Will a walk-in tub fit through my bathroom door or need widening?

Most Ella walk-in tubs pass through a standard interior doorway, because the figure that has to clear the opening is the tub's actual exterior width, and those widths run from 26 inches on the Mobile to 32 inches on the Monaco and the Front Entry. A tub needs an opening wider than its actual width, so the doorway is only a problem when its clear width is at or below the width of the model you want. The actual sizes of the whole lineup are tabled in Which Ella walk-in tub models fit a 44 to 48 inch space?, and this page answers the doorway question on its own, from which models clear which openings to what your installer can and cannot take off the tub.

Why Width Is the Figure to Compare

A walk-in tub is a tall, narrow box rather than a flat tray. Every model in the table below is at least 35 inches high, so the tub goes through a doorway upright on its feet or stood on its end, and in both positions the dimension passing between the jambs is the actual width of the shell. Laying the tub on its side swaps that width for the height, which is the larger figure on every model, so turning the tub makes the fit worse rather than better. Standing it on end helps at a tight corner because it shortens the length you have to swing around, but it does not make the tub any narrower.

The figure to hold against your opening is the actual size printed on the spec sheet, not the size in the model's name. Ella sells tubs under rounded nominal sizes, and the drawing often shows a slightly smaller number. The Petite is sold as a 28 inch tub and measures 27.5 inches wide, the Deluxe is sold as 30 inches and measures 29.5, and the Royal is sold as 32 inches and measures 31.5. The Elite, the Capri and the Ultimate are a full 30 inches wide. The video on this page shows where those figures live: open the tub's product page, click the download tab, and the spec sheet lists the actual dimensions. Its other piece of advice is the one most people skip, which is to measure every doorway and hallway between the street and the bathroom, not only the bathroom door.

Actual Widths Against Common Doorway Sizes

Here is what the table means for the doorways people ask about most. A 25 inch opening is narrower than every Ella tub; the Mobile is the narrowest model at 26 inches, and it needs an opening wider than that. A 29 inch opening clears the Mobile, the Petite and the Flow, and it stops every 30 inch model, because a 30 inch tub has no dimension smaller than 30 inches to present to the frame, on its side or on its end. A 30 inch opening is the case to measure most carefully, since the Elite, the Capri and the Ultimate are exactly 30 inches wide and a tub needs an opening wider than its width, so the only thing that settles it is the clear width of your own frame. If the 30 inch models do not clear, the Petite gives up 2.5 inches of width at the same 52 inch length, and the Flow at 28 inches is the shortest of the inward-swing tubs. Width is also the one thing that separates two otherwise identical tubs. One customer found that the 32 inch Monaco would not pass through their bathroom doorway and moved to the 30 inch Capri for that reason alone, keeping the same soaking depth and seat height, as Monaco vs. Capri: What Actually Differs Between Ella's Two Outward-Swing 52-Inch Tubs describes.

How to Measure the Route

1. Measure the clear width of the bathroom door frame at its narrowest point, rather than relying on the door's stated size, the same way you rely on the tub's actual size rather than its name.
2. Repeat at every doorway on the route from where the delivery truck stops to the bathroom, including the front door and any hallway the tub must pass along.
3. Note the tight corners. A 52 inch tub turning from a hallway into a bathroom needs room to swing, and the Ultimate at 59.5 inches long needs more. Standing the tub on end is the move for those corners, not for a narrow frame.
4. Hold the smallest clear width you found against the actual width of the model you want, and keep the spec sheet with you on delivery day.

What Comes Off the Tub, and What Does Not

Ella tubs ship with panels that can come off before the tub moves, and taking them off is worth doing on any tight route because panels left on add inches on every side. The Royal, for example, ships with a removable front apron with two access panels, one reversible end panel and one 7 inch extension panel, all of which can be removed so the tub travels at its smallest size. What the tub cannot do is come apart. The stainless steel frame and the acrylic shell are built as one piece, so there is no way to split a tub into sections for a narrow doorway, and the tub's own door stays on. Do not remove the tub door or any other component on your own, and ask your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 before removing anything beyond the panels. Ella publishes no stripped-down width for a tub with its panels removed, so do not plan on the panels making up a shortfall. On the Royal the gap against a 28 inch frame is 3.5 inches, and the panels do not close it, as How do you get a Royal walk-in tub through a 28 inch door frame? explains. The shipping crate is not part of the problem either. It is larger than the tub on every side, 36 by 57 by 46 inches on the Royal, so it is opened outside and the tub is carried in by its frame.

When the Numbers Do Not Work

If the smallest clear opening on your route is narrower than the model you want, you have three honest choices, and the best time to make one is before you order. The first is a narrower model. Every tub in the table has a width, and the Mobile, the Petite and the Flow give you the most room to work with. The second is to open up the doorway, which is a job for your contractor to plan and not something Ella can judge from a distance; the tub's actual width tells your contractor the target, and nothing on the tub can be trimmed to meet the door halfway. The third is to ask before you buy, because your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 can confirm the actual size of any model against the measurements you send. Once the tub is in the room, the door swing is the next clearance to think about. The outward-swing U-shape models open into the room, while the inward-swing models need no floor space in front of the tub, which Sliding or hinged walk-in tub door: which fits a narrow bathroom? covers.

Watch: How to Choose Your Walk-In Tub | Ella's Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• Will it fit through my doorway? How to measure your home for a walk-in tub
• Can a 32 Inch Walk-In Tub Fit Through a 32 Inch Doorway?
• Can I Remove the Door to Get the Tub Into the Bathroom?

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