What Is a Stall Shower and How Does It Differ From Others?
In the Ella lineup, a stall shower is a complete molded shower, base and walls together, that arrives either as a single molded unit or as sections assembled on site, with its grab bar set and its drain in the carton. What sets it apart from other ways to bathe is how it arrives and what it leaves to your plumber: the stall ships without a shower head, hand shower or valve, and the wall arrives without a valve cutout. The carton contents are itemized in What Comes in the Box With an Ella Shower Kit, and What You Still Need to Buy.
What Makes a Shower a Stall
An Ella shower kit ships with the shower stall itself, the grab bar set listed for that kit, and the drain. The stall is the enclosure: the floor you stand on and the walls around you, molded to fit together. Depending on the model it is one-piece or multi-piece, but either way it is a matched unit rather than a collection of unrelated parts. Ella showers are built as accessible residential showers with a low step-in and grab bars supplied with the unit, and some configurations include a seat.
A few details surprise first-time buyers, and they are worth knowing before the carton arrives:
- The grab bars are packed loose and are not pre-installed, so mounting them is part of the installation. Confirm the grab bar count against your order when you unpack.
- The wall arrives solid, with no opening for a valve or shower head and no preset height or offset. Your plumber marks and cuts the openings during installation, because the correct location depends on the valve you choose, the rough-in behind the wall and the needs of the person using the shower.
- The drain that ships with the kit is connected to the house waste line by your plumber, who also supplies the rough-in piping and fittings.
One-Piece, Three-Piece and Five-Piece Stalls Compared
The biggest difference between one stall and another is how many pieces it arrives in, because that decides whether it can reach your bathroom at all. The table uses only the figures printed in Ella's guides, and it adds the barrier-free roll-in base as a point of comparison.
| Type | How it arrives | Figures in Ella's guides | Seating | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One-piece stall | A single molded unit that cannot be broken down | At least 33 inches of clear opening at every doorway, hallway and stairway on the route; a wider stall needs correspondingly wider openings | Seat side is confirmed with you before production | New construction, where the shower is set before doorways and hallways are finished |
| Three-piece stall | Separate sections that pass through ordinary doorways; the base turns sideways | not listed | not listed | Finished homes where an opening is narrower than the one-piece rule |
| 5-piece stall | A base plus four wall sections that assemble on site | Molded foot ledge 17 5/8 inches long; grab bars in a 24-inch or 36-inch length | No molded seat; a bench is the option to specify | Buyers who want soap ledges, a bench and grab bars chosen at order |
| Barrier-free roll-in base with flexible dam | A shower base used with a flexible, compressible shower dam | not listed | not listed | Wheelchair users who roll in and roll out |
What the differences mean for you: start with the path into the house, not the look of the shower. Most finished homes have at least one opening narrower than 33 inches, which is why the one-piece stall is aimed at new construction. If that describes your home, the three-piece or 5-piece stall is the friendlier choice because the sections travel through ordinary doorways. The measuring walk-through is in How Do I Measure Doorways and Hallways for a One-Piece Ella Shower?, and the option list for the sectional unit is in Ordering the 5-Piece Shower Stall With Soap Ledges, a Bench, or Grab Bars.
Two details about the 5-piece stall are easy to miss. Soap ledges are an ordering option built into the wall panels rather than an add-on for a stall already in place, so choose them when you place your order. Ella also does not carry a matching door for every stall size, so ask which door, if any, fits the opening of the size you are ordering before you plan the enclosure.
How a Stall Differs from a Walk-In Tub Order and from a Roll-In Base
A walk-in tub is often ordered with an Ella faucet package that includes a hand shower, so the water controls arrive with the tub. A shower stall is different. No shower head or hand shower is included, so nothing in the box detaches for hand-held use, and no mixing valve, valve trim or supply plumbing is included either. Plan to choose the shower valve and trim with your plumber, along with the shower head and any hand shower and slide bar, and have them on site before the stall is set.
A stall with a low step-in also differs from a barrier-free roll-in shower. The video on this page presents the Ella flexible shower dam, which is for exclusive use with a barrier-free wheelchair accessible shower base. It shows a wheelchair's wheels rolling over the compressible material on the way in and out, and the dam returning to its original shape so the water stays in the shower. It also shows the installation: the surfaces are cleaned with denatured alcohol, a tape line is laid as a guide, the dam is measured and cut, the end caps are fitted, the adhesive backing is peeled away as the dam is pressed against the shower wall and floor, and a thin bead of silicone is smoothed along the lower edge on both sides and at both end caps. If rolling in is the priority, that is the style to ask your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 about.
Accessibility, and What a Stall Is Not
Ella shower stalls are not ADA compliant, and that answer applies to the stall as a complete unit. The grab bars, the low step-in and the seat on some configurations make the shower easier and safer to use at home, but they do not change the compliance status of the stall. For a private residence, ADA certification is generally not a building code requirement. For a commercial building, or any project inspected against the ADA standard, confirm the requirement with your local code official before you order. The reasoning is laid out in Are Ella Shower Stalls ADA Compliant? What the Answer Means for Home and Commercial Projects. Whichever stall you choose, the grab bars must be fastened into the reinforced backing built into the wall panels with the correct screws so that they are secure.
What Happens Before a One-Piece Stall Is Built
Because a one-piece unit cannot be broken down, the team contacts you before the order goes to production. They confirm that you understand the shower is one piece and needs the clearance, ask you to verify it will fit the project, and confirm the seat side and drain side you selected and the number of grab bars. They also make sure the phone number on the order will be answered, because freight deliveries are scheduled by phone. Once everything is confirmed, the order is released to production.
Keeping a Stall Looking Bright
The walls and the floor of a stall need different tools. The care method the stall manufacturer specifies is Soft Scrub applied with a cloth on the walls, and Soft Scrub worked in with a brush on the floor, because a cloth alone does not lift the buildup that settles there. For hard water staining, the team recommends Goo Gone or rubbing alcohol. Other cleaners are acceptable as long as they contain no ammonia, bleach or Clorox, because those products make the gloss dull. The full routine is in The Shower Floor Looks Dull or Dirty Compared to the Walls: How to Clean It.
Watch: The Ella Shower Dam, Keep Water In, Roll In With Ease | Ella's Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.
Related Guides
- Installing an Ella One-Piece AcrylX Shower Stall: Alcove Prep, Drain Opening, Fastening and First Use
- Installing the 60 x 33 Three-Piece Low-Threshold Shower With Molded Seat (Liberty 24 and 36)
- Installing Multi-Piece Gel Coat Showers: Barrier-Free Roll-In (BF) and Low-Threshold (SH) Units
Related Videos
Common Questions
Does an Ella shower stall come with a shower head?
Will a one-piece shower stall fit through my doorways?
Does the 5-piece shower stall have a built-in seat?
Are Ella shower stalls approved as ADA compliant showers?
Where does the valve opening go on the stall wall?
About this guide. Answers in the Ella’s Bubbles Support Center are compiled from real conversations with tub owners, our technicians’ notes and the product documentation, then reviewed by our team. Tub models and options have evolved over the years, so a detail here may differ slightly from your exact tub. If something looks different on yours, send us your serial number and a specialist will confirm it for your model.
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