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thegoose_gw

Shower Guard/Bath Screen instead of shower curtain

thegoose
16 years ago

I was reading rococogurl's post Steal This Bathroom! and am intrigued by her use of what she calls a Shower Guard (which I seem to see on the web more commonly called a Bath Screen).

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She states on her website:

I donÂt care for shower curtains, and didnÂt want a sliding door on a track, which I find hard to clean. I first planned a narrow fixed-glass panel in front with a bi-fold door in back. But that restricted access to the tub for cleaning.

Then I remembered taking a photo of an ingenious and very functional shower guard in a hotel room in Cannes. I gave the photo to our contractor, who worked with his shower door fabricator and improved it. As a result, the shower guard swings away for easy cleaning or use by two. The knob alerts guests not to mistake it for a fixed panel as opposed to a "door." The addition of rubber gaskets along the bottom and the inside edge keep it watertight.

I echo her view on shower curtains and doors. I too have seen these bath screens, but almost exclusively when traveling in Europe. A google search for "Bath Screen" confirms this, with a list of vendors almost exclusively from the UK. I'm curious how many folks here in the US or Canada have installed these? Were they hard to source? Did you have any trouble getting them installed? Do you like them?

Thanks in advance.

Comments (18)

  • N M
    16 years ago

    I just meet with our shower door guy and he actually brought this up as an option. He said that there are common in Europe. We are not going to put a door on the bathtub that he reccomended for now since we have small childeren and this is there bathtub. Good Luck.

  • MariposaTraicionera
    16 years ago

    I saw the same in France and Belgium last year and came back with idea that this is what I want instead of the doors or shower curtains. I'd be interested to find out if anyone here has installed one and how they like it.

  • mahatmacat1
    16 years ago

    And if you get ShowerGuard glass for your shower screen, it will be even easier to clean :) (at least I'm hoping so; I'm using it in our stationary shower panel)

  • biondanonima
    16 years ago

    I will have a fixed panel and a small door when mine is done - I was hoping for the exact setup that Rococo has but my bathroom is too narrow to allow for a shield of that size to swing open. I should have my glass in a couple of weeks - I'll post pics!

  • stu2900
    16 years ago

    Does the steam escape and make the shower cold? I've wondered about that. It seems a full door or curtain would help keep it warm, but I'm not sure what would happen with only half the tub closed in. Do you who have the screens use them all the time? If so, does it stay warm?

  • toomuchstuph
    16 years ago

    We have one of these in much the same set up as rococogurl. The main difference is that ours is an L shaped alcove - one long wall and one short wall.

    We purchased ours thru a local bath shop. I've seen them in Expo though. The vendor handled installation and they were fast, efficient and good!

    I know there is an online vendor called Wilson Glass that sells these as well. If you look at their "door drawings" section you'll see a selection of the doors. I believe they have a gallery as well. Personally this isn't a project I'd DIY or want to find a qualified installer but someone else might.

    Now for the door. Oh how I LOVE this door! We don't even have Flyleft's spiffy showerguard glass and it's still very easy to clean. The only tricky areas are around the hinges where it joins the wall and the silicone sweep at the base of the door (crud can build up in the groove). We have a smallish bathroom and it helps give it an open feeling.

    Yes, steam does escape but we tend to warm the bathroom up for a few minutes first if it's a chilly morning.

    Personally I really love this door.

  • rococogurl
    16 years ago

    The guard helps keep the heat in both while the shower is used and when the tub is used. I've never been cold using it at all and I have used open showers, which I dislike as I'm always cold.

    There initially was a slight gap between the glass. It was only about 1/8 -- the thickness of the hinges -- but water was trickling out and I was getting puddles on the floor.

    They returned and installed flexible rubber gaskets between the hinges -- they are clear and invisible -- and there hasn't been a problem since. We also have a flexible gasket on the bottom on the door that lets us move it but blocks any water.

  • thegoose
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    toomuchstuph, thanks for the lead on the Wilson Glass website. I found the following two designs listed:

  • MariposaTraicionera
    16 years ago

    We won't be taking baths in our tub. It's only going to be used as a shower. Rococogurl I was wondering if you get any water on the floor when taking showers.

    The water pressure in Paris wasn't too great so we didn't have any puddles afterwards.

  • anne7
    16 years ago

    Very sleek looking. How does the shower not spray into the room?

  • 3katz4me
    16 years ago

    I'm curious about this too - how well does this prevent water from going outside of a tub/shower combo if it covers only half the distance? Everything I want for my new bathroom seems to be offered mostly/only in the UK......

  • hmsweethm
    16 years ago

    I too really wanted to avoid a shower curtain in the tub-shower combination we were making for our kids' bathroom. I didn't want the glass all the way across, but I too was concerned about water leaking out, and easy access in and out of the tub. We compromised by installing a stationary panel connected to a hinged panel, which doesn't go all the way to the other end. See the photo below. It works great, with no water leaking onto the floor even with three kids, and visually it's the best, IMHO!

    We heard about shower screens from people who had loved them in their European travels. I went to several shower door retailers, and several of them were clueless. Some said it couldn't be done. My contractor wasn't too familiar with them either. I found a picture in a home magazine of just such a combination -- in fact, we used the same tub they did, a Kohler Tea for Two, and then copied exactly what they had done with their shower screen, which is a fixed panel next to a hinged panel. The tub is 66 inches long, and each of the panels is about 24 inches wide. My husband and I decided on the width of the panels by looking at where the vanity ended, and we thought long and hard about how wide the hinged panel had to be to both prevent water from leaking out while people showered, and yet make it easy to get in and out. This has worked out great.

    We bought the shower doors through the Expo Design Center. If you have a good one in your area, they will have an extensive display of frameless shower doors/shields. The representative they sent out to measure immediately knew what we wanted, and they installed quickly and precisely.

    (My husband put a little clear plastic suction thing near the bottom of the door, visible in the pictures) to protect the doors if the kids banged them against the vanity counter. So far no harm has come to them, the doors, I mean!


  • anne7
    16 years ago

    Hmsweethm, that's what I want for kids' bath.Really elegant. Love bench/cubbies too. Question: what is width of fixed panel? Did you need extra framing under tile to support door? Approximate cost for glass?

  • trekker
    15 years ago

    I found a couple of sources for the European style bathtub screen. The ones we used in France seemed to have some sort of treatment on the glass because it dried without a streak despite the hard water. Below is one source. I got a quote of $900 (!) delivered to CA.

    Here is a link that might be useful: European style tub screen

  • trekker
    15 years ago

    Also found one for a lot less at www.lineaaqua.net

    I use Invisible Shield (CleanX, by Unelko.com), buy at Ace Hardware, to keep clear shower door and tile walls clean -- we never have to scrape down.

  • springbaysf
    14 years ago

    Our bath was just finished this week and I have the shower screen over a tub/shower combo. I used it last nite for the first time, and had no water on the floor. What I would recommend is the handle on both sides of the bath screen. Ours is just one door that swings either way, in or out with a clear sweep that is flush with the tub deck. Really really nice. So easy to keep clean.

  • desertsteph
    14 years ago

    this is something I am looking at also - for a shower only.

    does the 2nd panel fold back (out) over the non moving panel?

    if you only have 1 panel - doesn't water come out of the shower at the end where there is no panel?

    could this be used with body sprays?