Does a Walk-In Tub Need Professional Installation, and How Complex Is It?

An Ella walk-in tub is installed by a licensed local plumber and electrician, not by Ella's Bubbles, and the work itself is ordinary trade work rather than anything unusual. The plumbing side is a faucet supply and a drain connection, and the electrical side is a set of dedicated GFCI protected circuits sized to the pumps and heater in your tub, which is the part that belongs with a licensed professional. Does Ella's Bubbles Install Walk-In Tubs, and How Do I Choose an Installer? covers the two ways to find that installer, and this page looks at what the job actually involves and how demanding each part is.

What the Installation Actually Involves

Ella builds and tests the tub to your order, ships it by freight, and backs it with a Lifetime Limited Warranty on parts. Everything after the crate arrives belongs to the installer you choose. The published description of that labor is short: the plumbing and electrical connections, leveling, and reinstalling the access panels. Nearly every task on an Ella tub is ordinary plumbing and electrical work, which is why any licensed professional can do it and prior Ella experience is not required.

• Measuring the space. The installer confirms the tub fits the room and the path into it before the order is placed. Some network installers work from photos you email and discuss the job by phone, while others come to the house to measure. A site visit is the more reliable choice.
• Plumbing connections. The faucet's water supply and the tub drains are connected to the house plumbing, the same kind of connections a plumber makes for any bathtub.
• Electrical connections. Each powered component plugs into a dedicated outlet on a GFCI protected circuit. This is the part of the job with firm requirements, described in the next section.
• Leveling. The installer sets the tub level before the connections are finished, and leveling is listed as part of the installer's scope.
• Access panels. The removable front panels go back on once everything is connected and tested. The model and serial label sits inside one of these panels, so it stays reachable later.

The Electrical Work Is Where the Requirements Are Firm

The video on this page walks through the electrical side of an Ella installation. Ella marks all electrical components clearly, labels the electrical lines at the production facility, and makes the pumps, heaters and other components certified and easy to identify, so the installer is matching labeled cords to outlets rather than wiring components from scratch. What the home has to provide is the demanding part. As your contractor connects the tub to your home's power supply, dedicated GFCI protected outlets must be used, and the tub cannot share a circuit with any other appliance. The breaker box must also use GFCI protected breakers, and the amperage supplied must match the number and type of components in your tub. The more pumps and accessories the tub has, the more dedicated lines it needs.

The exact count of plugs and lines for each model and therapy package is published on the compare walk-in tubs page at ellasbubbles.com, under the jetting packages tab, so your electrician can size the circuits before the tub arrives. Once the outlets are in place, the tub is simply plugged in. Running new dedicated circuits and fitting GFCI breakers is electrician's work, and the warranty does not cover plumbing and electrical connections or problems caused by improper installation, so this is the portion of the job that should never be improvised.

Why the Job Is Less Complex Than It Sounds

Free lifetime technical support comes with every tub, and it is available to your contractor as much as to you. The team answers questions from any licensed plumber, electrician or handyman by phone, by email with photos, and by video chat, FaceTime, WhatsApp or WeChat while they are on site during business hours, with manuals and videos to match. That is why the installer does not need to have seen an Ella tub before. It also shows in how service works later: many fixes turn out to need no part at all, just a reconnected air tube or a plugged-in cord, because the components are individually labeled and accessible. Who Services an Installed Ella Tub? explains that model in full.

What a Do-It-Yourself Route Changes

Ella's installation guidance assumes a licensed contractor is making the connections, and the warranty is written the same way. It is a parts warranty: when a defect is verified from your photos, the part ships to the original customer's address at no charge. It does not cover labor, removal, replacement or installation, plumbing and electrical connections, or water damage to the home, and Ella is not responsible for warranties or representations made by dealers, retailers, distributors or contractors. The labor warranty on the installation comes from whoever did the work. If you do the work yourself, there is no labor warranty at all, and any problem traced to the installation rather than to a part falls outside the parts coverage.

Before the tub goes in, ask your installer for the terms in writing: the scope, meaning plumbing connections, electrical work and leveling, and what labor coverage they offer afterward. Keep in mind that some dealers will not work on tubs they did not sell or install, so the professional you choose now is often the one you will call later. Who Can Come Out and Fix My Walk-In Tub? describes what happens when the original installer is unreachable.

How to Line Up the Installer Before You Order

1. Decide whether to use your own licensed plumber and electrician or to ask about the installer network. For the network, give the team your full installation address and it checks whether a network installer is available near you.
2. If a network installer is available, the team exchanges contact details between you, and the installer reaches out to set up next steps.
3. Have the installer measure, ideally with a site visit, and confirm the model fits the room.
4. Give your electrician the electrical requirements from the jetting packages tab so the dedicated GFCI circuits are ready before delivery.
5. Get the labor scope and the labor warranty in writing.
6. Settle the delivery address with the installer before your order is confirmed.

Showers follow the same pattern. After you build a design with the online shower builder tool, a contractor visits to measure your space and finalize the installation details, as described in Shower Builder Tool. For either product, your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 can answer questions from you or your contractor at any stage.

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?
• Installation Documents for Your Contractor: Spec Sheets, Electrical Diagrams, Manuals and the Live Video Session

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