What Does a Walk-In Tub With a Glass Shower Screen Look Like?

An Ella walk-in tub with a glass shower screen looks like the tub itself with a set of folding tempered glass panels mounted to the wall at one end, standing above the deck so hand shower spray stays inside the tub while you stand or sit in it. It is not a glass box: Ella does not offer a full-length or full-height glass enclosure around a walk-in tub, and no Ella package includes a dome or top panel, so the tub stays open to the bathroom ceiling. The full list of screens, shower attachments and other add-ons is in Showers, Shower Screens, and Accessories for Your Ella Walk-in Tub, and the two videos on this page show the screens in place.

What the Screen Looks Like on the Tub

The screen is a run of tempered glass panels joined by hinges, fixed to the wall at the end of the tub where you stand to shower. The LayDown bifold screen is described as a sleek tempered glass door on durable chrome hinges with chrome brackets, with a gasket along the bottom edge that keeps water from leaking out under the glass. The panels fold so you can reach in and out of the tub, and when they are folded back the top of the tub is as open as it was without a screen.

Two points decide the look. First, the screen covers only part of the length of the tub. On the LayDown60 the spec sheet drawing prints a screen span of 38 1/4 inches against an overall tub length of 59 3/4 inches, so part of the top stays open by design. On a 60 inch seated tub the four-fold screen measures 44 inches wide by 42 inches high and leaves an opening of about 16 inches at the standing end. Second, the screen is an alcove screen. It sits between the walls of a three-wall alcove and cannot close off an open end of the tub, which is why a tub with only two walls around it is usually finished with a curtain rather than glass.

The result is a bright, open look. Light from the room passes through the glass, the walls and the bathroom ceiling finish the space above the tub, and the screen reads as a splash guard rather than a cabin.

Why There Is No Full Enclosure, Dome or Roof

People searching for a tub with a shower enclosure often picture glass on every open side and a panel across the top. That is not how an Ella tub is built. Can a Glass Shower Enclosure Be Installed Around the LayDown60 Tub? confirms that the bifold screen is the only screen option for the LayDown tubs and that a full glass enclosure with walls on every open side is not something Ella sells. The seated tubs use a different four-fold screen, and the same limit applies.

• No glass across the top. Ella does not offer a dome, a ceiling top panel or a light fixture, as explained in Does Ella Offer a Dome, Ceiling Panel or Light for Its Showers?. The space above the screen is finished by your bathroom ceiling, and steam is handled by the room's ventilation.
• No glass on an open end. Ella screens are alcove screens. When only two walls are available, staff have suggested framing a wall on the open side or hanging a shower curtain on a curved rod that turns the corner.
• No floor-to-ceiling glass. The LayDown60 drawing prints installed heights of 57 inches and 57 1/2 inches for the screen and a base depth of 20 1/4 inches. The glass stops well short of the ceiling.

If a sealed cabin is what you have in mind, that is a different type of product, and your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 can help you decide whether an Ella tub with a screen suits the space.

Screen and Curtain Options at a Glance

What the table means in practice: on a single-seat tub you will see one folding run of glass at the standing end and open tub beyond it, while on the Big4Two the four-fold and three-fold screens are combined so the two-person tub needs no curtain. Only a curtain covers an open end, so the layout of your alcove, not just the tub model, decides which look you can have.

Where to See It: The Videos on This Page

Both videos show real screens rather than drawings. The Big4Two accessories video shows the four-fold glass screen combined with a three-fold glass screen on the two-person tub, described as a bright and airy alternative to a shower curtain, along with the dual rain shower heads that let one bather stand while the other sits. It is the clearest picture of what a tub with glass along its top looks like in a finished bathroom. The three-fold assembly video shows a four-panel screen laid on a soft surface and converted to three panels by removing one inside panel. You can see the hinges, the plastic retainer inserts and the screw caps that snap onto the top edge, which answers the question of how the panels connect and how the top of the screen is finished.

The LayDown60 article adds the spec sheet drawing with the screen installed, and the guide to using a shower curtain with a walk-in shower covers the curtain alternative and the two-wall layout.

Planning the Look in Your Bathroom

1. Count the walls around the tub. Three walls allow a glass screen. Two walls point to a curtain on a curved rod or a framed wall on the open side.
2. Match the screen to the tub. A bi-fold screen is for lay-down tubs and a four-fold screen is for seated tubs such as the Capri. Your Ella dealer confirms which one fits your model.
3. Decide how you will shower. A 24-inch hand shower slide bar, a 5-foot stainless steel shower hose with a coupling kit and a 10-inch rain shower are accessory options, and a shower column kit can be installed on the tub.
4. Plan the lighting with the room, not the screen. Nothing on the tub or screen carries a light, so any fixture above the tub comes from a licensed electrician and should be rated for wet or damp locations.
5. Tell your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 what you would like and ask what is already part of your order, so the screen arrives with the rest of the kit.

Watch: Big4Two: 2 Person Walk-In Tub Accessories For Couples | Ella's Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• Folding Glass Shower Screen: Which Side It Mounts On, How Much Room It Takes Folded, and Confirming Stock
• Do You Sell Folding Glass Shower Screens for a 60 Inch Walk-In Tub?
• Can a Shower Screen Cover the Full Length of My Walk-In Tub?

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