How does a walk-in tub compare to a regular bathtub or a shower?

A walk-in tub changes how you get into the bath more than what the bath does: it has a watertight door, a low threshold and a built-in seat, so you step in, sit, close the door and fill the tub around you, instead of climbing over a high wall and lowering yourself to the floor of an open basin. A walk-in shower shares the low entry but has no door that seals and no basin to soak in, so it suits someone who can still stand to bathe. The door, seat and threshold are engineered together, which is why Can Ella Cut a Walk-Through Opening or Add a Door to My Existing Bathtub? explains that none of this can be added to the tub you already own.

How the Bathing Routine Changes

With a regular bathtub you run the water first, then step over the wall into a full basin and sit on the floor. A walk-in tub reverses the order. You open the door, step over the threshold, sit on the molded seat and close the door while you are still dry. Then you fill the tub, bathe, and drain it completely before opening the door to step out. The two short waits, one to fill and one to drain, are the trade-off for never climbing a tub wall, and Ella's hardware is built to keep both brief.

• The Ella faucet system is capable of a fill rate of about 16 gallons per minute.
• Ella's gravity dual drain has no drain pump. Once it is connected to a proper 2 inch drain line, the tub typically empties in two minutes or less.
• The threshold is low. The Capri, for example, has a 3.5-inch threshold, far lower than the wall of a standard tub.

A conventional tub simply holds water. Many Ella models are equipped with hydro massage or air massage jets, and a heated seat and chromatherapy lighting are options, with the jet count and pump setup depending on the model and the therapy package. Grab bars are included, and the door closes on an integrated gasket with a multi-latch gear and shaft mechanism, all on a rustproof stainless steel frame.

Walk-In Tub Versus Walk-In Shower

A walk-in shower is a shower with a low step-in entry, normally an acrylic base with acrylic wall panels. It is the right choice for someone who can still stand to bathe, or who needs only a little assistance, and certain shower models include a shower seat. What it cannot give you is a soak: there is no sealed door, no basin that fills, and no built-in seat as standard. Ella offers acrylic shower walls and shower bases alongside its walk-in tubs, as described in What Products Does Ella's Bubbles Offer?, and the online Shower Builder Tool lets you put a walk-in shower design together before a contractor visits to measure the space.

The practical meaning is about who is bathing. If stepping over a wall and getting back up from the floor is the problem, a walk-in tub removes both. If standing is fine and nobody wants to soak, a walk-in shower is simpler and has no fill or drain wait. If the household includes both kinds of bather, the walk-in tub with a screen and a shower column covers everyone in the space a single fixture takes.

Showering in a Walk-In Tub

Every seated Ella walk-in tub takes the 4-fold tempered glass shower screen, a chrome-finish screen 44 inches wide by 42 inches high that folds back out of the way after you shower. It mounts to the wall, ideally into a stud, never to the tub, and a rubber seal along its bottom edge keeps water inside. The screen starts at the back wall at the seat end and runs across the door toward the grab bar, so it covers the whole seating area where most showering happens, leaving an opening of about 16 inches at the standing end. The LayDown tubs, the Ella models without a seat, take their own bi-fold screen, and a plain shower curtain is the answer whenever the tub does not sit in a full three-wall alcove. Which shower screen or curtain fits your Ella walk-in tub model? maps the screens to each tub situation. Ella does not offer a walk-in tub with a full fixed glass door in place of a folding screen.

The shower itself comes from the deck. The first video shows how the shower column kit attaches to a 2-piece or 5-piece fast-fill faucet set: the existing hand shower comes off, the column base goes into the vacant receptacle, the supply line is replaced and the new half inch supply line connects to the faucet's diverter, after which you can shower seated or standing. The second video shows the Ella waterfall faucet, a wall-mounted alternative that delivers water in a cascade, filled the demonstration tub in less than 5 minutes, and carries an extendable hand shower with four settings on a shower column, in chrome, brushed nickel and matte black. One more case is worth knowing: a clearance tub labeled Handyman Special has a door that will not hold water and is sold as is for shower-style use with a screen, which How Do Clearance Tubs Work: The Defect, Photos, Payment and Pickup? explains.

Fitting a Walk-In Tub Where Your Bathtub Is Now

Many walk-in tubs are more compact than people expect and fit the space a typical bathtub occupies. Most Ella walk-in tubs go into the same three-wall alcove as your current tub, so the room's layout and plumbing locations stay where they are. When the tub is shorter than the alcove, an extension panel fills the gap, and a knee wall can hide the plumbing or carry fixtures. Ella tubs use their own deck-mount faucet packages, so your existing tub spout and handles are normally replaced rather than reused; the exception is the LayDown 30 by 60, which has no factory faucet option and requires a customer-supplied faucet, typically wall-mounted.

Ella manufactures complete walk-in tubs and does not cut an opening or add a door to an existing bathtub or tub and shower combination, and there is no Ella conversion kit. Every tub is assembled and tested to order and ships from the Chicago warehouse to the dealer network, so the models and shower components available to you come through your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850.

Watch: The Luxurious Walk-In Tub Upgrade You Need - Waterfall Faucet |Ella's Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• How does a walk-in bathtub actually work, from door to drain?
• How long does it take to fill a walk-in tub?
• How Fast Do Walk-In Tubs Drain and What Speeds It Up?

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