Who installs a walk-in shower, and how do I find an installer?

An Ella walk-in shower is installed by local licensed trades, never by Ella's Bubbles. In most bathrooms that means a licensed contractor to take out the old unit and prepare the space, and a licensed plumber to select the mixing valve, cut the valve openings in the wall and make the water and drain connections, with Ella supporting whoever you hire through free technical help by phone and email. The same arrangement applies to tubs, as Who installs walk-in tubs, a plumber or a contractor? explains, and this page covers what changes when the product is a shower.

What Arrives in an Ella Shower Kit, and What Your Installer Supplies

Knowing what ships tells you what the installer has to source. An Ella shower kit ships with the stall, the grab bar set listed for that kit, and the drain. It does not include a shower head, a hand shower, a mixing valve or valve trim, and the wall arrives without a valve cutout. That is deliberate. Your plumber selects the valve that suits your home's plumbing and the finish you want, then cuts the openings in the wall for the valve and the shower head on site.

Because the valve, trim and heads are chosen locally, settle those choices with your plumber before the kit is ordered, so the openings are cut once and in the right place. Ella builds walk-in showers alongside its walk-in tubs, including acrylic shower walls and shower bases, and ships both nationwide through its dealer network, so the kit reaches you the same way a tub does.

The One Visit That Does Happen at Your Home

Ella's Bubbles does not send technicians and does not perform installations. The one visit tied to a shower project is a contractor's measuring visit. The online Shower Builder Tool lets you scroll through the options and put together a custom design, and after you build a design a contractor visits your home to measure the space in person and finalize the installation details. That measurement is what turns a design on a screen into a kit that fits the alcove, so have the room clear enough to measure and know whether the old tub or shower is staying until delivery.

The builder tool and the ordering steps around it are described in Where Can I Buy an Ella Walk-In Tub or Shower?. Ask your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 for the link to the builder.

Which Trades a Walk-In Shower Needs

On a tub job, the division of labor is a licensed contractor to remove the old unit and prepare the alcove, a licensed plumber for the water supply and drain connections, and a licensed electrician for the dedicated circuit. A walk-in shower uses the same first two trades. The contractor takes the lead when the old tub or shower has to come out and the room has to be finished around the new stall, and the plumber handles the valve, the supply and the drain. The dedicated circuit in that list is a walk-in tub item, so ask your contractor whether your shower plan calls for an electrician at all.

One installation company can cover every role, and that is the simplest arrangement when the bathroom needs demolition and finishing work rather than only connections. A plumber alone can be enough when the space is already prepared and the stall only needs its valve and drain. Whichever way the work is arranged, every trade involved should be licensed. Ella supplies the product, the specification drawing, the installation documents, the parts and the technical support, and the local licensed professional does the physical work.

How to Find an Installer

1. Start with your Ella dealer. Some dealers install in their own territory, which gives you one company that already knows the product and the warranty paperwork.
2. Ask the team for referrals. Call (800) 480-6850 or open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support, and the team can help you get in touch with installers in your area. Ella's network of independent installers receives customer referrals from Ella, including installers listed through Angi Pro.
3. Bring your own licensed contractor or plumber. Any licensed local plumber can install the shower using the installation documents, with free technical support by phone and email during the job.
4. In Canada, plan on a local licensed contractor. Ella has no installers of its own in Canada, and shower bases do not ship to Canada because they are fragile and easily damaged in transit, so a Canadian shower project is a conversation to have with the team before you design.

Installation is always local, whatever you buy and wherever you live, as Where can I buy an Ella walk-in tub near me? explains for tubs. The same holds for showers.

Support While the Shower Goes in

Free technical support by phone and email comes with the product, and your installer can call (800) 480-6850 during the job. The team answers questions about the hookup by ticket or phone, and a clear photo of the part or the opening in question usually gets the fastest answer. Share the installation documents with your installer before delivery so the rough-in is ready when the kit arrives.

Many installer questions turn out to be about parts that ship loose on purpose. On a tub, for example, the deck arrives with an open hole where the spout mounts, and the spout is among the loose components, as There Is an Open Hole in the Deck of My New Tub: That Is Where the Spout Installs describes. The habit that article recommends applies to a shower kit too. Open all packaging, lay every loose component out where you can see it, match what you find against your order, and keep the packaging until you have confirmed nothing is missing or damaged.

If You Want a Shower on a Walk-In Tub Instead

Some bathers want the seated bath and the standing shower in one fixture. Any Ella walk-in tub with a deck-mounted fast-fill faucet becomes a tub and shower combo with the shower column kit. The kit connects to the diverter on the 2-piece or 5-piece fast-fill faucet set, so the faucet you already have controls the shower, and Ella ships the kit for a homeowner or a local licensed plumber to fit. Because the kit needs access to the back side of the tub, it is installed prior to the final installation of the tub, so order it with the tub rather than after. Can you take a shower in a walk-in tub? shows how the column goes on. Ella also offers walk-in showers for anyone who prefers a shower-based bathing option, which is the product this page is about, and the installer question is answered the same way for both: a local licensed professional does the work, and Ella stands behind them with parts and technical support.

Related Guides

• How do you fit and install a walk-in shower base and walls?
• What Comes in the Box With an Ella Shower Kit, and What You Still Need to Buy
• Choosing a Shower Valve and Cutting the Valve and Shower-Head Openings

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