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aliris19

Tub swinging glass door

aliris19
10 years ago

Does anyone have a glass door on their tub hinged at the wall? I saw that in a showroom once and thought it was quite elegant looking. But someone I spoke with about cutting this said most times he gets a call back in a couple months asking for a fixed panel on the back because it gets too cold this way, with the open back.

We had an open back to our shower using just a curtain for years and it seemed fine ... does anyone have a comment about this by chance?

TIA!!

Comments (20)

  • ineffablespace
    10 years ago

    This is sometimes referred to as a European style shower screen, since it only screens the shower spray over the front 2/3 of the tub.

    I have heard mixed reviews, some people think they are fine, some people think it's cold taking a shower. Some people think the floor gets too wet toward the back of the tub, some not. I think it partly depends on how warm your bathroom is--is it well-heated generally? My last couple bathrooms have not had a separate heat vent in them, so I think I would find it too cold.

  • aliris19
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks, ineffable -- and thanks, enduring, for pointing this out to me. Something funky happened here on GW.

    So ... it's just really a user-dependent thing and house-dependent of course too. If cold and blustery in your bathroom, without an end cap you'll likely be cold...

    sigh. So hard to tell before getting it then! But so much money if you make a mistake.... Hmmm.... Maybe we could hang a curtain of the right length, just take it to the wall, and try the shower, see the spritz (because I'm sure it will be different with a body in there. I've looked at the spray sans me, but I will probably send water droplets in 360-degrees?) and feel the breeze...?

    Any personal experiences pro or con?

  • aliris19
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks, Elbren -- sorry about no background info. I'm in socal. Not right close to the beach but also not in the blazing desert/Valley. So how it works here is that it can be surprisingly cold, even though it's the land of "perpetual sun" (not, actually). Still, we're not as cold as on the beach itself. Kids are teens now, so now kneeling (though it's the same tub I used for that; just re-installed it in house renovation).

    Tub door has enough room for swing. Interesting question about the door interfering with washing large objects ... don't know how big the hinge swings. I will ask - that's a great question; thanks. I have an enclosed shower stall from the same company - Hovoson - and I think as you point out, everything, um, hinges ;) -- on the hinges. They have to be a good heavy-duty quality. In two years I've had no issues with this hardware. However we don't really open the door the whole way. It's hung on the wall too but as a shower stall I believe it's a shorter length. I think even a small additional width gets a lot of torque on the door so there's a real limit on how long it can be. Overstock sells one that's a couple inches longer than Hovoson proposed, but they use 1/4" glass not 3/8" and they shave some weight off with molding. I think all these issues affect how much the door can swing on those hinges, probably. I will ask - thanks again.

    The reason I was not going with a curtain is I think the glass is very pretty and the tiles I have are pretty; I want to see them! Having a curtain just hanging there eclipses some of the tile, on both sides if you wind up using two curtains. OTOH the glass is a little reflective and it's hard to see in anyway, at least that's the experience of our shower stall. As well it's *expensive* even when it's "cheap". And then there are these other draw-backs... your point about access which is just plain wide-open with a curtain vs the door which might be made to work, or might not-be....

    oof.... it seems a hard decision! But in all honesty I have not had a tub for some while and have not missed the large-body washing options....

    sigh.

    Thanks for the direction in ways to think....

  • Babka NorCal 9b
    10 years ago

    Another opinion against the glass-

    We have come across these in our travels, both fixed and swinging. Some of the water that bounces off your bod and hits the glass and runs down to the top edge of the tub and flows horizontally to the end of the glass where, you guessed it, it doesn't ALL go down into the tub. Wet floor.

    The swing out ones didn't fare much better, but I supposed they would provide better access for cleaning. But holding on to a moveable door while stepping into a wet bath tub ain't ideal.

    The ones I've showered in were in very small European bathrooms and with the room door closed, they quickly heated/steamed up so there was no draft.

    I'd go for a curved rod shower curtain any day. It gives you more elbow room. They make white/sheer curtains that wouldn't hide your pretty tile.

    -Babka

  • Bunny
    10 years ago

    The thought of a partial glass door with a permanent opening makes me shiver just thinking about it, not to mention all that wet that's going to escape. I currently have full bypass doors that fully enclose a shower/tub in one BR and a large shower in the other BR. Guess what? All the doors get wet, even the part furthest from the shower head. I do not fling water wildly. If the glass doors weren't there, water would end up on the floor outside. Who wants that?

    I'm planning to remodel my hall bath. Everything's coming out and being replaced by new. I'm ditching the glass doors affixed to the tub and going with, gasp, a shower curtain. Talk about coming full circle. I do not plan to have it closed all the time, but pushed over to one side so that light from the window over the tub can stream into the room.

  • aliris19
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Hmmmmmm...... does everyone feel like this?

  • enduring
    10 years ago

    LOL, we all feel like Linelle, we just don't have the umph to speak it aloud...Oh you mean the swinging glass door...no experience with this topic ;)

  • sherri1058
    10 years ago

    LOL, the heading of your link says it all. "Unfortunate trend". When we did our reno a few years ago I contemplated having our shower completely open - no wall at all, so I get where you are coming from. We went with a full glass enclosure (and I am still not sure that was the right solution) But, we have encountered these half walls in a number of hotel rooms in our travels and have to say that it is the worst of 2 worlds. Not only do you have to "mop the mess outside the bath", but you also have to clean the glass!

  • Bunny
    10 years ago

    worst of 2 worlds. Not only do you have to "mop the mess outside the bath", but you also have to clean the glass!

    When we bought this house, it was the first time I'd had clear glass shower doors. I thought I'd moved to Cool Street. I squeegee religiously--no skipping, ever--and it takes maybe 30 seconds, tops.

    Having to mop up outside the shower is just cruel and unusual. You want to do that? Nothing looks cool enough to make me willing to accept that. Not to mention the chilly draft.

  • scpalmetto
    10 years ago

    We remodeled our guest bath about a year ago and removed a tub and made that space into a shower with a half wall of glass. Although I originally wanted a wet room with no sill, we went with a slight lip on the floor to catch the water so it doesn't run all over. Of course some does splash but it has been surprisingly little. Nothing the bath rug can't catch. I did put in grab bars so no one would grab the glass. One of my son's says it is cold in there the other says it is not. I did not really notice any cold myself when I tried it out.

    The glass installer told me to use Rain X on it before using it the first time and to re-do it maybe twice a year. So far there have been no problems with water spots. No squeegeeing necessary, just a quick wipe with a towel.

    We live in a damp climate and mildew is a real issue here so shower curtains have to constantly be removed and washed and dried and more often than not, replaced. Taking them up and down all the time can be a pain so the glass works for me.

    The bathroom is small so I couldn't get far enough back to take a good photo. The valve is on the left hand side and the spray head which you can't see is up on the right.

  • nycbluedevil
    10 years ago

    We remodeled our baths a couple of years ago. In the hall bath, we have a tub/shower combo. We have no door or curtain at all and the tub is only four feet long. We have no overspray problem. How can this be? It is because the tub is deep and we have a rainhead that comes straight out of the ceiling as opposed to a traditional shower head that sprays at an angle.

    With a regular shower head and a standard depth tub, I think the half walls are a giant pain for the reasons mentioned above. Plus, the door restricts your elbow room. I get that you want to show off your tile, so how about either one of those clear curtains or one of the curtains with a clear top? Or you can do a double layer curtain with the outer one tied back with a sash and an inner liner that hides behind the outer curtain. I think that is a really nice look. Or maybe you could replace your shower head with a rain head on an arm. If you did that, I think the swinging door could be less of a pain.

    One idea that might seem a bit crazy but that we were looking at before I got comfortable with no door or curtain is a ceiling mounted curtain track that holds a curtain that can be retracted into a recessed space in the wall. There would be no shower rod so the room would not likely look incomplete. It would just look like a tub for the most part. I don't know if that would work for you or if it is worth the trouble.

  • writersblock (9b/10a)
    10 years ago

    Another complete agreement with "unfortunate trend". I hate these in Europe. Of course, they're even worse there, since the tub is often much narrower than anything you'll find in this country, but I just don't see any purpose or appeal in them, just a lot more work.

  • LE
    10 years ago

    I don't see the advantage of having the glass panel swing instead of being fixed, am I missing something?

    Obviously it's not for everyone, but we are doing the curbless version of scpalmetto's photo above. Still have to work out the proportion of glass to opening, though. Our new house is extremely tight and the floors will be heated, plus the room is small. There are a lot of variables in addition to climate that affect whether it will feel cold and drafty or not (she says from her leaky old house with single pane windows.)

  • alina_1
    10 years ago

    I am also considering partial tub screen for our master bath remodeling.
    I can understand all concerns that were discussed here, but a curtain is not an option for us and there are simply no other choices.
    One of the most serious problems we have in our master bath now is mold. We plan to use epoxy grout, heated floors, tower warmer - anything to get rid of mold. Shower curtain is an ideal environment for mold to reside, so I am with Scpalmetto here. Besides, there will not be any support for a rod in our design.

    I read some online reviews on the screens from actual owners and they are quite happy with them. It seems that rain heads do work better with the partial screens than angled shower heads.
    Even some of the reviews on that 'Unfortunate Trend' page agree that curtains are much worse.

    So for us I narrowed it down to three options:
    1. No screen at all (nycbluedevil version)
    2. Partial screen with a fixed panel and swinging door.
    3. Partial screen without fixed part - the entire screen swings.

  • Babka NorCal 9b
    10 years ago

    There are mold resistant curtains and some have machine washable liners. But MOST important is to have an adequate exhaust fan in there on a timer that you can run for a couple hours after a shower. Have you allowed for that?

    -Babka

  • alina_1
    10 years ago

    We do plan to replace our fan with a powerful Panasonic exhaust fan during the remodeling.

    However, this would not help with mold. How do I know? We have an extremely low humidity level in our home during winter months. We installed a central humidifier to get the humidity to at least 30%. During summer, the humidity could be up to 80-90%. There is no significant difference in mold amount, so moisture in the air is not the main factor here.
    In our previous home, epoxy grout has made a huge difference. Porous regular grout was a mold incubator.

    We had shower curtains before. Shower curtain liner kept sticking to the tub and collecting all dirt.

    In our situation, we will use tub occasionally as a tub/shower combo. Not every day because we will have a shower stall. The tub will be drop-in and relatively deep. It will be used by adults only. This thread and some online reviews made me think about using a rain shower head instead of regular one to reduce splashing, but did not convince me to use a curtain again...

    Maybe, someday someone will come up with retractable glass enclosures - like car windows :)

  • aliris19
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks for all the thoughts!

    You've caused me to think twice on the glass door. I stood in there, didn't get in the shower but realize that the room is a little large so it's not going to toast up in the whole space as some have mentioned as working. Plus it isn't a wet room and it will annoy me when there is water everywhere, for sure. And it's expensive.

    DH's solution was to get a newel from HD and hang it from the ceiling at the curve in the tub to allow two shower rods not just one of those curved ones that never work and always sag and look horrible. I could then get one of those shower rods that curves in the middle for the long side to get more elbow room in the tub. I was wondering about that too as it's not a huge tub. I should perhaps yet stand in the shower and use it to see.

    Someone asked why the door wants to hinge at all, lori I think. Because I think otherwise you have a long way to scoot forward on a potentially slippery tub floor, and also to stretch to get out of the bath. It seems dangerous to me to have a pane that doesn't swing when it's ending at the top of a tub, as opposed to the floor as some have shown in their setup/s. I think a half door to the top of a tub that does not swing is a definite no-go.

    We have a really bad tiny fan from HD that's noisy and I really don't think those things do one thing at all as far as ventillation goes. However, I'm in SoCal and it's pretty dry here; dry enough. Even so mildew is a problem and I just do really hate that about curtains, taking them down, washing, airing, and the ick that accumulates on top of the rods. Ick ick ick ick ick. This is why I want a glass door. OTOH -- well, I was going to say for the cost you can buy a lot of replacement shower curtains. Though in all honesty, that's not quite true. Those curtains are expensive too!

    Oy, now I'm swinging back the other way .... I hate shower curtains. But to box in the whole tub with glass would be very constricting. There is some shine and opacity to the glass no matter how "clear", still you'd feel that the space was being cut down.

  • Babka NorCal 9b
    10 years ago

    The Panasonic Whisper fans are super quiet.and very efficient. If I forget to turn on the fan when I shower, the room mirror steams up. Not with the fan. There are easy to use cleaning products that should take care of mold/mildew problems.

    Aliris and Alina- I hope you can solve your dilemmas.

    -Babka

  • nonniesharon
    9 years ago

    @alina_1 It's been a year. Did you do the shower? I'm at that point now. I am so unsure of the shower screen, but I don't see any other option that I'm willing to take. I have to make my choice right away, though. Please let me know how it turned out for you.

    @Babka, thanks for the info on the Panasonic fan. I'll put that order in! :-)