Design Specs

Every successful projects starts with a good plan of action. In this section we offer some design specs/tips. There are many things to consider in the design of your shower enclosure and involving the help of our staff in the early planning of your project will ensure it’s success. For the glass structure to be fabricated, we must submit all designs to our hardware manufacturer to meet specifications. Please contact us with any questions you may have. You can see many different designs in our photo gallery. Note where the door is hinged and how it changes the design.




Wall Section Diagram -
Note the placement of hinges along the blocking

Design Tips To Consider From The Start Of Your Project

1) Proper wood blocking in the wall for the hinges and mechanical fasteners is one of the most important things that should go into the design. See the diagram to the right for a drawing of this specification.

2) Seats and Curbs - must be pitched for proper drainage.

3) Shower soffits must plumb down precisely to lower curbs. This is necessary in order to line up glass panels.

4) Position body sprays and faucet heads towards tile walls, not towards enclosure doors.

5) Tempered glass panels cannot be made in dimensions less than 3 1/2 inches, plan accordingly when designing your enclosure.

6) For a frameless enclosure, do not use raised decorative tile on any part of the door swing area. Specifically, outside the enclosure where the door swings open. This could impede the door from its full swing and could result in damage to the door.

7) Use caution when designing with glass tiles. Drilling, necessary during the installation of a frameless enclosure, can result in cracked glass tiles. Discuss this with the staff at Shower Designs Inc if you plan to design an enclosure with glass tiles.

8) The correct shower curb pitch will result in proper drainage. Be sure to pitch the curb towards the inside of the shower enclosure. A pitch between 3/16" and 1/4" is ideal.

9) Keep in mind that any time we can hinge a door on a wall it allows us to eliminate a horizontal header support, this results in a more frameless look. If a glass door is to be hinged from another glass panel it must be supported on three sides. This requires us to extend the panel to the ceiling or to introduce a header support bar into the design.

10) When in doubt, call the staff at Shower Designs Inc, they will be glad to aid in answering all of your questions.


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