Can I Use My Own Faucet Instead of the Ella Fast-Fill Set?

Yes. An Ella walk-in tub can be ordered without the Ella fast-fill faucet, and on a tub built that way your installer drills the deck for the fixture you supply and connects it on site. The trade-off is that the pull-out hand shower, the shower column kit and the matched replacement parts are all designed around the Ella 2-piece and 5-piece sets, as Installing the 2-Piece and 5-Piece Fast-Fill Faucets and Hand Shower explains, so the decision is best made before the tub is built rather than after it arrives.

How the Ella Faucet Normally Arrives

When a tub is ordered with an Ella faucet, the set is included and the deck is pre-drilled for it. The supply lines are never connected when the tub leaves the facility so the tub can travel fully drained, and depending on the order the faucet components arrive seated loosely in the deck or packed with the tub. Either way the installer finishes the mounting and connects the two included supply lines. The first video shows the 2-piece set going in: the unit drops into the main pre-drilled hole over its built-in gasket, the metal locking plate and foam gasket go on underneath, the bolts are hand tightened and then secured with a screwdriver, and the hot line with red markings and the cold line with blue markings are threaded on. Both lines have reverse threads and get an extra quarter to half turn with a wrench after hand tightening.

The deck cut-outs for an Ella faucet are a 2-1/2 inch diameter hole for the faucet body, a 1/3 inch diameter hole for the mounting rods and a 7/8 inch diagonal hole for the hand shower. Those are the holes already in the deck when the tub ships with an Ella set, and the holes an installer drills if a deck is being prepared for one later.

What Changes When You Supply Your Own Faucet

• The tub is built without the faucet. Ask your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 to have the tub ordered without the Ella faucet. On a tub built that way the deck is not drilled for an Ella set, and your installer drills the holes the fixture you supply requires.
• The hand shower is part of the Ella set. Every Ella fast-fill set includes an extendable multi-function hand shower with five spray settings on a 5 foot retractable hose, limited to 1.9 GPM by plumbing code and fitted with a backflow prevention check valve. On the 2-piece set you push the diverter button to send water to it, and on the 5-piece set you turn the diverter handle. With your own faucet, seated rinsing depends on what your fixture provides, which is worth reading about in Which Handheld Shower Head Is Best for an Ella Walk-In Tub?.
• The shower column kit feeds from the Ella diverter. The second video shows the kit going onto a deck by removing the existing hand shower, installing the column base in the vacant receptacle, replacing the water supply line and attaching the new one-half inch supply line to the diverter on the 2-piece or 5-piece set. The kit is described only for those two sets, so if an overhead shower is in your plans, ask the team before counting on it with another fixture. Can you take a shower in a walk-in tub? covers the seated and overhead options.
• The warranty follows the maker of the faucet. The Ella Lifetime Limited Warranty covers the Ella faucet as a part, while non-Ella brand faucets carry only their own manufacturer's warranty. If you choose the Ella thermostatic faucet package instead, the built-in Ella Thermostatic Control Valve that mixes hot and cold to a set temperature carries a 1-year limited warranty.
• Replacement parts are matched to the set. Ella hoses and handsets are matched to the faucet set, and the 5-piece hose does not fit the 2-piece faucet. With a fixture you supply, spare parts come from that fixture's manufacturer rather than from Ella.

Comparing Your Options

The differences come down to what is bundled in. The three Ella sets bring the seated hand shower and the path to an overhead shower with them, and their parts stay under the Ella parts warranty. A fixture you supply gives you the look and brand you prefer but moves the drilling, the temperature control, the spares and the warranty to your plumber and the fixture's manufacturer. On the LayDown60 there is no choice to make, because the tub is never sold with a factory faucet.

Supply Lines, Check Valves and Fill Rate

The current Ella 5-piece set uses 3/4-inch supply lines, while older Ella faucets usually have 1/2-inch lines. If the check valves under the tub have 1/2-inch connections, a plumber fits a standard 3/4-inch to 1/2-inch NPT adapter. Those same check valves are what a customer-supplied fixture ties into, so give your plumber the connection size of your fixture ahead of time. The Ella faucet is capable of a fill rate of about 16 gallons per minute, which fills a tub of around 60 gallons quickly; Drainage and Fill Time gives the details. The fill rate of a fixture you supply is not listed by Ella and depends on that fixture, so if a quick fill matters to you, compare its rating against that figure before you buy.

If the Ella Faucet Is Already on the Deck

An installed tub does not lock you in. The deck holes on a tub shipped with an Ella set are the Ella cut-out sizes above, so any replacement fixture has to suit those holes, and your plumber should confirm that before anything is removed. If the goal is simply a working faucet rather than a different brand, the team supplies the whole set, just the hot and cold valves, the spout or the hand mixer line, and on older sets you can keep the existing spout and hand sprayer and switch out only the handles and valves. Replacing Your Walk-In Tub Faucet Set, Valves or Hand Mixer walks through identifying which piece is actually failing. In every case Ella ships parts and a local licensed plumber does the work; Ella does not send technicians. Ask your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850, or open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support with your model, serial number and a photo of the deck.

Related Guides

• Buying a Fast-Fill Faucet Set or Valve Body on Its Own: Specs, Finishes and Deck Hole Size
• Ella Fast-Fill Faucets: 2-Piece vs 5-Piece, Finishes, and the Waterfall Option
• Installing the Ella Fast-Fill Faucet on a Tub That Is Not an Ella

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