What is the lead time from ordering a walk-in tub to installation?

Ella's Bubbles publishes no lead time from order to installation, and this knowledge base never promises a date. Every walk-in tub is assembled and tested to order, so the time from paid invoice to delivery varies by model, options and stock, and your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 confirms current timing for your specific order. Installation is a separate clock run by your own licensed local contractor. The options that need confirmation before an order is even placed are covered in Which Ella walk-in tub options are special order and do they add lead time?, and this page explains what sets the timing and what you can do to keep it from growing.

Why There Is No Single Number

An Ella tub is not pulled from a shelf. When your order is placed, a tub is pulled with your name on it and drilled for whatever faucet you selected, which is why the deck of a no-faucet order still arrives drilled for the Ella set. Every therapy system has its own pump under the seat, and Ella does not use a diverter to split one pump between two systems, so the build changes with every package. The faucet is assembled on the deck but not hooked up to the supply lines when the tub leaves the factory, so the tub can ship fully drained, and your installer connects the lines on site. Each of those steps depends on the model, the options and what is in stock on the day, and that is the reason the published material states no processing, production or delivery timeframe.

Custom work follows the same rule. Ella manufactures its own acrylic shower bases in three standard sizes, 30 by 60, 32 by 60 and 36 by 60 inches, and builds custom rectangles to one bathroom's numbers. How long does a custom Ella shower pan take to build and ship? makes the point that applies to every order: the useful question is not what the lead time is but what the team needs so the build can start.

Orders the Team Has to Confirm Before They Are Placed

A special order is a request to put a system on a frame that does not normally carry it, and the team confirms whether the room exists under the seat before the order goes in. The known cases are infusion microbubble on the Deluxe or Ultimate, the Air + Hydro + Foot triple on the Lounger, all four therapy systems on the TransferXXL, and the H2 hydrogen system on any tub other than the Standard60. The hydrogen generator, its pump and its distilled water tank all sit under the molded seat, so a special-order installation depends on the space available under the deck. What Is H2 Hydrogen Therapy on a Walk-In Tub? describes that system and the way it is packaged with microbubbles on the Standard60, the catalog model where no confirmation is needed. If your wish list includes one of these builds, the confirmation is part of placing the order, not something that happens after it.

A custom shower base has its own list. The team needs the length and width in inches, whether the layout is a three-wall alcove or a corner, the drain position, left, right or center and at least 9 inches from each wall, and the threshold style. Alcove bases run from a 30 by 30 inch minimum up to 44 inches wide by 80 inches long, corner bases top out at 42 by 60 inches, and only rectangles are made. A request that arrives complete can be confirmed and built. A request that is missing a measurement, or that asks for an angled or curved base the factory cannot make, goes back and forth before anything happens, and that exchange is the part of the wait you can shorten.

The Three Clocks Between Order and First Bath

• Build. Starts at the paid invoice and runs until the assembled and tested tub leaves the factory. This is the part Ella does not publish, and your dealer or the team confirms it for your exact order.
• Freight. A shipment confirmation with tracking arrives by email once the tub ships. On receipt, inspect the shipment for visual and concealed damage, keep all packaging material, and report any damage within 48 hours of receipt through ellasbubbles.com/support or (800) 480-6850.
• Installation. Ella manufactures and supports the tub but never performs installation. Your licensed local contractor sets this schedule, and Ella's technical support guides them for free by phone, email and live video.

Because the third clock belongs to your contractor, the real lead time to a working tub is the build plus freight plus whatever your installer's calendar allows. Lining up the electrician and plumber while the tub is being built, rather than after it arrives, is the biggest thing you control.

Choices That Are Settled at Order Time

The faucet is the clearest example. Every seated Ella tub normally ships with its fast-fill faucet set and pull-out hand shower. The LayDown60 is the exception: it has no faucet option at all and always needs a customer-supplied faucet, usually wall-mounted, so the plumber's rough-in for that faucet is part of the plan from the start. The LayDown72 offers No Faucet, 2-piece or 5-piece at order time. On other seated tubs a no-faucet order is possible on some models, but the deck still arrives drilled for the Ella set, so you need a matching deck-mount faucet or cover plates ready before the tub arrives. Using Your Own Faucet: No-Faucet Orders, Pre-Drilled Decks, Wall-Mount Options, and Which Tubs Require a Customer-Supplied Faucet walks through each case.

Some add-ons can come later. The shower column video on this page shows the kit being added to an existing deck: the hand shower comes out, the column base goes into the vacant receptacle, and a new 1/2 inch supply line runs to the diverter on the 2-piece or 5-piece fast-fill faucet. An accessory you are still deciding on does not have to hold up the tub order, while the choices that drill the deck, the faucet and the therapy package, do.

How to Ask About Timing

Call your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 with the model, the therapy package, the faucet choice and any special-order request, and ask for current timing on that exact build. If you already have an order, have the invoice number ready so the team can look at your tub rather than a typical one. Ask again when you book the installer, since the answer reflects stock and the build queue on the day you ask.

Watch: Easy Shower Column Installation for Your Walk-In Tub | Ella’s Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• Video Tour: How Your Tub Is Assembled, Tested, Packed and Shipped From Chicago
• Your walk-in tub has arrived, how to inspect the delivery before signing
• What Installation Involves, How Long It Takes, and What Drives the Cost

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