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
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