Water on the Floor After a Bath: Door Leak or Drain Leak?

Tell the two apart by when the water appears and where it sits. A door leak runs from the door frame, sill or bottom edge while the tub is full, on the door side of the tub. A plumbing problem shows up as water under the frame or on the floor on the opposite side, where the drains are. A little water on the tub floor below the drain plug, a damp sill after an outward door opens, or a few drops through the striker plate pin hole after draining are all normal and are not leaks. The timing rule comes from Is It Normal for Water to Sit in the Door Frame After Draining?.

Three Things That Look Like Leaks and Are Not

• Water below the drain plug. Every bathtub drain, including the gravity drain on an Ella tub, holds a little water in the trap so sewer gas cannot come back up. The level sits below the plug, stays the same rather than rising, and the tub floor around the drain is dry once draining finishes. Is It Normal to See Water Sitting Just Below the Drain Plug After Draining? explains the trap.
• A damp sill and a few drops on the mat. When an outward-swing door opens after a bath, water on the inside face of the door, in the gasket and on the sill runs down the frame and threshold, sometimes into the latch openings in the jamb. That is drainage, not a leak.
• A few drops under the tub below the striker plate. The opening where each locking pin seats is not sealed underneath, and Ella tubs are not equipped with a drain for it. A little water that collects in the door track can pass through that hole to the floor beneath the tub. No part is missing, and Water Drips Through the Striker Plate Pin Hole: Is a Part Missing? describes the catch and hose a licensed plumber can fit if the drip bothers you or the tub sits over a finished ceiling.

The Timing Test: Full Tub or Empty Tub

Fill the tub and watch the outside of the door frame and the floor while it is full. Dry while full means the seal is doing its job, and anything you see after draining is water coming off the door and gasket. A steady run from the frame while the tub is full is a door leak. Water that appears only while the jets or the hand shower are running, and runs down the outside of the door on the hinge side, is a third pattern with its own cause: the 4-fold shower screen sitting too far out on the deck, which funnels spray into the gap between the door and the tub outside the seal. Where Should the 4-Fold Shower Screen Sit on the Tub Deck? shows the correct position on the inside edge of the deck.

The striker plate article adds the other half of the timing rule: water on the floor below the tub while the tub is full, or a steady flow rather than a few drops after draining, is not the pin hole and points to the door seal or a plumbing connection instead.

The Location Test: Door Side or Drain Side

The door and the drains sit on opposite sides of an Ella walk-in tub. A right-side door puts the drains on the left, and a left-side door puts the drains on the right, with sides taken as you face the tub. That layout makes location a useful clue. Water at the door frame, on the sill, or on the floor in front of the door belongs to the door checklist. Water under the frame on the far side, where the drain connections run, belongs to the plumber, and the drain-plug article treats water outside the tub or under the frame as something other than the normal trap water.

The installation video on this page shows why the plumbing side gets checked at install: whenever possible the tub is filled completely with water before it is brought into the home to check for any leaks that may have occurred in transit, and all air, hydro and electrical connections are rechecked and secured. It also shows Ella's dual drain system with four ports and notes that the drain configuration varies with the tub and the way the house drain is set up. If water is appearing on the drain side, those connections are what a licensed plumber checks. Ella does not send technicians; a part that proves defective ships under the warranty and the plumber does the labor.

Symptoms Side by Side

Two of the six patterns are normal, one is a nuisance drip that a catch hose solves, and only the last three call for a fix. The door-side patterns are corrected at home in most cases without parts, while the drain-side pattern belongs to the plumber who made the connections.

If It Is the Door, Work in This Order

1. Drain the tub and remove the front apron. Confirm every leveling leg sits solidly on the floor; a leg that floats lets the shell bow and pulls the door frame out of shape, which is the number one cause of a door leak. Why Does My Walk-In Tub Door Leak at the Bottom? has the full sequence.
2. Look at the seal all the way around the door. If it is off center, press it back into its channel and wipe the seal and frame clean.
3. If the handle no longer pulls the door firmly against the seal, adjust the lock nut behind the apron.
4. Refill the tub and run a 20 minute fill test, watching the bottom edge and both sides.
5. If it still leaks, open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support or call (800) 480-6850 with your model and serial number, photos of the seal and the leak point, a note on when the water appears, and whether every leg passed the paper test.

Watch: Ellas Bubbles: Walk-In Tubs Installation Tips and Recommendations with chapters and a full transcript.

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