Who installs Ella acrylic shower walls, and how do I find them?

Ella's Bubbles does not install shower walls and does not send technicians, so the person who installs your acrylic shower walls is a local licensed plumber or contractor of your choosing. Ella's Bubbles supplies the wall panels, bases and accessories through your Ella dealer, and its technical support team is available at (800) 480-6850 to answer your contractor's questions about the unit while the job is under way. The most common questions about setting a multi-piece stall against finished walls are answered in Installing the Freedom 3-Piece Shower Stall Over Existing Drywall.

Why the Installer Is Local Rather Than from Ella's Bubbles

Ella's Bubbles is a manufacturer. Walk-in tubs, acrylic shower walls and shower bases ship from the Chicago warehouse to the dealer network, so the products reach your home through your Ella dealer, as described in What Products Does Ella's Bubbles Offer?. The installation itself, including bringing a water supply and a drain to a room that was never a bathroom, is handled by a local licensed plumber or contractor. That split is deliberate. The contractor knows your local code, your existing plumbing and your walls, and Ella's tech support knows the product, so keep your model number handy in case a question comes up mid-project.

Any licensed installer is fine; certification by Ella's Bubbles is not required. The labor is warranted by the contractor who performs it, while the product itself is covered by Ella's Bubbles, which ships replacement parts under the warranty rather than sending a crew. If you do not have a contractor in mind, your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 can help you locate a reputable installer. If you are starting from a blank room, the online Shower Builder Tool lets you scroll through the options and put together a custom design, and a contractor then visits your home to measure the space before anything is ordered.

What a Professional Shower Wall Installation Includes

A good contractor treats the wall panels as the last step of a sequence that starts with measuring. The steps below come from Ella's published installation guidance for its shower products.

1. Measure the space and settle the base first. The entry edge decides accessibility: a standard or custom acrylic base carries a threshold of about 3 inches, a zero threshold base sits flush with the floor, and a wheelchair accessible roll-in base ships with a self-adhesive collapsible rubber dam. The threshold cannot be changed once the base is set, so your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 confirms the threshold style against your plumbing before the order is placed. The sequence is laid out in How Do You Build a Handicap Accessible Walk-In Shower at Home?.
2. Locate the supply lines and the drain before the base is positioned, since the drain has to align with the base.
3. Check that the walls and floor are plumb and level so the panels line up and the threshold sits correctly.
4. Confirm the existing drywall is dry, firm and free of damage. Soft or water-stained sections are repaired before the panels go in.
5. Bring the pieces in. A multi-piece stall arrives as separate sections, which is easier to carry through doorways than a one-piece unit.
6. Fasten and seal in the order given in the installation document packed with the unit, then caulk and finish the joint between the panels and the surrounding wall so water stays inside the shower.

What Makes the Job Go Smoothly

Several details in Ella's shower line are there to make a contractor's work simpler. The Freedom 3-piece low-threshold stall installs over existing drywall, so the walls do not have to be stripped back to the studs; that makes it a practical choice when a finished room such as a laundry room is being converted. Three-piece acrylic wall systems come in white, CNC and digital print finishes with ADA accessories available, and the large panels include 98 by 60 inch back walls and 36 to 38 by 96 to 98 inch side walls. Where a base leaves a gap at an adjoining wall or fixture, the 8 inch wide L-shaped filler piece closes it; it comes with brackets and, because it is plastic, can be trimmed down if it is too large for the space. The range is described in Shower Bases, Walls, and Filler Pieces.

The first video shows Ella's cultured marble travertine wall surrounds, which are a different material from the acrylic panels but follow the same installer-friendly idea: the multi-piece eight, six or four panel surrounds can be carried and installed by one person, the panels can be glued over drywall, plaster, painted walls, Durock or even existing tiles, and the edges are factory finished for seamless joining yet can be trimmed and cut for a custom fit. The second video makes the opposite point about bases: cultured marble shower bases are heavy and require at least two people to install, so a contractor should plan for a helper on base day even if one person can handle the walls.

What to Have Ready for Your Contractor

• The model number and the installation document packed with the unit, which gives the fastening and sealing sequence.
• The base size, the threshold style and the drain position that were confirmed at order time.
• The panel sizes, so the path through the front door, hallways and interior doorways can be checked before delivery day.
• A note of any existing tile, plaster or drywall the panels will cover, and whether it is sound.
• The support number, (800) 480-6850, for product questions during the job. Photos and the model number can also go into a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support so the team can answer in one thread.

With those items in hand, a local licensed contractor can plan the work in the right order, and Ella's tech support can answer product questions as they come up. Tubs and showers alike follow this arrangement: Ella's Bubbles builds and ships the product, a local professional installs it, and lifetime technical support stays available afterward, as noted in Can you take a shower in a walk-in tub?.

Related Guides

• Acrylic 6-Piece Wall Panel Kit: Size, Shelves, Thickness and How It Compares to the 3-Piece Surround and SMC Panels
• Drilling an Ella Acrylic Shower Wall for Accessories, and Whether Third-Party Window Kits Will Fit
• Installing the SMC 12-Piece Wall Kit, Acrylic Tub Surrounds, the 3-Panel Kit, Tongue-and-Groove Wall Tiles and Palisade Vinyl Tiles

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