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frameless glass shower thickness--what do you have?

14 years ago

We removed a standard-sized tub and put a shower in the same space. Now I'm shopping for frameless glass doors. We want to do 80" french doors, and we are going with ultra-clear glass, but I can't decide on 3/8" or 1/2" thickness. I saw samples and still can't decide. I was wondering what everyone here has and whether you like it? Any advice on this choice? Thanks!

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Comments (5)

pepperidge_farm
14 years ago
1/2" is what we have, also 80".

One place tried to sell us 3/8", but others who seemed more knowledgeable totally endorsed the thicker glass, which was our instinct as well.

It does cost more, of course, but I believe it's necessary.
cat_mom
14 years ago
We used 3/8" thick glass for our guest bathroom shower. It won't see a lot of use (at least that's the plan), but it seems like it would be fine even if it did--it's not flimsy at all. We did upgrade to starfire/clear glass with Clear Shield.
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Ours was 3K, included all parts, glass, labor. The shower is a modified square shape a square with a slice off of one of the corners. Of course, that's where the door is. He really struggled with getting it all to line up. Mostly because the standard door wasn't the same size as the opening for it and there is an additional trim piece of glass beside the door. Looks great in the end, fainted at the price. Good to see that others are familiar with these kind of numbers. He did everything, measure, fabricate, deliver, install. They were very tall pieces of 3/8" tempered glass. It was no picnic for him!
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Hinging the 1/2 inch door off another piece of glass is tricky. Check out the linked website. Here is a link that might be useful: linky
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Thanks folks! I really appreciate it. I've emailed the glass company to see if its too late in the fabrication to accomodate for not using the strike seal. If they've already made it, all is not lost. Since our door and fixed panel meet at an angle, we can probably simply mount the whole thing slightly inside the center of the curb, which would allow us to tighten any gap they've left for the seal... We;ll see I guess! Frankly I prefer the look of just the clean glass edge, so I hope this can happen. It's a small bath, and that edge is very "in your face", and noticeable, and a big part of the overall design of the bathroom....
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We've had frameless glass showers for years in all the bathrooms and in my new house have had mine for two years. As far as care, it's not hard to keep looking good - I just squeegee it after a shower to get the majority of the water off it and from getting water spots everywhere. For cleaning, I spray it with 409 about once every week or two while showering and then spray it off with the handheld shower head. No scrubbing required :) Just FYI - We've never had any treatment or coating applied to any of our showers and they are just standard tempered glass, not frosted or textured.
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pharaoh
14 years ago
we have both. Honestly, only i notice the difference. No one else does.
But i do like the thicker glass :)
suero
14 years ago
We have 1/2" side panels and 3/8" door, but that's because we have a very large door, and 1/2" would have made the door too heavy to move easily. The difference is not noticeable (only 1/16" thickness on either side of the door, and that's disguised by the flexible door seal.
chris_42
14 years ago
We have a 3 1/2 ft. by 7 ft. fixed frameless glass panel for the shower.
Architect specified 1/2", but glass contractor installed 3/8" which was noticeably flimsy and moved if you grabbed edge to get in shower.
Contractor had to pay to replace with 1/2" (since that was the quote price) and we were so much happier with the thicker glass. Maybe because our installation was only fixed on two sides, it made a huge difference.

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