Properly designed and constructed openings will result in Shower Doors that not only look beautiful, but are also leak resistant. Today’s master bath shower often involves a combination of a powerful shower heads and multiple body sprays that makes for a spa experience. These same features often cause a very high volume of water spray and proper planning and design is critical to creating a beautiful and functional shower door.
Design Guidelines
Accent Tiles (boarders) - if boarder is raised off of the flat plane of the wall, it will need to be cut. A cut of 3/8” will provide the fixed panel with a custom fit; a cut on the hinge side of the door will be roughly 1”. The more the boarder stands off the wall the wider the cut will need to be, in order for the hinge side of the door to swing.
Glass Tiles - installation of a frameless shower is possible even with glass tiles involved. A special bit is needed to drill through the glass tile, but sometimes they crack; so try to avoid glass tiles on the walls where the shower enclosure will be touching.
Shower Head Placement - try to avoid installing the shower head so it points directly at a swinging door.
Niches - niches should not be placed in direct line where the shower door/enclosure will set. All niches should have a pitch on its sill.
Soap dishes - need to be pitched in order to drain. Some manufactured soap dishes already have a pitch on them, in this case, install them plumb and level.
Studs (Wood 2x4) - glass doors weigh between 66-100+ pounds, so it is our recommendation that a stud is provided to hang the door. For the best support, install vertical areas directly in line where the glass will set.
Pitch (Incline Gradient, or Slope) - all horizontal planes involved in the wet area of a bathroom need to be pitched. We recommend a 1/8”-3/16” pitch for every 6” of horizontal surface. (See Sketches)
Curb - the small rise we step over to enter the shower. The curb needs to be pitched toward the drain, but otherwise level (long ways).
Plumb - definition: something that is “level” on a vertical plane. Make sure all vertical planes are as plumb as possible; walls, knee walls, tub decks, etc. (See Sketches)
Shower Seats (or tub decks involved in the shower area)- need to be pitched toward the drain.
design configurations
Door (Swinging Door) - hung off of a wall, this is the most common installation method.
Door & Panel - this is the second most common method. There is one fixed glass panel installed in line with one swinging door.
Slider - Two glass panels that slide past each other. This application is used in areas where there might not be enough room for a swinging door.
Full Height Enclosures (Steam Enclosures) - most enclosures don't rise all the way to the ceiling, but steam enclosures do. If we fully glass enclose the wet area it will make your bath very steamy. A pivoting transom (window) can be added to a steam enclosure to allow the steam to escape.
Neo-Angles - this is a 135 degree angle. This is a standard construction angle. It is used when trying to make the most of your bathroom space. (Photo on left)
Installing Glass Doors
Installing Frameless Glass Doors - A door can only be installed using hinges. Basically there are three types of hinges:
Installing glass panels
Installing Frameless Glass Panels - There are 3 methods of attaching frameless, fixed glass panels to the wall in a shower area:
Clips - are the most common method of attaching fixed glass panels to a wall.
U-Channel - this method is used more often when walls are waive (to hide an imperfect wall) in order to keep the cost down.
Silicone System - used in higher end applications and steam showers. The glass is snugly fit into the space, then glazed into place with a non molding acid type silicone
