How to choose Shower Doors

Types of Shower Doors

There are number of door styles to suit your shower enclosure scenario:

·       Framed vs. Frameless: - Shower doors and enclosure come with a frame or without. Frames which support thinner glass panels, are generally fashioned from metal in a finish to complement the bathroom faucets and hardware. Frameless versions look sleek, are easier to clean because there’s nowhere for soap scum to collect, and eliminate visual interruptions. Frameless doors and enclosures are generally more expensive because they are made to fit precisely using thicker glass panels that compensate for the lack of frame support.

·       Neo-angel: - This type of shower tucks into a bathroom corner and features a single door, framed or frameless, that swings or pivot to open.

·       Pivot or swinging: - Hinges allow a door to swing open like a standard hinged door, while a pivot hinge lets the door swing 180 degrees into the shower enclosure or out into the room. A center mount pivot allows a door to revolve 360 degrees.

·       Round: - A rounded shower door can help save space by gracefully enclosing a corner shower.

·       Sliding: - When there isn’t space for a shower door to swing out into the room, consider a pair of glass panels that slide past one another on a track, allowing them to open from either direction.

Select the glass

All glass shower doors and enclosures must be made from tempered glass, which is stronger than standard glass and, if broken, shatters into small, rounded bits. Glass also comes in clear, etched, or patterned with a design, seeded or textured for interest, or frosted or opaque for privacy.

While standard tempered glass has a slight greenish tint, you can opt for low-iron glass that eliminates the tint but costs about twice as much as standard tempered glass.

Hardware and finish

Select suitable styles and finishes for frames and hardware, such as polished or matte nickel, chrome, or oiled bronze, to match or complement the faucets and other hardware in your bathroom.

Measure carefully

Have a professional measure for your frameless shower enclosure. If you’re planning to replace a swinging or hinged single door, or a sliding unit, measure both the height and the width of the opening twice for accuracy.