Which walk-in tub doors swing open instead of sliding?

Every door on an Ella walk-in tub swings open on hinges. None of them slides, because a tub door has to seal against a full bathing well every time you bathe, and a sliding panel cannot do that job. The sliding doors you see in the Ella catalog are shower doors, so the real choice on a tub is between five swing-open door styles that open either inward into the bathing well or outward into the room, a choice that Sliding or hinged walk-in tub door: which fits a narrow bathroom? frames around floor space.

Why a Walk-In Tub Door Swings Instead of Sliding

The door on a walk-in tub is the way in, and it is also the part that holds back the water. It is hinged to the tub, sealed against the water, and pulled tight by a latch mechanism each time you close it. A sliding door does a different job entirely. It rides on rollers along a track and keeps shower spray inside an enclosure, and it is never asked to hold back a tub full of water.

That is why a search for a sliding Ella door turns up shower hardware. The Ella Duo is a 55 by 70 framed sliding door with two panels of clear tempered glass about 1/4 inch thick in a chrome frame, reversible for left or right opening, and it is the door commonly used on the 60 inch wide one-piece and three-piece shower stalls. Ella also lists a 5/16 inch glass sliding door in 48 by 78 and 60 by 78 sizes, which is heavy enough to need two people to install. Ella's framed sliding shower doors ride in a bottom track, while the Primo frameless door has only a low gasket along the glass, as Does the Ella Shower Door Have a Bottom Track or Is It Trackless? explains. None of these is a tub door. If what you want is a door that swings open rather than slides, every Ella walk-in tub already gives you one, and the question becomes which swing suits your bathroom.

The Five Swing-Open Door Styles

Ella's door options video names five low threshold door styles, and the knowledge base groups the current tubs into four of them. The table lists each style, which way it swings, what it is made of, and the models that use it, drawn only from the published door descriptions.

The swing direction is the decision that shapes the room. The three inward styles open into the well, so nothing swings out into the bathroom and the tub can sit with a vanity or toilet close in front of it. The two outward styles open into the room, which the video says makes entry and exit easier because you are not stepping around a door inside the tub, but they need an open swing path in front of the tub, and the L-shape door needs 36 1/2 inches of it. Material follows style. The inward stainless door and the Ultra door lift off for cleaning, the S-shape door is acrylic like the tub itself, and both outward styles close with Ella's proprietary gear-and-shaft mechanism, with three latches on the U-shape door and two on the L-shape door.

Inward or Outward: What Each Swing Asks of Your Bathroom

An inward-swing door needs no floor space in front of the tub to open. You step into the well, and the door closes behind you into the tub, so the front apron can face a narrow walkway or a close toilet without any conflict. This is the swing to look at when the bathroom is tight or when a vanity sits directly across from where the tub will go.

An outward-swing door opens toward you. The video describes the outward doors as allowing an easier entry and exit, with a decorative glass panel and an effortless chrome locking handle. The trade is floor space: the door needs a clear arc in front of the tub, and on the Transfer models that arc is 36 1/2 inches, although the L-shape door is designed to fit over a standard size toilet. Before settling on a style, check these points in your own bathroom:

• Measure the clear floor in front of the tub location, from the tub apron to the nearest fixture, wall or door swing.
• Note where the toilet sits. An L-shape transfer door can pass over a standard size toilet, which changes what counts as clearance.
• Think about who is bathing. A wheelchair user who transfers onto the seat needs the extra-wide L-shape opening; a bather who walks in can use any of the five styles.
• Decide how much you value a removable door. The stainless inward door and the Ultra door lift off so the frame and seal can be wiped down.

What the Door Options Video Shows

The video on this page walks through all five styles with the doors in motion, which is the quickest way to see the difference between a door that opens into the well and a door that opens toward you. It shows the outward doors with their glass panels and chrome locking handles, the brushed stainless inward door with its tempered frosted glass panel and interior chrome locking handle being lifted off for cleaning, the brushed aluminum Ultra door, and the extra-wide L-shape door opening to clear a wheelchair. It also explains the gear-and-shaft locking mechanism on the outward L-shape and U-shape doors, which the video says gives a tight, leak-proof seal, and points out that where other walk-in manufacturers use only one latch, Ella uses three. One naming note: the video refers to the stainless inward door as an inward swing U-shaped door, while the knowledge base calls it the inward-swing brushed stainless steel door and reserves U-shape for the outward-swing composite and glass door. They are different doors, and the table above uses the knowledge base names.

Taking the Door Off, and Keeping Shower Spray in

Because every tub door swings on hinges, people sometimes ask whether it can simply be removed to make an open bathtub, or whether a sliding glass door can be added above the tub. The stainless door on the Petite and Elite lifts off for cleaning, and the outward-swing door lifts away from its hinge once its bolts are out during a replacement, but that is removal for cleaning or for fitting a new door, after which it goes back on and seals again. Without the door and its seal there is nothing holding the water in the well, so an Ella tub is not run as an open-sided bathtub, and anyone planning around a doorless setup should ask the team at (800) 480-6850 first. For shower spray, Ella's answer is not a sliding door but the 4-fold glass shower screen, a 44 by 42 inch tempered glass screen in a chrome ionized aluminum frame that mounts in a channel on the wall beside the tub and rests on the tub deck. Both topics are covered in Can I remove my walk-in tub door or add a sliding glass door?.

Related Guides

• How Wide Is the Door Opening? Published Door Widths, Swing Arcs and Clearance by Door Family

Related Videos

Common Questions