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SO: Our Glass Shower Enclosure with PIP
OK so the poll below was all of the questions DH & I have been asking ourselves as we try to plan our master shower. I thought it would be fun to see what everyone thinks. This post is about our shower specifically...
Our plan for the shower enclosure has gone out the window in the last two days as every person I called told me we couldn't do what we wanted to do. : ( I
always thought I wanted a frameless surround because that is what
everyone talks about. It seemed high end and nice but when I started looking at all of the small
panels we need for our shower the number of clips we were really adding
up. Plus every additional clip costs quite a bit because there is
additional glass work involved in cutting out an area for each one.
There is a glass panel above the half wall on the left, a 14" panel on the left of the door, and a 10" panel on the right of the door. Above the door is a possible transom.
On top of that I found out that because our door has to swing off an inline glass panel (not the wall) we have to take our glass to the ceiling or add a large ugly header. I do not like the look of the header and because the recommended height of the showerpipe is so high the glass would need to be 7' tall to be taller than the showerhead and inline with the arm. So for 1' more of glass we're to the ceiling and have a lot more options on how to secure it. I always thought I preferred the look and feel of the panels not going all the way to ceiling...like showering in that would feel like being in a glass coffin. But I really don't want a metal header that will block the view of the showerhead so I'm warming up to it.
Also we were going to not tile to the ceiling but we changed our minds. Tiling to the ceiling is easier (no cement board/drywall transitions) and cheaper (no additional bullnose which costs so much). Plus I've really been seeing that look a lot. We're going with a white/ivory tile so it won't look dark and closed in going to the ceiling.
OK so we have our tile to the ceiling and now our shower glass goes to the ceiling. Which leaves us with either a very tall narrow door (30" x 8') or a transom above the door. If we're going to have the big ugly brackets (OK they aren't that big and ugly they are 2x2" or so) for a transom I'd want to pay a little more to have operable transom clips so it can rotate open. I like the idea of a transom a lot because it gives us flexibility...keep it closed and the shower might steam up a little like a steam shower and fog the glass for a little privacy...or open it up to let out some steam and keep everything clear. We do have an exhaust fan with light centered over the shower with a second non-lit vent on the other end of the room over the toilet. Plus I think of transoms being a tad bit vintage not sure why.
If the door goes to the ceiling we could go with pivot hinges (the hinges attach to the ceiling and the curb) which would be cool. That would leave the area in the center clear and reduce the cost of cutting the glass slightly. They can also hold more weight...which we would need because an 8' tall door is +120 lb. A 7' door with a transom above would be 80-100 lb and hopefully we could get away with only 2 hinges.
With the glass needing to go to the ceiling we're really leaning toward channel on the top and bottom. We don't need it on the sides since it will go to the ceiling and the sides I think are the most visible part because they are at eye level. I was a little worried about maintenance or the silicone in the channel getting crummy looking over time but apparently there is some high end mildew resistant stuff that is much better than the silicone around the cheap sliding framed doors Menard's carries. A frameless clipped surround would have the exact same silicone around every seam as well so maintenance should be the same. The one problem with the channel is that apparently they do not make the 3/8" tall pieces in polished nickel. Only the 3/4" tall pieces come in that color. At the ceiling a 3/4" tall piece has to be used to get the glass in but the bottom pieces could be 3/8" if we can find the color. I'd like to have the lower stuff purely for the fact that it will be on top of the half wall and more visible there than 4" off the floor. We shall see if that is possible though.
Are you still following me in this very long post? LOL. All of this reasoning leads me to two options.
(1) Operable transom over the door with a side hinged door. Gives us flexibility to vent to shower but has 4 brackets/hinges in the line of site. Will look like a high end steam shower (they usually need an operable transom for venting) though it isn't and maybe be kind of vintage looking...maybe?
(2) 8' tall door with pivot hinges on top and bottom. No hardware visible except for 2" on top or bottom. The whole look seems very modern to me and we're going for more traditional...but who am I kidding it's a glass shower it's going to be modern right? The tall skinny door looks a little odd to me but I could get used to it.
What do you think Option 1 or 2?
Links with inspiration pictures as a reward if you made it this far:
Frameless but too many brackets because of small panels. Also door shorter than the rest of the panels. Love everything else about this bathroom though.
Channel with operable transom.
Channel with operable transom.
Frameless with operable transom.
Channel with non-operable transom.
Channel with operable transom from GardenWeb:
I'm still looking for a good picture of channel, door to the ceiling, and pivot hinges. I know I've seen them but I can't find them right now.
Re: SO: Our Glass Shower Enclosure with PIP
I didn't read all of your post, but that was my favorite image from your pin board.
For me, I'd go option 2, but you are right, option 1 might look better in your bathroom.
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Whew! ::Wipes brow sweat::
So I made it through the post. My personal preference would be to do the door all the way up ceiling. I can see how the transom would be nice for more/less steam options but if you have the exhaust built in I don't think it will be an issue.
Vote: Door all the way to ceiling on pivot hinges.
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I didn't follow your post at all, or even get through reading it. However, your mock up looks very similar to my master shower. We hung the door off the wall. I don't have the photo on flickr, but here is the blog post:
http://twiceasmanymoments.blogspot.com/2011/10/master-bathroom-reveal.html
ETA: Also the shower in our basement has the bar across the top and although we prefer not to have it, it doesn't look too bad.
DSC_7078_edit_text by Sally_Jean, on Flickr
Thanks for the opinions everyone! I'm really torn on these last two options. I (well we but DH only cares about certain things and wants me to pick the rest) made so many decisions to get to down to these two. The no hardware besides the door handle in the body of the glass is a nice look but the operable transom is a cool feature. Not sure how much we'll use it though. Maybe we'll just always keep it closed.
I've got a glass guy giving me a price for both so we'll see how the numbers work out.
My vote is option 2. Purely because I like the idea of the pivot hinges & because I wouldn't want the draft (not even sure if there would be one) of the transom & I don't like getting cold in the shower. Either way, it looks like it's going to be stunning!
Yes so we wanted the look of your master bath but unfortunately we can't hang the door off the wall like yours just another small glass panel. So our options are header or go to the ceiling. Neither DH or I like the header very much. For the price we want to love it so we're going with to the ceiling.
Wow. You know A LOT about glass shower enclosures! Since you took the time and energy to type such a detailed post, I feel like I should give the courtesy of a response instead of adding to the views... but I admit I read the first 3 paragraphs and skimmed the rest.
Since you have the vent inside the shower, you don't need the transom. I don't think transoms are dated, but if you like the look better without, I would nix it.
That said, I would choose option 1.
For your house I say option 1. I really like the look of the operable transom. and sometimes you want a steamy shower (cold days0, sometimes you don't (shower after a long day of shoveling mulch in the back yard for example), so it's nice to have an option. And it looks cool.
I'd love to hear the details of the pricing on both options though. the glass shower enclosure is the last "big" thing that we haven't purchased yet and we really aren't sure how much it's going to be.
Also....ygm.
My Goodness...another food blog. Featuring: Macarons from a old post with a photo taken by my mom for a break from my crappy food photos!