Important Things to Know When Designing a Frameless Shower Enclosure

Whether you are in the early stages of designing your shower or are in the middle of building a frameless shower enclosure, there a few very important things you need to know to make your frameless shower install go perfectly. I have designed and installed a little over a thousand showers in the last 3 years at Ace Discount Glass.  The most common design flaws that I see are often the most easy to avoid if you know what to look for. 
The number one mistake that most tile layers make is building the curb perfectly level or tilted away from the inside of the shower.  The curb is the small step up that you cross before getting in the shower. I have been to dozens of homes and had to tell them that a frameless shower is not practical unless they fix their curb. It only needs a 1/8" slope inward toward the drain.  The reason is simple - frameless shower doors are not 100% water tight.  Water that sprays on the door goes down to the curb and then should flow inwards toward the drain.  If the curb tilts outward then the shower will leak.  Please check that the curb tilts inward.
The second most common mistake to avoid is a poorly designed support wall. When at all possible the best design for a frameless shower is to have the door hinge off the wall closest to the shower head.  The wall should be supported by a stud that is in line with the curb and have cement board underneath the tile.  Frameless shower doors are heavy.  3/8" clear tempered glass weighs 5.5 pounds per square foot.  That means most frameless shower doors weigh around 75 pounds.  Make sure you support them with studs and cement board if you are doing it yourself.  If someone else is building your frameless enclosure ask them to show you the stud and how far the cement board extends.  
Everything else is easy to overcome for a good glazier.  I hope this helps and thanks for reading.
RJ Cavanaugh

Thinking about a Frameless Shower?

Seems like everyone is wanting frameless showers these days.  Framed showers from the 80’s and 90’s are no longer popular.  Most people are taking out their framed showers, replacing their gold fixtures and tearing out their cultured marble.  They are replacing those with frameless showers, Brushed nickel and Oil Rubbed Bronze hardware, and tile.  So why are people replacing their perfectly functional showers with new ones?  There are actually a number of reasons why people are doing this.

                Framed showers, gold hardware, and cultured marble almost always date a house.  In today’s market that is a bad thing.  Almost everyone wants a new home.  Problem is most new homes are far away from shopping, schools, jobs, and other amenities.  So most people buy a used home that looks new and that is close to the things that are important to them.  This is where having new tile, updated fixtures, granite countertops and most importantly a frameless shower really helps.  It’s a fact that the two best places you can spend money in your home, and expect a decent return on your investment, are the kitchen and the bathrooms.  I work with several realtors, real realtors that actually sell houses, and they always want me to install a frameless shower in the homes they sell. 

                Maybe you aren’t planning to sell your house.  Replacing your old shower with a frameless shower is still a good idea.  Most likely your original shower was built quickly and not with your particular needs in mind.  Often times, builders slapped the exact same showers together without much thought to functionality.  These showers are too short and not very roomy.  There is often no room for shampoo bottles.  I see hundreds of these showers every year that leak because they were installed incorrectly.  Anyone that has tried to keep the bottom of a framed shower door clean knows how difficult it is to do so.  After 10 years, the grime and mildew work their way into those small areas around the drip rail and are not coming out no matter what chemicals you use.  Frameless showers do not have places for mildew and grime to take hold. 

                Finally, frameless showers look very nice.  Frameless showers help open up a bathroom, and help bring light into your (hopefully) daily routines. Frameless showers make a bathroom look bigger and cleaner.  Frameless showers really show off your tile work.  Most frameless showers are taller than your average shower and do not have a header causing you to duck under them.  Frameless showers are very impressive.  People are always amazed at how beautiful and elegant frameless showers are in their homes. 

                I have been installing showers for about 2 years now. ( I know that does not sound like a lot, but there is really not that much you need to know, but I will discuss that in a later blog)  Most of what we do here at Ace Discount Glass in Austin Texas are remodels.  Often times I will come out to someone’s house that is seriously thinking about installing a frameless shower and tell them the pros and cons of such a plan. I will also discuss how feasible and expensive it will be to install a shower in their bathroom.  Often times I will work under a contractor, realtor, or interior decorator.  More often than not I will bring an idea to the table that was not there before.  These will all be topics for later blogs.  

                Thanks for reading, RJ Cavanaugh Ace Discount Glass