Tips for Installing a New Glass Shower
It can be hard to know what options to pick when installing a new glass shower. To help you create the best enclosure for your home, consider the following tips.
1. Openness and Space
If you want to create a sense of openness and space, think about installing a frameless or semi-frameless design. These enclosures consist of smooth glass screens with only discrete hardware such as hinges and brackets. Because the shower is almost invisible, the bathroom will feel like one open area.
On the other hand, you might want to delineate the shower and clearly divide it from the rest of the room. In that case, you could install a fully-framed model with metal surrounding the edges of the screens. An advantage of this approach is that you can create a feature of the frame. For example, you could install matte black metal that echoes black elements elsewhere in the room, such as a black framed mirror or a black stone vanity top.
2. Privacy
Even though transparent glass shower screens create openness, they also provide a clear view into the shower, which will not be that private. To create a secluded shower, install frosted or tinted glass panels instead. Frosted screens come in different transparency levels, so you can control the level of privacy. Another way to create privacy is to install screens with frosting on selected parts only. For example, some glass panels may feature a horizontal frosted band along the middle section. Alternatively, opt for blue, grey, or bronze-tinted screens.
While frosted and toned glass enhance privacy, they don't make the bathroom feel spacious and open like transparent screens do. However, you can make these showers as sleek as possible by installing frameless frosted or tinted panels.
3. Sliding Doors
Consider a sliding door if you want to maximise the floor area and have the broadest range of layout possibilities for your bathroom. These doors don't protrude over the open floor area like outward-hinged doors. As a result, you'll have freedom when designing the area as you don't need to adjust the layout to allow for the swinging action.
However, a sliding door can only move sideways so much before it hits the end of the enclosure. Thus, it often doesn't provide as wide an entrance to the shower as a swinging door that moves outwards. If someone in your home has mobility issues, they might benefit from a swinging design that makes it easier for them to get into the shower.
For more information, contact local shower screen contractors.