What is a tub cut-out, and does Ella's Bubbles offer one?

A tub cut-out is a conversion of an existing bathtub, where an opening is cut into the tub wall and sometimes a door is fitted to it. Ella's Bubbles does not cut an opening into an existing bathtub or add a door to one. Every Ella walk-in tub is a complete, purpose-built bathtub designed around a sealed, low-threshold door from the start, as Which Companies Make Walk-In Tubs Designed for Elderly or Disabled Homeowners? explains, and this page covers what that design changes about bathing safety, feature by feature, with the published step-in figures by model.

Why Ella Builds the Tub Around the Door

Every Ella walk-in tub is a complete bathtub. The acrylic shell sits on a rustproof stainless steel frame, and each tub is assembled and tested to order at the company's facility in Chicago before it ships nationwide, as Ella's Bubbles Walk-In Tubs: A General Overview describes. The door is part of that design rather than an addition to it: a door in the side of the tub with a low threshold, so you step in through the door instead of climbing over a tub rim, then sit and bathe with the door closed. Depending on the model the door swings inward into the tub, as on the Deluxe, or outward into the room, as on the Monaco, and the Capri's U-shape outward swing door closes on three latches.

Because the door, the seat, the textured floor and the grab bar are all part of one molded and tested design, nothing about the safety of the tub is improvised on site. The model, door side, therapy package and faucet are confirmed with your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 before the tub is built, and a licensed local plumber and electrician install it. Ella does not send technicians, and the company also offers walk-in showers for anyone who prefers a shower-based bathing option.

The Features That Make Bathing Safer, and What Each Does

• A low step-in threshold. The lip in the door opening is what you step over, measured from the finished floor. On Ella walk-in tubs that threshold runs roughly 3.5 to 7 inches, against a regular bathtub wall of roughly 18 to 22 inches, and most models can be set lower still at installation.
• A textured slip-resistant floor. The video on this page shows the low threshold and the textured floor making entry and exit safer, even from a wheelchair.
• A built-in seat at chair height. The Deluxe, at 30 by 55 inches, is shaped for sitting upright in deeper water, while the Longer, at 27 by 60 inches, has an extended seat area so a bather can scoot down and stretch out. The Elite has a 22 inch wide seat and a 42 inch interior length.
• A built-in grab bar on nearly every Ella model.
• A sealed door that is closed while you bathe, so the bather sits inside the tub rather than balancing over a rim.
• A deck-mounted faucet with a pull-out hand shower, so the tub fills and rinses with the bather seated. Most Ella tubs ship with a fast-fill set.

What is a walk-in tub and who is it designed for? sets these features against a standard bathtub. The point for a household weighing a cut-out is that every one of them is built into the tub, not fitted to it afterward.

Step-In Height by Model

The table lists the published drawing values and the figures Ella's team gives for the step-in threshold, with the door type and the bather each design serves.

The differences come down to how the bather gets onto the seat and how much room they need once there. A person who walks with a cane steps through a Capri, Monaco or Elite door and sits. A person who transfers from a wheelchair needs the L-shaped outward swing door of a Transfer model: the Transfer26, at 26 inches wide by 52 inches long with a 19 inch seat, suits petite to average wheelchair users and smaller bathrooms, and the TransferXXL at 36 by 55 inches adds bariatric width. Someone who wants to lie down rather than sit chooses a LayDown tub, where the LayDown60 measures 30 inches wide by 60 inches long by 21 inches high overall and the soaking depth is 15 inches, compared with about 11 inches in a standard bathtub. If a specific figure matters for your doorway or your bather, What is the lowest height bathtub for easy entry? separates overall height from step-in height and ranks the models.

Overall Height Is Not Step-In Height

A number that confuses many shoppers comparing a cut-out with a walk-in tub is the overall height. A walk-in tub is entered through a sealed door, so its wall can be taller without being harder to get over, and inside is a molded seat at chair height. That seat is why seated walk-in tubs stand well above a regular tub: the Elite is 35 inches high, and the HomeCare assisted-bathing tub is 41 3/8 inches high. What you actually step over is the low lip in the door opening, measured from the finished floor. The height of the tub wall is not the figure that decides how easy the tub is to enter; the threshold is, and on most Ella models it can be set lower at installation.

Assisted Bathing, Soaking and Therapy

For a bather who cannot bear weight or slide across, the HoistAssist pairs a transfer tub with its own battery hoist, and the HomeCare is designed exclusively for assisted bathing with a caregiver present. Most Ella models can be ordered as a soaker with no jets for bathers who simply want a safe, comfortable bath, and depending on the model the therapy options include a heated seat and back, hydro jets, air jets, microbubbles and hydrofoot therapy. None of these change the door, the threshold, the floor or the seat; they are added to the same purpose-built tub. To choose a model and options, speak with your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850.

Watch: Ella's Bubbles Walk-In Tub's Low Threshold, Easy Entry Makes Bathing Safer with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• Walk-in tub dimensions by model: exterior sizes, seat widths, and door types
• What Accessible Shower Options Help Someone Who Cannot Step Over a Tub?

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