IÂm trying to choose hardware (hinges, D handle/towel bar combo, brackets or maybe u-channel) for my STEAM shower that is being built, fixtures are Oil Rubbed Bronze. IÂm hearing that some manufacturers make powder coated aluminum for their oil rubbed bronze (Agalite being one of them - IÂm told the powder coating wonÂt hold up over the long run), others anodized bronze, others some other treatment over brass ??? IÂm totally confused. The worst part is the only shade of Oil Rubbed Bronze IÂve seen that reasonably matches the Oil Rubbed Bronze hardware in my bathroom (shower fixtures, door knob, towel hangers, lamps, faucets, etc.) are the powder coated surfaces IÂve seen. Anything other than powder coated IÂve seen essentially looks black itÂs such a very dark bronze that itÂs hard to tell from black and definitely wonÂt match anything I have (IÂve seen CR LaurenceÂs oil rubbed bronze and whatever hardware Holcam uses for their anodized bronze both of which essentially look black). So can someone illuminate me if using powder coated hinges, brackets (or u-channel) and D handle/towel bar combos is a BAD idea for a steam shower? Or does anyone know of a manufacturer that makes non-powder coated hinges/brackets/u-channel/handles in an Oil Rubbed Bronze that doesnÂt look black? Thanks in advance!

JuniperSt, The link doesn't say what the pull is made of, and whether the finish is applied (a coating), plated (a chemical process), and/or a patina chemical applied to solid brass. From the looks, I'm guessing not the last, but it's hard to tell from pictures. If it's one of the former two it's probably lacquered, and solid brass can be as well. They have new ways of doing it that doesn't have that clear nail polish 80's look. Clean lacquer with a soft cloth. Use a little soapy water now and then. Try not to scratch it, because anywhere you break the lacquer, the elements can cause changes. That pretty much holds for unlacquered plate or solid, but in addition, if it's not lacquered, air, moisture and handling will change the appearance over time. Always dry completely if it gets wet to help keep it from going black. Try not to handle the outside much, to keep finger oils off. If it's solid brass and it starts to look bad, you can polish it, but that will affect the burnished finish. You can reburnish it, which is laborious, but not hard, though it'll never look like factory done. Polishing plate is never a good idea. Solid brass, if you don't polish it, will develop its own living burnish over time.

I have brushed nickel and blue glass in my kitchen to match the decor and have white in other areas. the white plastic does look cheap. I think it depends on the size of the can, height of the ceiling and overall decor. I don't think I would like brushed nickel in living areas and bedrooms where there is no other matching decor. I may try to paint my white plastic ones to match the ceiling more closely.

Thank you Tundra. Now I don't know if I should trust the second glass contractor who told me this hardware could rust. He got me all worked up for nothing. To give you guys an idea about why I don't trust the original glass contractor. First thing that got me nervous is how fast he measured for the glass in my showers (he did two). He never checked to see if everything was plumb, just basically took one measurement in each dimension and that was it. Looked haphazard to me but he's supposed to know what he's doing so I didn't say anything. Delivery day comes and his guys break one of the panes of glass. They also break one of my tiles during the installation so the tile has to be replaced. When they come back with the replacement pane of glass they break another tile. This time it's in an inconspicuous place so I decide to live with it because I'm afraid if I bring them back a third time time they'll break another piece of tile in a more visible location and the cycle will never end. It's a steam shower with a transom. For some reason he can't seem to figure out how to get the transom right, after many months and several visits to put it in I still don't have it. I told the glass sub multiple times I want crystal clear silicone. He ignores me and brings a cloudy silicone and, I kid you not, silicones the entire shower in under five minutes. The silicone looks like a child did it. No tooling, no shaping, no tape. I have a very wavy and uneven silicone and he tells me that silicone is messy to work with so this is the absolute best it can be. So I proceed to send him a few Youtube instructional videos to show him it can be done cleanly. No joke. Also, because he didn't check for plumb surfaces there is a vertical edge along my shower bench that is not plumb so the gap between the bench and the glass grows as you go up the bench. It looks terrible. He tells me that they can't cut glass at an angle so there is no way to match the slope of the bench. Total BS. Right? He also never bothered to ask me what kind of handle I want for my door so I have the smallest, most basic one. And he didn't ask me if I wanted a towel bar. I've never done any of this so I had no idea this stuff had to be specified up front. Anyway, you get the picture. Everything that could be done wrong was done wrong. The installation, the glass itself, the silicone... And it is like this with every one of my contractor's subs. You wouldn't believe some of the mistakes that were made. Just this week I discovered that the hot and cold water lines are crossed somewhere in the walls which are all closed now. How the hell does that happen??? What's the over/under on the number of walls will they will open to fix this? Experiences like this give you PTSD. I'm sorry for venting but you asked ;-) And now you understand why I wouldn't be surprised if I had motel grade shower hardware that was made out of recycled tin foil and will rust upon first use.