What features should I look for when choosing a walk-in tub?

Look first at the four features that decide whether a walk-in tub is safe and comfortable for the person using it: a low step-in threshold, a seat at chair height that is wider than the bather's seated hips, grab bars with a textured slip-resistant floor, and a door that seals tight and swings the right way for the room. Therapy, a hand shower and comfort options come after those four. Ella's Bubbles builds every model around the same safety basics, so the published figures are what separate one model from another, and How do I choose the best walk-in tub for a senior? gives the measuring method that turns those figures into a choice.

Start with the Bather, Not the Brochure

Ella's measuring method takes three figures before any tub is compared. The person sits in a chair facing a wall, in a relaxed position, and you measure hip width while seated, shoulder width while seated, and length from head to feet while seated. The tub seat must be wider than the hip figure, the shoulder figure tells you whether the tub has proper shoulder room, and the seated length gauges the tub length that fits. Compare those numbers exactly with the drawings and specifications for each model, because different body sizes need different size tubs.

• Seat width runs from 19 inches on the Petite and Transfer26 to 29 inches on the TransferXXL, so the seated hip measurement narrows the field quickly.
• Soaking depth is set by the depth from the top of the seat to the overflow drains, roughly 15 to 18 inches across the mid-size models; the Ultra, for example, gives 17 1/2 inches.
• Length matters for a bather around six feet or taller, where the long-seat models are the Big4One and the ShaK. Bigger is not automatically better, because those long seats can be uncomfortable for an average or shorter person.
• Weight has no single published limit across the lineup, because every shell sits on a rustproof stainless steel frame that carries the load to the floor. If the person can sit comfortably inside the tub, the tub holds them.

The Features Checklist

The table lists the features to check on any walk-in tub, with the figures Ella publishes for its own models and what each figure means for the person bathing. Where a figure is not published, the cell says not listed.

What the differences mean: the threshold and seat figures are the ones to match to the person, because they shape every single bath. The door figures are the ones to match to the room, because a door that cannot open fully past the toilet turns a good tub into a daily nuisance. The hand shower, grab bars and drains are built in across the Ella line, so they are features to confirm rather than to choose between.

Easy Entry: The Door Decides the Daily Routine

Every Ella walk-in tub has a low threshold, so the bather steps through a door, turns and sits behind a sealed door rather than lifting a leg over a rim and lowering down to the floor of the tub. The second video on this page shows that entry, including a bather entering from a wheelchair, and makes the point that the textured slip-resistant floor is part of what makes bathing safer. Within that shared design the door shapes who the tub suits.

• An inward-swing door needs no floor space in front of the tub. The Ultra, with its inward door and 17 inch seat height, is the example for a smaller bathroom.
• An outward-swing U-shape door of PVC composite and tempered glass, as on the Monaco, gives a wide opening and the lowest published step-in paired with a 23 inch seat. The first video shows the outward door secured by 3 latches.
• The L-shaped outward door on the Transfer family is built for a wheelchair user who slides across onto the seat. The Transfer26 is 26 inches wide by 52 inches long with a 19 inch seat for petite to average wheelchair users and smaller bathrooms, and the TransferXXL at 36 by 55 inches serves bathers who need bariatric width.
• If the person stays in a wheelchair or shower chair for the whole bath, a roll-in shower base with a nearly flush entry is the better choice than any tub.

Which model serves which bather, with the published step-in, seat and door figures for each, is matched up in Which Ella walk-in tub is best for seniors, and why?.

Therapy and Comfort Features Worth Adding

Once the safety features fit, the comfort features are a matter of preference. The first video lists what Ella adds on top of the sealed door: multiple jetting options, dual-drain technology, and accessories such as a 4-fold bath screen, a 10 inch rain shower head, a bathtub wall pillow and security grab bars. The articles add a heated seat and backrest, easy-touch or digital controls, a 24 inch hand shower slide bar and a 10 by 7.5 inch head pillow on the models that accept them. The acrylic surface is durable and easy to clean, which matters when the person cleaning the tub is also the person bathing in it. None of these options changes the compliance status of the room: there is no ADA certification for any bathtub, because the U.S. Access Board does not evaluate or certify products and private homes are not covered by the ADA. Ella tubs are residential tubs that carry many ADA-compatible elements, which is what matters in a home bathroom; the accessible options are compared in Which accessible bathtub options work best for elderly users?.

Who Makes Them, and What to Settle Before You Order

Ella's Bubbles manufactures walk-in tubs designed for elderly bathers, wheelchair users and people who need extra room, assembled in America at its facility in Chicago and shipped nationwide, and it also offers walk-in showers. Every Ella walk-in tub is a complete, purpose-built bathtub; Ella does not cut an opening into an existing tub or add a door to one. What Ella builds, and what to look for from any maker, is in Which Companies Make Walk-In Tubs Designed for Elderly or Disabled Homeowners?. The order is placed through your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850, who confirm the model, door side, therapy package, faucet and accessories before the tub is built, and every tub is assembled and tested to order. Before that call, have the three bather measurements, the alcove measurements, the location of the house drain and the clear floor in front of the door side written down. A local licensed plumber and electrician do the installation, and the purchase steps are in Where Can I Buy a Walk-In Tub Designed for Elderly or Disabled Bathers?.

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

Related Guides

• What is the best walk-in tub, and how do I compare models?
• Walk-in tub dimensions by model: exterior sizes, seat widths, and door types
• What Comes With Each Therapy Package: Pumps, In-Line Heater, Ozone, Auto Purge, LED, Dials, Pressure Tank and Controls at a Glance

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