransferXXL, LayDown72, Escape and Big4Two. The one exception to note is the ShaK, which is not designed to be tiled in directly, so talk with technical support before planning tile around a ShaK. Edges that face the room are finished with the front apron, the extension panel or an end panel, and the joints where those panels meet the tub and the wall are siliconed.

When It Goes on

1. Level the tub with every leveling leg bearing on the floor, with no leg floating.
2. Complete the pre-installation water test. No wall is finished before the water test, because fixing a leak behind finished tile is far more disruptive than fixing it in the open.
3. Have the kit in hand. The flange ships separately by parcel carrier, not in the crate with the tub, so do not report it missing on delivery day. When you request one through where you purchased the tub or the team at (800) 480-6850, include your tub model so the right length ships; support records it under the part code EB-FLANGE.
4. Clean the tub edge with the alcohol tissues in the kit, then bond the flange with 100 percent silicone so it overlaps the tub edge. The strip is reversible, and which colored side faces out depends on whether the fixture already has an integral flange.
5. Run the tile or wall panel down over the flange and onto the deck, then silicone every joint. Existing wall tile that is sound and properly sealed can stay; your installer confirms its condition.

The full sequence for your installer is in how to install a tile flange on a tub or shower base, and the same approach applies to an Ella shower base, where the flexible strip can go on after the base is set.

What Goes Wrong When It Is Missing or Misplaced

If the tub leaks at the corners or along the wall when filled while the door stays dry, you are almost always looking at a finishing gap rather than a defect in the tub: no flange, a flange that does not overlap the tub edge, tile that stops above the flange instead of overlapping it, or corners left uncaulked. The checks are in why the tub leaks at the corners or wall when filled. If the installer expected a molded lip and started the walls before the strip went on, which flange to use when the tub has no tile lip covers how to recover. For a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support, have your model, whether the tub is already installed, the alcove layout with wall lengths in inches, and a photo of the tub edge where it meets the wall.

Related Guides

• Tile Flange, Caulking, and Finishing the Walls Around Your Walk-In Tub
• What Is a Bathtub Flange and What Does It Do?

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