Proper design considerations at the beginning of your project will allow you to have the beautiful glass enclosure you want, and ensure that it can be engineered to perform as it should. Avoiding the mistakes below will also help you to avoid unnecessary expenses that can be incurred.
1.Back me up. Proper blocking in the wall to mount a glass door is paramount. There should be 3 – 2’’ x 4’’s placed vertically in the wall, in line with your shower curb. This must be done to safely hang your glass door. Don’t run pipes or wires through these studs.
2.What’s your pitch? The shower curb should be constructed level side to side along with ¼” of inward pitch. A continuous piece of solid surface material works best to cap the shower curb.
3.Shower doors are doors too! Just as any door in your home, no base tile, chair rail tile or other accent tile should be placed in the “jamb” area where your glass enclosure is to be mounted. Larger accent tiles need to be held back farther from the glass mounting area.
4.Don’t hang me up. Any overhangs on knee walls, tub decks, or shelf areas should be avoided. These overhangs may require notching by your tile setter. Some overhangs may make installation of a door or enclosure impossible.
5.Which way did he go? Shower heads and body sprays should be located so the water spray is directed toward tile walls or the fixed panels of shower doors. This will help keep water inside the shower, and away from the door. You should never install shower heads aimed in the direction of the door.
6.Mini me. Due to production limitations for tempered glass, the minimum width for a tempered glass panel is 5”. No shower design should incorporate a glass panel smaller than 5” in width.
7.You crack me up. Never use glass tiles in the area of your shower where the glass enclosure will be mounted. Glass tiles may or may not crack during shower door installation but they will crack eventually over time.
8.Don’t call me weird. Do not design your shower enclosure with weird angles. All shower door hardware is designed to work with 90 degree, 135 degree, or 180 degree angles only. This applies to walls, knee walls, tub decks and curbs.
9. What’s up? When building a soffit or tiling a ceiling above a shower, it must be built perfectly level and plumb to the curb. If not, the reveal above the shower door will not be consistent.