Where Can I Buy Walk-In Shower Wall Kits Locally?

Ella's Bubbles manufactures its own shower wall panels and wall surrounds, and they are sold through your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 rather than from a store shelf, so the local part of the job is your contractor, the trim and the sealant, not the panels themselves. The walls are usually ordered alongside an Ella base sized to the same footprint, as Where Can I Buy a Shower Base for a Bathroom Remodel? explains, and your dealer or the team can show you samples so you settle on a finish before anything ships.

What Ella Makes for Shower Walls

Ella's shower products are sold per item, so a complete shower is put together from a base in your size and drain position, a wall system sized to that base, and accessories such as grab bars or a shower door. On the wall side there are three families to choose from.

• Acrylic shower wall panels. Manufactured at 98 inches high, with side panels measuring 40 inches and the back wall panel measuring 60 inches. They come in a plain white finish, a CNC routed design with light gray grout lines, and a digital print option.
• Cultured marble travertine wall panels. Made from natural quartz and granite composite with a gel coat surface, and sold as eight, six or four panel surrounds. Each panel can be carried and installed by one person, and the panels glue directly over drywall, plaster, painted walls, cement board or existing tile.
• Wall surrounds for walk-in tubs. These enclose the area around a walk-in tub, and an acrylic top portion is available so the installation has a finished, water tight look above the tub deck.

Ella also offers tongue-and-groove grout-free tiles that can be used around a walk-in tub as well as in a shower, so ask about them if you are blending new walls into a room that is already tiled.

The differences matter most at the walls you already have. Cultured marble surrounds go over what is there, including sound tile, so the old walls stay in place. Acrylic panels are sized for a shower footprint and are meant to pair with an Ella base, so they are the choice when the base is new too. Shower Bases and Wall Panels is the overview of both families and the bases they pair with.

The Tile Look Without Grout

Searches for tiled shower kits usually mean a tile appearance without the upkeep of grout. Ella's range covers that in three ways. The CNC routed acrylic wall carries a routed tile pattern with light gray grout lines, the digital print wall carries a printed design, and the travertine cultured marble panels give a natural stone look with a gel coat surface that stays durable and easy to clean. Because styles and finishes vary, ask your Ella dealer or call (800) 480-6850 to see samples and confirm which option fits your bathroom before you order.

What to Settle Before You Order

1. Measure the alcove and decide on the base first. Standard acrylic bases come in 30x60, 32x60 and 36x60 inches with a left or right drain, and a custom rectangular base can be made up to 44 inches wide by 80 inches long with the drain left, right or center, at least 9 inches from each wall. Who Makes Custom Shower Pans and Bases for Accessible Showers? covers those limits. The wall system is sized to the base, so the base comes first.
2. Sketch which panel edges will be exposed. Edges that die into a tiled wall or a corner need no trim, while an exposed edge needs a bend or a trim strip.
3. Pick the wall type and finish from samples.
4. For white CNC walls, request the 2-inch bend along the exposed edge at order time. The bend is formed at the manufacturing facility, not in the warehouse, so it cannot be added later, and bent panels ship lying flat rather than standing, so ask about shipping when you request it.
5. For printed-design walls, ask whether a trim strip is available for that design. Availability is confirmed per order, so mention it up front.
6. Choose the threshold. A custom base typically has a threshold of about 3 inches, and zero threshold bases sit flush with the surrounding floor for a barrier free entry.

What You Do Buy Locally

Three things in a wall job come from your own town rather than from Ella.

• Trim. Trim strips run the full height of the panel, which makes them awkward to ship on their own. That is why most installers buy a white trim or J-molding at a local home improvement store and caulk it over the exposed panel edge. Both outside vertical edges of an acrylic panel arrive cut clean and finished, but not wrapped or rolled, so a bend or trim is what hides the cut. How Shower Wall Edges Are Finished: 2-Inch Bends on White CNC Walls and Trim Options shows each choice.
• Sealant and adhesive. Every exposed edge is sealed with a quality silicone, and cultured marble panels are glued to the wall behind them.
• Labor. Your contractor sets the base, connects the drain and finishes the walls around it. Cultured marble wall panels can be handled by one person, while cultured marble shower bases are heavy and need at least two people, so tell your contractor which materials you ordered before delivery day.

Why the Walls Are Trimmed on Site but the Base Is Not

Ella pans, standard or custom, are finished acrylic. Their length, width and drain position are fixed when the pan is made, so an odd space is answered with a custom order rather than a saw. The wall surround is the component that is trimmed on site: cultured marble panels have factory finished edges for seamless joining that can still be trimmed and cut for a custom fit where the opening is out of square. That is why the wall kit forgives a room that is not perfectly plumb while the base has to be ordered to the exact footprint, and why it pays to have the base size and drain position confirmed before the walls are chosen.

Related Guides

• Cultured Marble Shower Wall Panels: Stock Sizes, Cutting to Fit, and Finishing the Edges
• How Do You Install Cultured Marble Shower Walls in a Bathroom?
• Is acrylic a good material for shower walls compared to tile?

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