Hi, I have a Basco frameless sliding shower doors in my master bath. When the man came to measure for installation, I was still undecided as to which sliding glass door to get (but still needed the shower measured regardless). Like you, I was concerned about the thickness of the glass. The installer told me it really didn't make much of a difference regarding the thickness of the glass. Both are "tempered" for safety. In fact, he seemed to push me towards the thinner glass. Since I'm handicapped and have a problem with walking and my balance, I went for the thicker glass (only because I'm afraid I'll fall in the shower or into the glass doors). Also, when I was shopping for walk in type showers, the salesman warned me against doors that swing out. He said that water tends to drip on the floor when the door is openned. Not only does that make the floor slippery, but it is water that needs to be cleanned up. This problem is eliminated if the door swings in but that makes it kind of awkward to get out of the shower. Hence, my decision for the frameless sliding shower doors. Anyway, I hope all this helps you in some way with your decision. Karen

At a local kitchen/bath/plumbing store I checked out Basco quality and could see samples of the metal finishes and glass. I shopped online for my sliding door for a shower/tub by Basco using this site below. I priced it there but ordered it from Lowes special order (they order it for you, no charge) & you can get a 15% off Lowes website coupon for anything in the store...it's for moving but you are moving things around, right? At this link on TheShowerDoorStore look for the Infinity 4400-4500 as it has the 48 inch width. Maybe all of them have that width. The Swing Doors with Inline Panels look great. The quality of my Basco door is excellent. My sister has a Kohler Sterling sliding shower door and it is very wobbly and not as high quality. Here is a link that might be useful: shower doors, sliding or inline

marti8a- We have 2 sets of aluminum clad, low e, argon filled sliders and a set of the same outward opening french doors, all by Eagle (now owned by Andersen, but independent when we purchased them 8 years ago). They all operate easily, close securely and have no air infiltration, we are in NNY and have wind, cold and snow and have never had a problem. While I like the look of french doors better, we chose sliders in two our of three locations because we wanted screens on the doors, we don't have or want A/C, so screens are on the doors are a must for us. The one french door we have will someday open onto a small sunroom/conservatory (hopefully), that's why we chose a set of french doors in that area. Eagle, as well as the other well known manufacturers, have lots of options on the interior; primed, painted, stained, different wood species, hardware options, etc. We rented a house with vinyl sliders when we were building and I would not recommend them at all, they didn't work well, ice built up in the channels and the cold air poured in seemingly from the entire opening. I strongly prefer the wood interior and aluminum clad exterior, but overall I would get the best ones you can afford, good doors and windows pay for themselves in the form of lower energy costs. Good luck- sandyponder

"...Are there any hi-quality makers of frameless shower sliders?..." I thinks Fleurco is the Best in Class Winner here. Their hardware works beautifully. These doors can be ordered as kits with the glass or you can order just the hardware by itself. Make sure you shy away from a fully topical waterproofed shower pan with you barrier free build since you will need to secure a floor clip. I would do a recessed shower floor and take an approach like this for the barrier free. The dark blue section of the shower is under flood test and later had 2" of Laticrete 3701 mortar bed installed to bring the floor even with the outside of the shower. The light blue material is again NobleSeal CIS and the entire room is a wetroom After the floor test was done 2 capillary breaks where installed. One at the entry to the bathroom and one across the shower entry. Good Luck.