Glass Shower Enclosures

[Planman]

What a great forum, and lots of great fixture information on the website itself!

We are completing two bathroom installations for a second floor addition. One bath has a 48 inch acrylic shower stall which will be fitted with framed glass bypass doors. Because of an architectural feature, we wanted a custom glass panel height (80 inches). The $550 quote for this work seemed reasonable, and we've ordered the installation. (It won't be in for a couple of weeks).

The master bath shower is also 48 inches wide, but is an acrylic base, with a tile surround. The intent is to have a frameless glass enclosure (two walls with a swing door), and the glass "return" sitting on the tub deck. (The tub deck and the shower are at 90 degrees to each other - common layout). The quote for this (standard height) enclosure is somewhat breath-taking at $2400. I realize these frameless enclosures are expensive, but this seemed high.

Does anyone have any advice on: (1) whether a "framed" enclosure would be significantly less expensive for this shower and (2) a reliable shower enclosure supplier in the Seattle WA area who might offer better prices?

Thanks very much.

[master plumber mark]

i dont live in your area , but the only advice I can give is to be sure to install those neo angel corner inclosures in CONCRETE....(if thats what we are talking about)


If you got an old house, the floors could be way , way, out of level

PLEASE USE A LEVEL on the floor to be sure you got a perfect or close to level floor and threshhold base in that neo-angle unit or the install of the shower enclosure will be absolutely a living hell.

And the water might pool to one corner of the shower too and not ever want go down the center drain, without forceing it too with a towel or sponge. (thats a fun thing to discover after the whole job is through)


. 2600 seems kinda high , but I really dont know what you are talking about either, call around to plumbing supply houses and ask them for referralls.

[hj]

A framed unit should be considerably less expensive. But I personally would have used something other than a bypass door on the other shower. The actual opening will be about 23", and while it is adequate it can give a feeling of "tightness". I might have opted for an articulated door, or something similar which would open the full 48", or at least most of it. Or possibly a larger swinging door and a fixed panel.

[jimbo]

In many areas code does not permit bypass doors on a 48" tub or shower. The minimum access width is too narrow. Better to use a pivot + fixed panel. These are available at reasonable cost. Any time you get into a custom job, the labor and material gets very pricey. Frameless adds considerbly to the costs due to the need to use much heavier glass. The price of tempered glass increases exponentially with the thickness.

[Planman]

Thanks for the comments.

We went with the sliders in the one bathroom because we were worried about a pivot door "whacking" the toilet (there's not a lot of clearance), but we realize the opening will be narrow. It's a guest bath, so won't get much use. Wasn't aware this could be a code issue - the glass company didn't question the installation.

Will look around a bit more on options for the more expensive shower. Would like a nice-looking surround, but not sure we want to spend a boatload of money on it.

[hj]

An "articulated" door with a hinge in the middle which sort of "fan folds" would give excellent access, no problem with the toilet, and make the room more open when the door is pulled back.