Alternative to shower doors or curtain?
I am planning on redoing a stand-up shower stall in our master bathroom. It currently has shower doors which I find a pain to clean and always end up with a gross build-up along the track and even on the outside of the track where it meets the shower pan. I am considering putting in a curtain instead of new doors but I wondered if anyone knew of any other alternatives to shower curtains to keeping water inside the shower. Probably a shot in the dark here, but I'm trying to be creative. Thanks! Welcome to the forums!! It's gonna depend on how much space you can dedicate for the shower. Any idea yet? Often, when I remodel basements or even existing bathrooms, my clients want ideas and some even give me artistic license to make things happen. If space allows, I never build a shower unit that has doors. I like an offset door entering the shower with the shower controls on that same wall, so they splash on the opposite wall. I designed a 4x8 fully tiled walk in shower for my weekend rental cabin, which people love. I will concur with you, shower doors, and even shower curtains provide harbor for mold and mildew. With an open concept, you don't have that. Maybe you could post a couple of pix of what you have so we can see what you see. http://www.doityourself.com/forum/el...your-post.html I've painted a few baths that had a walk in and then turn before entering the shower itself, looks nice and ought to be handy but like Larry said - it takes a good bit of room. The neatest looking one I've worked on had a glass block entryway, a set of controls [you dialed in the exact temp desired] and then turned into the shower which had 11 shower heads...... I kept looking for the 'hot wax' button That particular master bath rm was approximately 15'x20' with a cathedral ceiling. Sounds like a nightmare to plumb, huh?? In addition to the hot wax, you will need blowers to dry you off as you exit Here's a shot or two of the last one we did in a cathedral ceiling log home. It had a built in bench and soap/shampoo cubbies which aren't pictured. But you get the idea of what can be done. I had originally thought about the walk-in shower idea where you create almost a maze-like entry to keep water out for our main bathroom. I even drew it all out in AutoCAD, but have since realized the plumbing challenges of swapping the places of a tub/shower drain and toilet might prove to be a bit over my head. But in our master, I think the bathroom is just too small for that kind of layout. I have attached a picture of our current shower. Unless someone can see something in that picture that I don't... I appreciate any creative input! Oh and the dimensions I have to work with in this small space are about 46W x 90L (including the shower). I had thought about replacing the shower with a tub, but they don't seem to make 46 or smaller tubs lol (as I'm sure that's be uncomfortable anyway!). Stick with the doors, curtains are more work IMO than doors - the doors are an occasional maintenance issue, the curtain moves into your space with the convection currents on every shower. Hi, An idea I have seen and worked well. Shower doors and shower curtians. Curtians inside the shower. They keep the doors clean and give some color to your bathroom. Wash or replace curtians as needed. Good Luck Woodbutcher I went the opposite way on my small shower by using a cheap separate shower curtain and a fabric decorative cover. I tore out the dirty flimsy shower frames and supports and went through the hassle of getting rid of the old caulk and the silicone sealer to make everything presentable. I installed a brushed stainless bar in the opening and hung a cheap standard plastic shower curtain a little low to make sure the bottom was well inside the formed fiberglass curb. Because I had about 2' on one side of the door, I put in a higher matching bar to cover up the complete area and used a fabric (cotton or polyester) patterned curtain/wall covering that could slide open, but covered the entire wall and it could be changed/rotated cheaply depending on my mood. If you have a counter top on one end, you could do a little cutting and sewing to make the fabric wall covering fit over and along a counter on the intersecting wall. If I was to start from scratch, I would go the Indian way and make the entire bathroom a wet room (all tile on a concrete slab) that had positive drainage with no curb that is easy to keep clean. Most modern construction there is masonry and concrete, so putting in a slope on a floor that has two different drainage systems (gray water and black water) is not a major problem if done from the beginning. Dick I just don't think I would want to walk in black water, Dick. Seems a little icky. Chandler, obvious is that the floors are only wet from floor washing and shower spray. The norm there for all floors is a hard finish and little wood is used or available for construction. The black water is from toilets, disposals and gets the full the full sewage treatment. The gray water is generally water from sink washing, washing and cleaning floors and gets a minor treatment and is recycled for use in industrial plants or watering vegetation. The twin systems in the concrete floors are not a construction problem, but the drains traditionally on the exterior of the walls and have to be hidden somewhat (usually tucked in corners around architectural features) on the common typical multistory buildings. Most residential construction 3+1 or 5+1 mid-rise or taller buildings. On single family home, landscaping hides them. Even many of the 2 story low cost slum clearance housing developments were generally split (even though the water for the kitchen is carried in by hand from the 1 outside tap) for the 4 or 6 units. That makes a big difference when many typical projects may be built at the rate of 2000-3000 units/year each around the many major cities just to make a dent in the housing problems - due to the problems financing and legal problems of buying the scarce land. that is why so many Indians were their wealth daily in the form of 18k and 22k gold jewelry even while carrying baskets of dirt on their heads. It is certainly a different way of building, but there is a cable hook-up for TV and computer in every unit. I guess I got off the track of a shower door. Dick Thanks for the suggestion Dick. I think I can picture what you're saying and I might have a couple ideas to go off that. Thanks!
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