Make it swing on hinges. It is done all the time in Europe. I'm doing the same for my 6ft opening. Getting to the controls is a no-brainer. Enjoy

Hi lazy_gardens. I'm finding that 60 seems to be the maximum width, too. Is it a matter of physics, I wonder? I could use a fixed panel to cover a few more inches, but my clever idea had been that if you had, say, 33" clear opening on one end of the tub or the other when the doors were slid open, you'd have that much easier access to the tub. I guess you could have a 3" return on either end, in either glass or tile, and still use a 60" door without unduly hemming in the tub. Following our previous discussion about how to use a 60" or, preferably, 66" alcove tub on a 96"-long wall, I'd been thinking of a setup like this, with a half-glass half-wall at the foot of the tub: and then I was thinking about whether an enclosure using sliding doors instead of shower curtain would be possible. Of course, this will all be moot if I decide to go with the Americh Bow tub instead of a 3-sided alcove tub. ;-)

My husband is English, this is the set up all my in laws have and I am not a fan! Yes water splashes out and that is not even what I dislike most. It is freezing while showering. They are so drafty and allow so much steam to escape that the fan needs to be on while showering( I like to put my fan on for 30 minutes after my shower to stay warm at home) which keeps the room from moisture damage but makes the shower area even more drafty. Full enclosure or a curtain for warm showing work best IMO.

Thanks for the input. I just measured my master shower door and it's 28.5". I think I will plan for a 26" door, swinging inward and outward. I like the idea of the pony wall being a little bit longer and just leaving the 26" space for the future door. My contractor is very thorough and will be sure to block for a door and grab bar to be installed in future if desired. Definately will put the controls in the pony wall like we did in master. The depth of the room right now is 64" from the current finished shower tile to the wall. So without encroaching on the 30" space for the toilet, we could get a 34" depth shower. That's still pretty small, but don't see a way to make it deeper without expanding the scope and $$ by stealing space from adjacent attic. If money were no object we would look into doing that. I'll ask the contractor about it, but I don't think budget will allow.