If you want light I would use a thick piece of safety glass and have an aquarium seal to your ceramic tile. An opening window is almost always a bad idea with leaking and mold issues.

You could use frosted glass if you wish too. It all depends onyour privacy issues.

Greg

Generally apeaking, I agree that a window in a shower, especially an operable one, is not the best idea. Sometimes it's your best or only option and properly constructed it can be done successfully. If you decide to leave the window, do everything you can to prevent water intrusion. Bottom line - waterproof, waterproof, waterproof!

There is a window in the shower I am currently constructing. I chose a vinyl framed acrylic block anwning window. I installed it flush with the concrete backer board, ran the Kerdi waterproofing membrane onto the edge of the vinyl frame, and sealed it with Kerdi-fix, a waterproof sealant. I will run the tile right up to the sealed edge and finish it off with quarter round. Here's the lastest pic I have, still under construction.

Joe

My guest bath has NO window. I sealed the top of the shower enclosure with clear glass so the water vapor does NOT enter the rest of the bathroom, then added a light to the ceiling(one made for this purpose). It is fantastic! Kinda steamy once you've been in the shower for awhile, NO mildew! Yes an exhaust fan does work! :0)
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Actually, a vent fan will do much BETTER than a functional window with reference to clearing moisture in the air, during and after showering.

As for whether or not your specific window is feaseable, could you post a picture of it?

We're having the same dilemma. I'd really like to keep the window. Not for ventilation because I know a good fan does a better job, but because of the light and I just like the fact that it opens. Like codnuggets we're trying to do everything we can to keep it water tight.

It seems like that's the big thing these days. I can't stress how risky this is, especially if the window can open and close, because it makes it that much tougher to waterproof. If it's woodframed, you need to seal it right up with a good quality marine boat paint. My recommendation is Interlux. it's not cheap by ANY stretch, but it'll do the job, and do it well. You also need to be able to seal the tile to it, which means the wood needs to be painted before the tile goes in. If it's vinyl clad, that saves alot of steps. Then it's just a matter of sealing the tile to the vinyl.

If it's woodframe, though, especially if you want to show the woodframe, you need to somehow bridge between the wood and cement board. In the following case, even though this wasnt a Kerdi shower, I used kerdi-band as a "movement suppression" membrane to bridge between the two, and then the edge of the bullnose got caulked to the paint: