Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - Bathroom shower doors

I have a 60 year old home with a bathroom that has an archway to the shower. The radius of the opening is lower than the average height for shower doors. What is the cheapest way to aquire doors that will match the height of the flats of the opening, or match the conture to the opening and be standard height?

dsiegris,

One option is to see a Glass and Mirror company and have one made. Cost may not be as bad as you think but this provides you with a door that would fit and you have just as many otpions with style, frame colors and glass selection.

Hope this helps!

I have not been to a glass company yet. Still hoping to find the worlds cheapest shower door with plastic doors instead of glass. Why don't they sell doors made of plexiglass? Are the chemicals in soap-scum that caustic? Has anyone heard of plastic shower doors?

Plexi-glass is soft and scratches very easily. It is also weak, and when you get to the thickness where it will support itself without warping, the stuff is no less expensive than real glass.

What is your budget for this project?

I am currently unemployed, but seriously hate (I mean HATE) the shower curtain. The bathroom is seriously small and the curtain if not literally, then visually eats up necessary space both inside and outside the shower. Can you give me an estimate of what you believe it will cost me to get this done at a glass co?

Thanks,
Dan

Frameless, two doors, four hinges, 3/8s clear tempered glass, prolly about $1,200 bucks. www.glasss.com

How about that shower curtain.......

That is the cost that I have figured (in my head). That is why I have never called on it. The guy at Home Depot basically said that I was a retard for wanting special size doors, but then said that they wouldn't cost too much more than the kits that they sold. I told him he was off his rocker, and asked if plastic was available. He said that he'd never heard of it, but also wasn't willing to look into it for me.

I think that I should design and manufacture easy to modify shower doors that can be modified by either highly skilled home owners, or skilled mill shops. If I found a plastic door, I know that I could do it. I know I can, I know I can....

what about going doorless? I dont know what you've got on the floor outside, or how big the shower is- if it will allow you enough room without splashing everything out. I have seen some extremely nice bathrooms that dont have anything for a door!!

Newgy,
As I mentioned in a previous posting, my home is over 60 years old. They didn't design these homes with spacious bathrooms in mind. Heck, they thought of the bathrooms last. I have about 18 inches of walking space between the vanity and the tub.

One of the main reasons I am looking for such a cheap answer is that I am planning to remodel the bathroom and remove the tub all to gether. I would replace it with a nice 30x30 shower stall and use the remaining tub area as floor space.

Thanks for the reply though,
Dan

Dan,

30 by 30 inches is WAY too small for a shower stall.

When I said 30x30 I was just using generic size call outs. I will make sure to get in an "try on" my shower stall before I buy and install it. I will want one big enough for "at least" two people, if you catch my drift... wink wink nudge nudge.

I believe a door, even glass will make a small bathroom even smaller then it really is because it will basically create a "wall" at that point. That's why I opted to use a curtain and remove the old door when I remodeled my small bathroom. Right now I have the curtain open most of the time, and I don't feel like I have a wall 3" from the sink when I use it.

Trinitro,
I can see where that would make it open up. BUT, my wife has this beef about leaving the shower curtain open. Reasons being; the curtain then becomes moldy sooner due to the moisture trapped in the curtain longer, the stuff that is concealed by the curtain is then visible to everyone (eg. shampoo bottles, razors, etc.), the tub needs to be cleaned more often (this would not be a problem if I did my 10% of the cleaning on time). This is our sole bathroom and we are trying to make due until we rebuild it like the six million dollar bathroom.

Thanks for your input,
D

Hey -- This all sounds very familiar. I also had a 50+-year-old house with an arched bathtub opening in Wyoming, MI!

We put trackless doors up and they worked great. I moved into a new house about six months ago and was recently looking at shower doors. Menards at 54th Street and Clyde Park carries them.

I understand about the shower curtain making the small bathroom look even smaller and also understand about the closed shower curtain/mold thing. That is why I liked the trackless doors so much. You could leave them pushed to the inside of the tub when not in use. This both opened up the space and also hid the shampoo, etc.

I don't remember the exact price of the trackless doors, but I think it was around $200.

Hope this helps.
:)

I recently moved into this home back at the end of november. Did I buy my house from you? The previous owners moved into a "new" home from here. Hmmmm!

Thanks for the idea. I love going to Menards. I think they are better than Home Depot. I will have to investigate this trackless door thing. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

D

Hmmm! What a small world. I sold my house at the end of November, but I'm sure it's not the same one, because you would already have trackless doors. Also, unfortunately, I did not move into a "new" house.

FYI -- I think we bought the trackless doors at Wolohan's on Burlingame (north of 28th Street). But now that we have Menards, it has become a regular hang out!

I did a little research and found a company that makes them, but when I tried to contact them my Email came back as undelivered. I will be visited by my parents this weekend, and my father used to own a home improvement center when I was growing up (I mean younger, am still working on the growing up thing). I will get his take on it and maybe have him help me throw one up this weekend. I am rather excited that I might be able to throw away the shower curtain and have a nice clean shower door. I really appreciate the advice, and will be sure to post the outcome.
D

http://www.mobilehomeadvantage.com/bathtubs/40050-71.htm

I am a designer by trade. I might have to check these out and see if there is anything that I might develop to make me a millionaire!