What plumbing and electrical does a walk-in tub installation need?

An Ella walk-in tub needs three things from the house: a drain connection on the side opposite the door, hot and cold water supplies for the deck-mounted faucet, and one or more dedicated GFCI protected electrical lines for any therapy systems and heaters. A licensed plumber makes the water and drain connections and a licensed electrician wires the pumps and heaters, as How do you install a walk-in tub and what is needed? explains. This page lists what each trade needs to have in place before the tub arrives, so the installation day is a matter of connecting rather than re-plumbing.

The Drain: Where It Lands and How It Connects

On every Ella walk-in tub the door and seat are on one side and the drains are on the other, as you face the tub. A right-side door tub has its drains on the left and a left-side door tub has its drains on the right. Because the drains have to line up with the house drain, the plumbing location is the first thing to settle, and it decides which door side you order. Confirm the choice with your installer before you place the order, because the tub is built with the door on the side you select.

The rough-in dimensions your plumber needs come from the spec sheet and drawings for your model, which download from its product page. The tub sits on top of the floor on adjustable leveling legs that set the frame with about 3 inches of clearance beneath it, which is enough room for 2 inch PVC. That clearance is why one drain line coming up through the floor can be run to either side of the tub, and why the tub does not need access from below.

The tub drain feeds a T-type drain body with connectable ports on either side. Your plumber uses the ports that face the house drain and closes the rest with the end caps that ship with the tub. A Y fitting is preferred over a T on the run to the house drain because fewer turns drain faster. The house drain itself should be tested for free flow and must be trapped and vented to local code. The tub does not need a special vent of its own, and its drain handles double as air vents on the tub side.

The default installation keeps all of the drain piping above the floor and needs no cutting. Lowering the tub for a recessed look means putting the drain below the floor and trimming the apron, which affects the warranty on the altered parts, so decide that before the plumber starts. Where Does the Drain Sit for a Slab Installation? covers the slab case, where the drain stub comes up through the concrete and the piping runs under the frame.

The Water Supply and the Faucet

The plumber handles the water supply, the drain connection and the faucet hookup as one job. The water spout ships loose and is mounted into the open hole in the deck during that hookup, so the faucet is not something the crew has to buy separately or fit before the tub goes in. The plumber connects the tub's supply lines to the house hot and cold lines behind the tub, and once the drain is joined the tub is ready for a fill test before the panels go back on.

Electrical: Dedicated GFCI Protected Lines

The electrical video on this page walks through the requirements an electrician has to meet. Ella labels the electrical lines at the production facility and keeps every pump, heater and control clearly marked and easily accessible, and all of the electrical components are certified. The rules for connecting the tub to the house power supply are these:

• Dedicated GFCI protected outlets must be used. The tub cannot share a circuit with any other appliance.
• The breaker box must also use GFCI protected breakers for the tub's circuits.
• The amperage provided in the breaker box depends on the number of components in the tub and the type of components, so the electrician sizes the circuits to the package you ordered.
• The more pumps and accessories the tub has, the more dedicated lines it needs. A soaking tub with no therapies needs none, while a tub with hydro massage, air massage, a heater and a heated seat needs a line for each system.

To find out exactly how many plugs and how many lines your tub will need, go to the compare Ella walk-in tubs page on the website, open the jetting packages tab, and read the electrical requirements for the tub you are interested in. When Ella refers an installer, it sends that contractor the tub specifications and the electrical diagrams for the model ahead of time, so the electrician can rough in the right number of circuits before delivery. On a tub with a heated seat and back, for example, the two heater pads connect to a control box under the tub, and that control box is one of the components on its own dedicated line. Once the outlets are in place, the tub's cords simply plug in.

Who Does the Work and What Ella Provides

Ella manufactures the tub and does not install it. Ella provides the tub, the specification sheets, the electrical diagrams for the therapies you choose, and free technical support by phone, email and live video for whoever does the work. The installer provides the site visit, the labor and any materials the job calls for, such as the PVC between the tub and the house drain. Installation pricing is set by the contractor and never by Ella, so questions about the cost of the work go to the installer. Any licensed installer you already trust is welcome, and certification by Ella is not required.

If you do not have someone in mind, Getting Installer Referrals and Leads for Your Walk-In Tub explains how a referral works. You send your full installation address, the model you are considering and the therapy options that interest you through ellasbubbles.com/support or by calling (800) 480-6850, and the team introduces you to the partner installer closest to you. That contractor visits the home to take measurements, reviews the doorway and bathroom, and provides an estimate for the work. Partner installers are independent businesses, so any labor coverage on the installation comes from them, and it helps to ask for that coverage in writing before the work begins.

After the tub is in, the same division continues. The Lifetime Limited Warranty from Ella is a parts warranty, so a defective part ships to you at no charge after verification, and a local licensed plumber, electrician or handyman fits it. Nearly every repair on an Ella tub, from a button and air hose to a valve or a control box, is ordinary plumbing and electrical work, and Who Can Come Out and Fix My Walk-In Tub? explains how that works when the original installer is not available.

Checklist Before the Tub Arrives

1. Locate the house drain and order the door side that puts the tub drains on the same side as the house drain.
2. Download the spec sheet and dimension drawings for your model and give them to the plumber and electrician.
3. Have the plumber confirm the house drain flows freely and is trapped and vented to code, and decide between the default height and a recessed install.
4. Have the electrician read the electrical requirements for your jetting package and rough in one dedicated GFCI protected line per component, with GFCI breakers in the panel.
5. Bring the hot and cold supplies to the faucet end of the tub so the loose spout can be mounted and connected during the hookup.
6. Keep the end caps and the small parts from the crate together, since every unused drain port must be capped.
7. Have the plumber or electrician call the team at (800) 480-6850 with any question during the job. Technical support is free for the life of the tub and no prior Ella experience is required.

Watch: Ella's Bubbles: Proper Electrical Installation For Your Walk-In Tub with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• Electrical requirements by model: dedicated GFCI circuits for your walk-in tub
• What Size Water Heater Do I Need for My Walk-in Tub?
• Plumbing and drain configurations: connecting your walk-in tub to the house drain

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