I think the easiest thing is to have one stationary panel with a short return wall attached to it at 90 degrees, and a standard 28" door hinged on the wall. That can certainly all be done with clips.

It'll look beautiful! The tile looks wonderful, you;'re right, don't cover it up :)

Thank you Stacey,

Would you believe finding the right tile was the hardest part of this project.

I have another question for you, if you don't mind.

Does the door have to be hinged on the wall, or can it be hinged on the short panel? I have a stand up cabinet that goes right next to the shower, and even if it is only 10" deep, it would get in the way of a wall hinged door, I think?

On the bottom left hand of the picture, you can see the tileless area where the cabinet will go.

Cheers!

Check out the doors on showerman.com and mirageusa.com They give a variety of choices.

Thank you Kaylie15,

They sure do have a lot of frameless set-ups with the door attached to a short panel rather than the wall. Well, that's good news. I wasn't sure if this type of set-up was OK or not.

On some photos, I see they grind a channel in the tile to set the glass. Hum... Hadn't thought of that. Out tile is flat, so I guess that won't be necessary.

Too bad they are not in my neck of the wood. Now I have to find a glazer able to do the work properly... or do it ourselves!

Cheers!

I have the door hinge set on a fixed glass panel. The fixed panel is 1/2" glass, the door is 3/8" glass. The flat panel is connected to the wall in two places (into studs) and into the floor in one place. There is silicone between the wall and glass and the floor and glass.

Thank you Suero.

How wide is your door panel if you don't mind asking?

Stacey suggested I think of a 28" wide door, and I tend to agree that it would look the best. Is yours wider than that?

The panel is 13" and the door is 34". That's the minimum size for handicap access, which we are planning for sometime in the far future. If that's not an issue with you, 28" is sufficient.

Both issues you're discussing are cost issues. A 28" door is generally a fabricator's standard stock door. I originally spec'd a 30" door but it added hundreds of dollars to the estimate.
You CAN hang a door on a stationary glass panel, however some places (I found) flat out WON'T do it without pivoting hinges in the ceiling OR a solid metal support bar along the top. And if you find someone who will... to do it in the sleek sexy way (like Suero's, probably) increases the cost a lot. If cost is not an issue, go for it!!!
In our case, the frameless glass was a stretch to begin with, budget-wise, so I needed to make more conventional choices. We hinged on the wall :)

By the way- aren't you the one with the bad/smelly vanity paint problem? Hope that got straightened out!

Hi Stacey,

Yes, I am the one with the smelly millwork and furniture problem. And, no, it is not resolved. It is now in the hands of our attorneys.

But we have to go on and finish this project before IT finishes us. Ha, ha, ha.

Cost was not an issue at the beginning. I had set a budget, doubled it, and added 15% for snafus. So we were ready. But we must now factor in legal fees. So I really appreciate your advice.

We did a totally frameless glass enclosure for our shower with the door attached to a glass panel. Our contractor orginally didn't want to do this and wanted to have a top frame put around the enclosure. After some research and checking with several glass installers, we found one that would install the enclosure as we wanted it and warranty it. We have been living with the new bath and shower enclosure for just over a year and all is fine and the glass enclosure is as secure now as the day it was installed. The glass panels are secured with a metal track along the bottom and against the wall and the rest is all silicone.

Nice shower you've got there, Gary1227,

There seems to be a bit of a green tint in the glass, or is it the photo? It goes very well with your blue walls and the marble.

We are trying to avoid using metal u-channels, so I'll now have to see who can do the work, how, and for how much. Sounds like that won't be easy...

To be continued... :-)

The green tint is somewhat typical of standard glass. But you are correct, certain paint colors and room lighting can accentuate the green tint.

If you go with low-iron glass you can get closer to a colorless glass.

Yes there is a slight green tint to the glass but the photo is showing much more green than is noticable upfront. We had multiple bids for our install and the framless quote was right in line with others using a top frame or clips. We do have the metal u-channels along the base and walls. I don't think an enclosure would be sturdy enough without the u-channels.

For what it's worth, my Dad did something novel:

He built a limestone-tiled curb for a shower with two tiled walls, and the sill pieces were routed out with a 1/2" wide slot. He had two panels of 1/2" glass (it might be 3/4"?) made, joined them at a 90 degree angle (I think just with silicone!) and stood them in the slot. No U-channels or clips at all!!!! No door either, it's long enough not to have one. So there are just these two super-plain slabs of glass standing on the limestone.

Yup, he's an architect ;)

It makes me nervous every time I go over there (what if he slips in the shower and knocks it over and cuts himself badly?!?) but, boy, does it look COOL.....

Well, I'm back...

Thank you for your input guys, you're the bestest of the best!

For the past week, I've been trying to get glass installers to come see the job. Some said flat no, too busy this time of year. Some made appointments they did not keep. (don't you just hate that!) And some quoted outrageous prices over the phone without bothering to even come see the job site or even know what I wanted. They just asked the dimension of the shower and quoted on the square footage, some as high as $125 per s.f. Puh-leaze!!!

Frankly, I am a bit discouraged. This part of the project, I would rather not do by myself. Let alone handling large heavy panes of glass, I am nervous about drilling into my nice marble tiles to install clips. I would just crumble into a pile of dust if I were to snap one in the process...

Maybe I'll go directly to plan B and install a circular rod and a curtain...

(Now...where to find a nickel plated circular curtain rod...)