Walk-in tub or walk-in shower: which is better for seniors?

For a senior who can still take one small step and wants to soak, a seated walk-in tub is usually the better choice, because the bather steps through a sealed door, sits on a seat at about chair height and holds a grab bar on the way in and out. For a senior who stays in a wheelchair or shower chair, or who is helped by a caregiver, a walk-in shower on a curbless roll-in base is the better fit, because there is almost no edge to cross. How do I choose the best walk-in tub for a senior? explains how to size a tub to one bather, and this page puts the tub and the shower side by side so you can see which one the person in your home actually needs.

Start with the Person, Not the Product

Ella's method for choosing a tub starts with the bather, not the catalog. The senior sits in a chair facing a wall, in a relaxed position, and you take three measurements: hip width while seated, shoulder width while seated, and length from head to feet while seated. The tub seat must be wider than the hip figure, the shoulder figure tells you whether the tub has proper shoulder room, and the seated length gauges the tub length that fits. Seat width runs from 19 inches on the Petite and Transfer26 to 29 inches on the TransferXXL, so the hip measurement narrows the field quickly. Seat height is 17 inches on most models, similar to a standard chair, so sitting down and standing up use the same motion as rising from a dining chair.

A shower is judged by a different number. A regular bathtub asks the bather to balance on one leg while the other clears the rim, and every accessible shower replaces that rim with an edge low enough to step or roll across. The real difference between the shower options is the height of that edge, so the question to ask is how high a lip the person can cross without help, and whether they will stand, sit on a bench or stay in a chair. What Accessible Shower Options Help Someone Who Cannot Step Over a Tub? walks through the shower side of that decision in detail.

Weight is rarely what decides between the two. There is no single published weight limit across the walk-in tub lineup, because every shell sits on a rustproof stainless steel frame that carries the load to the floor. If the person can sit comfortably inside the tub, the tub holds them.

The Edge the Bather Crosses, Side by Side

The table uses only figures printed in Ella's current guides. Where a guide gives no figure, the cell says not listed.

What the figures mean: the walk-in tub's threshold sits close to the step-in shower base, so a senior who can manage the tub can usually manage a step-in shower, and the other way around. The gap opens up for someone who cannot lift a foot at all. No walk-in tub has a roll-in entry, and the curbless bases drop the edge to about an inch or less, so a wheelchair, walker or shower chair crosses it with nothing to lift over. The lower the edge, though, the more the shower relies on something else to keep water in. On a curbless base that job belongs to a collapsible rubber shower dam, installed with silicone along the front of the base, which compresses under a wheel or a foot and springs back to hold the water in.

What a Walk-In Tub Gives a Senior That a Shower Cannot

The tub's whole purpose is a seated soak behind a watertight door. The bather steps through the door and sits, with no climbing over a tub wall and no lowering down to the floor of the tub, and the door closes on an integrated gasket with a multi-latch gear and shaft mechanism. Soaking depth is set by the interior length, the seat length and the depth from the top of the seat to the overflow drains. That seat-to-overflow figure runs roughly 15 to 18 inches across the mid-size models, and the Ultra, for example, gives 17 1/2 inches, so a tall bather with a long torso sits higher in the water than a shorter bather on the same seat.

Every Ella walk-in model is built around the same accessibility elements, and they are worth checking one by one against the person who will bathe:

• A low step-in threshold, 3.5 inches on the Capri, with the figure varying by model.
• Grab bars and textured, slip-resistant floors on all walk-in models. Most seated tubs include one or two deck-mount bars, and more can be added to the surrounding walls.
• A hand shower on the deck. The 2-piece and 5-piece fast-fill faucets include a pull-out hand shower, and the 2-piece cartridge is certified with an ADA lever.
• An optional shower column that adds a 10 inch rain head for seated or standing showers. The video on this page shows the column kit going into the deck receptacle where the hand shower sat and connecting to the diverter on the 2-piece or 5-piece fast-fill faucet, which is how a walk-in tub doubles as a shower.
• Comfort options such as a heated seat and backrest, easy-touch or digital controls, and on models that accept them a 24 inch hand shower slide bar or a 10 by 7.5 inch head pillow.

Length matters for a bather around six feet or taller, where the long-seat models are the Big4One and the ShaK. Bigger is not automatically better, because those long seats can be uncomfortable for an average or shorter person. The door also shapes the daily routine, so note which way it swings and whether the bathroom gives it room before you settle on a model. Which accessible bathtub options work best for elderly users? compares the seated tub with the other accessible bathtub options.

What a Walk-In Shower Gives a Senior That a Tub Cannot

A walk-in shower never asks the bather to sit inside a closed door, and on a curbless base it never asks them to lift a foot. Every Ella accessible shower is put together from a base, a wall system sized to it and the accessories the bather needs, and a seated shower is built on either the step-in or the curbless base with a folding bench or molded seat and a hand shower on a slide bar. That makes the shower the one to plan around for someone who will shower from a chair, or who is helped by a caregiver.

For someone who is unsteady but still walking, the 3 inch step-in base is often the comfortable middle ground. There is a small edge to feel with the foot and no dam to cross, which is a different feel from a flush floor where the only boundary is the rubber dam. Ella's one-piece and three-piece stalls, at 4 inches, still ask for a small, deliberate step, so a stall suits a senior whose balance is good and who simply wants to stop climbing over a tub rim.

How to Decide, and What Happens Next

1. The person can take one small step, wants to soak, and can sit and stand from a dining chair. Choose a seated walk-in tub sized to their seated hip, shoulder and length measurements.
2. The person stays in a wheelchair or shower chair, or is helped by a caregiver. Plan a walk-in shower on a curbless roll-in base with the rubber dam.
3. The person is unsteady but walking and prefers a shower over a bath. The 3 inch step-in base gives a lip to feel without a dam.
4. The person wants both a soak and a standing rinse. A walk-in tub with the hand shower or the optional shower column covers both in one footprint.

Ella's online Shower Builder Tool lets you scroll through the shower options and put together a custom design before the project moves forward, and a walk-in tub builder tool is available through your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850. After you build a design, a contractor visits your home to measure the space and finalize the installation details.

Either product is purchased through your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 and ships nationwide from the company's facility in Chicago, so where you live does not limit the choice. Every tub is assembled and tested to order, and the team confirms current timing for your specific order. Ella's Bubbles manufactures the tub or shower and does not install it; a local licensed contractor sets the tub or base and connects the plumbing. Where Can I Buy a Walk-In Tub Designed for Elderly or Disabled Bathers? covers what to settle before the order is placed.

One last point for anyone comparing brochures: there is no ADA certification for any bathtub, because the U.S. Access Board does not evaluate or certify products, and private homes are not covered by the ADA. Ella tubs are residential tubs that carry many ADA-compatible elements, which is what matters in a home bathroom.

Related Guides

• What is the best walk-in tub, and how do I compare models?
• What is a roll-in shower and who should get one?

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