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How realistic is this lovely (doorless) shower.. see photo...??

15 years ago

Hi-

Here is a photo of a shower similar to the one I envision in our master bath. (I don't remember where I got the photo; apologies if it is one of yours from this forum! If it is one you recognize pleae let me know: I'd love to ask the owner a few Qs about it... love it!)

For budget and space-enhancement reasons, I'd rather not do a glass shower door. But most of the "doorless" showers I saw when I did that search here, are the snail-type with a physical barrier to keep the water in. Since our bathroom is long and narrow, I'd rather something like this.

What do you think? Would there always be water on the floor? is there a minimum width for an open shower like this to work well?

Without the door, do you always feel cold?

Featured Answer

callaloo

15 years ago

Albeit a different design, I have a doorless shower that opens right into the master bathroom, without a snail or barrier entry. Because our home is overall well-insulated and warm in the winter, I've not had a problem with the shower being drafty or cold, and most of the water stays inside the shower (we have a rain-type showerhead, which controls the water spray). Some water escapes onto the teak bath mat, and onto the tile floor, but that's why we have a tile floor.

I did hedge my bets in building this shower -- if we'd found that it was cold/drafty/splashy, we could install a door. However, after 18 months, we've not found it necessary. And the added bonus of having no door is that the shower dries quickly and we've had no problem whatsoever with mold or mildew, as we did with the previous (closed) shower.

If I were considering the design you're showing, I would perhaps extend the half wall and glass a little further, because that particular design looks like it might be a bit more splashy than you might want.

(Sorry I don't have a better photo; the bathroom is not large enough to get a long view of the shower.)

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Comments (10)

terezosa / terriks
15 years ago
I think that it would be cold. I have a doorless "snail type" shower that is in a small room with just the shower and toilet, so it doesn't get drafty. While I love doorless showers I wouldn't want one so open to the rest of the bathroom.
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For clarification, using the inspiration photo that you supplied, as you step over the curb and enter the shower, the contractor wants the shower valve and the shower head on the wall to the left? Right at the door opening? If so, have it plumbed the way you want it plumbed, which I'm guessing is with the shower head in the same location that it is in the inspiration photo. And question #2, based on your photo, are they using Oatey shower pan membrane on the walls? And in the niche? I've never seen anything quite...like...that...before...
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Hi again vic, Here's a link to more photos of my bathroom. The size is 5' x 5' which is the same length as the original alcove tub but a couple of feet wider. We added the extra space both for comfort and to keep the shower head some distance away from the doorless opening. We also used Kerdi in the shower and Ditra on the floors to achieve a certain amount of waterproofing, although very little actually gets on the floor. After these photos were taken we changed out the shower head to a Grohe Freehander, which is great for small showers. Laura Here is a link that might be useful: Bathroom
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Bituthene is a waterproofing barrier product (typically construction exterior use) but not typically associated with showers from what I know, as there are easier, better products out there specifically designed for showers. And with no preslope to the pan your going to have issues with these forever unfortunately. Not going to be a matter of if you redo them but when..........................
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Stacey Collins
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you!
Right now that bathroom (part of a later addition to the house) is actually quite cold, as it's built on a frost wall, not a full foundation, and not well-enough insulated. We're thinking we may have to rip up the entire floor, re-insulate, and lay the floor back down. In the bedroom it's lovely hardwood and although DH used to be in the flooring biz and knows what he's doing, we still might not be able to re-use the floor, so I am hoping we won't have to (we're working on fixing the heating first... also not well done!)
Anyway- if we can get it toasty in there ...I will look into the cost of installing a radiant mat under the floor tile, too... maybe it could work. It definitely makes sense to make the opening smaller... I guess it will be a compromise between visual openness and shower warmth!

And if I do make the opening small enough (30"? more?) I guess we could always add a door -mounted on the opposite wall- later if need be. Good idea.

Thanks!
howmuchlonger
15 years ago
hmmm I'm woundering if this would be the solution to my tiny bathroom... I love the look of it. Would a bathroom exaust fan with a heater in it not heat the bathroom up enough to solve the cool draft problem?
palimpsest
15 years ago
In Europe many bathrooms are built as "wet rooms". The bathroom IS the shower. Sometimes there is a side shield of sorts but it is more to keep the toilet area from getting fully drenched (including the toilet paper) :(

Not a lot of familiarity with them in many areas of the US. These need to be planned from the framing up since the floor is usually level and slopes to a drain...no curb.
john90505
15 years ago
Callaloo,

how wide is your opening? We are building a doorless, and are thinking 22" for the opening. Too big? Too small?

What is involved with allowing for future door installation?

thank you,

john
golddust
15 years ago
We did a 27" opening on our doorless shower but the shower is 4 X 7"8". My BIL (Bill) has a European shower. What a pain it is. Everything must be dried after every single shower.

How long and narrow is your bathroom? We had to design around this same problem.
callaloo
15 years ago
I'm not sure of the door dimensions for my shower, but I know it's more than 22" (not very helpful ... sorry ... I'll try to remember to measure when I get home). I don't think you really need to do anything special to enable fitting a door in at a later date, but it will be a custom installation; just make sure you have enough room for a door to swing OUT should you decide to get a door later.
Stacey Collins
Original Author
15 years ago
Our bathroom is about 6'6" x 13'. Since we can't moe the basic plumbing, the layout is like this;

Entrance is in the center of one of the long sides. Straight ahead is the vanity area. To the left is the shower. On the opposite short wall is a window and toilet.

I'm hoping to add a window (vinyl for waterproofness) in the shower (like my inspiration pic) and also centered on the long wall between two vanities.

I envision the shower to be the whole width (6' 6") by maybe 4 feet.

Any advice?
lit1_optonline_net
12 years ago
I have a walk in shower and I installed a collapsible rubber barrier along the edge and it works fine. No water at all on the floor and you can step on the barrier because it flattens down.

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