Where Can I Find a 28-Inch Wide Walk-In Tub?

Ella's Bubbles builds two walk-in tubs in the 28 inch class: the Ella Petite, which is sold as a 28 inch tub and measures 27.5 inches wide on its current spec sheet, and the Ella Flow, which measures 28 inches wide by 48 inches long. Both are available through your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850, and the spec drawing for each model sits under the download tab for that tub on the Ella website. If you have been searching for a 28 inch tub and coming up empty, the usual reason is that some pages list the rounded name and others list the actual inch figure, a difference explained in How Wide Is a Walk-In Tub, and Will It Fit Your Home?.

Why a 28 Inch Tub Is so Hard to Find Online

Every Ella walk-in tub carries two sizes. The nominal size is the rounded figure in the model's name, and the actual size is the measured dimension printed on the current spec sheet. The Petite is the clearest example. It is marketed as a 28 inch tub, yet its actual exterior width is 27.5 inches. A search for a 28 inch tub can land on a page that says 27.5 inches, and a search for 27.5 inches can land on a page that says 28, so the same tub seems to appear and disappear depending on where you look. Half-inch differences of this kind are normal rounding in a product name, not an error in the drawing, and the same thing happens at the long end of the line, where a tub described as a 5 foot tub can measure 59.5 inches.

Three more habits of size listings add to the confusion:

• Width is the short side. On a walk-in tub the width runs from the front of the tub to the back wall, and the length runs along the wall. The larger of the two figures is almost always the length, so a listing of 52 by 28 and a listing of 28 by 52 describe the same footprint.
• The order of the three figures varies between listings, so read the labels rather than assuming which number is the width.
• When a metric figure printed beside an inch figure disagrees with it, the inch figure is the correct one.

The practical rule is to ignore the name and compare your own measurements with the actual inch values on the spec drawing. Walk-In Tub Dimensions Explained shows how to read the three figures and where the drawing lives for each model.

Ella's Narrowest Walk-In Tubs Side by Side

The table below pulls together every narrow model with figures on a current Ella spec drawing or in the model guides. Where a figure has not been published in those sources the cell says not listed, and the spec sheet for that model is the place to confirm it.

What the differences mean: if your limit is a tight doorway or hallway, the Lounger, Petite and Flow give you the most room to spare, with the Petite at 27.5 inches offering slightly more clearance than the Flow at 28 inches. If your limit is the length of the opening, the Flow at 48 inches and the Petite at 52 inches are the compact choices, while the Lounger needs a 60 inch space. The Elite, Capri and Monaco are the next step up in width and are worth keeping on the list if your narrowest opening is comfortably wider than 30 or 32 inches, because the extra width shows up inside as a wider seat.

Getting a 28 Inch Tub Through the Door

A narrow tub is usually chosen for the path into the bathroom rather than for the alcove. Most Ella walk-in tubs pass through a bathroom doorway when the clear opening is wider than the tub's actual width on its spec sheet, because the crate can be opened outside and the tub carried in by its frame. That gives you two figures to plan with: the shipping size for the route the crate travels, and the actual width for every doorway and hallway the bare tub must pass. For the Petite that means a crate of 31 by 57 by 47 inches and a tub 27.5 inches wide. For the Flow it means a crate of 32 by 54 by 49 inches and a tub 28 inches wide.

Write every figure in inches at the tightest point, with door stops and trim in place:

1. Entry door clear width.
2. Each hall width and each interior door along the way.
3. Each corner the tub must pivot through.
4. Bathroom door clear width.

Width is what usually decides it. The Monaco and the Capri are the same outward-swing design in two widths, 32 inches for the Monaco and 30 inches for the Capri, and one customer found the Monaco would not pass through their bathroom doorway and moved to the Capri for that reason alone, keeping the same depth and seat height. The same logic is how many owners arrive at the Petite or Flow. Will a Walk-In Tub Fit Through a Standard Bathroom Doorway? covers the delivery path in full.

The video on this page shows where to click on the Ella website to find the specific dimensions of each tub and explains why correct measurements of all doorways and hallways matter. It uses the Petite as its example, listed as 28 inches wide with an actual exterior width of 27 1/2 inches, which matches the current spec sheet. One note: the video quotes an older width for the Elite. The current spec sheet lists the Elite at 30 inches wide, and that is the figure to plan around.

Fitting a Narrow Tub into Your Alcove

A 28 inch class tub does not have to fill the space an old bathtub left behind. Ella builds around a set of standard footprints, and the sizes offered include 28x52, 27x60 and 26x45 inches alongside the more common 30x52, 32x52, 38x52, 30x60 and 30x55 footprints, so there is usually a close match for an existing opening. The full list is in What are the standard dimensions of a walk-in tub?.

When the tub is shorter than the opening, the gap is closed rather than left open. An Ella tub shorter than 60 inches includes an extension panel that closes the gap at the wall, so a 52 inch Petite still fits a standard 60 inch alcove and looks finished. Measure the width of the alcove from the back wall to the front edge as well, because the width figure on the drawing is the front-to-back dimension the tub occupies on the floor. Height matters more on a walk-in tub than on a standard bath because the walls are tall enough for seated bathing, so compare the 35 inch height of the Petite or the 36.5 inch height of the Flow with any window sill, vanity top or fixture beside the tub.

What the Narrow Width Means Inside the Tub

The width and length on a listing describe the exterior footprint, not the bathing space. Inside the shell, the space is described by the seat width, the seat length, and the depth from the top of the seat to the center of the overflow. On seated tubs the seat-to-overflow figure runs roughly 15 to 18 inches across the mid-size models, and because the published depth is measured to the overflow it is the real depth you can fill to, not the height of the rim. As one example of how exterior and interior figures relate, the seat on several Ella models is 18 inches wide, while the 32 inch wide Monaco carries a 23 inch seat. The interior figures for the Petite and Flow are on their own spec drawings, and they vary from model to model, so read them from the drawing for the exact tub you are considering rather than from a family overview. Are Walk-In Tub Dimensions the Floor Footprint or the Inside Bathing Space? explains how each interior figure is taken.

To move forward, note the actual size and shipping size of the model you have chosen, your narrowest doorway figure and your alcove measurements, then contact your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850. They can confirm the current spec drawing for the Petite or Flow and check your figures against it before your order is placed.

Watch: How to Choose Your Walk-In Tub | Ella's Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• Ella Petite vs Elite vs Flow: which compact walk-in tub fits you?
• Ella Mobile 26x45 vs Flow 28x48: which fits through a narrow doorway?
• What is the Ella Flow walk-in tub and what does it include?

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