Noah Watkins, Author at Shower Door Experts

Phantom of the Germantown Shower!?

Posted on August 9, 2020September 11, 2020 by Noah Watkins

Shower Door of the Week: All-Glass Phantom in Germantown, Maryland

Never fear, that’s just our all-glass Phantom shower door!

Reducing the number and prominence of metal parts has been an industry obsession for years. But 310 Tempering has taken things to a whole new level of frameless glass with Phantom shower doors. This unit debuts a game-changing glass header system that anchors high-end bathrooms without dominating them. When you invest money in eye-catching tile, you want to see it!

These happy customers also opted for low iron glass. That’s another way to make sure your tile isn’t obscured. Iron content gives clear glass a slight green tint. Low iron glass, also known as high definition glass, is more optically clear and gives the shower a noticeable luster.

In other Shower Door Experts news, did you know that we’re on Instagram? You can catch our shower door of the week there every Sunday, but there’s so much more! You can see our good-lookin’ experts (if we do say so ourselves), new coloring sheets to support our local food bank, shower-themed holiday wishes, and more! Yesterday was International Cat Day. We’d love to hear if your cat has any weird shower habits. If you send us a pic (emily@showerdoorexperts.com), we might feature it on our Instagram page! Oh, we also definitely want to know if your shower is actually haunted.

Cat bath. Wet cat. Girl washes cat in the bath

Your experts are also quite active on Facebook, and you can always get in touch by phone, text, and email too. We genuinely love to chat about shower design! If you’re keen to get started, you can even start a completely free quote from our website. Hope to hear from you sometime!

Sandblasted Glass Making Waves in Pennsylvania

Posted on July 26, 2020September 8, 2020 by Noah Watkins

Shower Door of the Week: Custom Sandblasted Glass in Chambersburg

We were making some summer sandblasted waves in sunny Chambersburg, Pennsylvania! Our friends at Rowland Glass Studios in Thurmont, Maryland did the custom blasting. We always enjoy working with them! Design note: they left the top section of the shower clear to show off that fun sparkly tile. On our end, we think the upgraded curved concerto handle fits really well with this wavy design.

Side note: Expert Emily sees waves, but Expert Noah makes the fair point that you can also stand in the shower and pretend you’re a tiger. Who’s right? Email emily@showerdoorexperts.com if you want to weigh in on this debate…

What They’re Saying

Wow, this one really blew up over on our Facebook page! (We’re also on Instagram.)

“Gotta love when two great companies come together on a project and get beautiful results!!”

“Love this, need this”

“Do you give free estimates?”

Yes! Yes we do give free estimates! Get in touch or start a free quote from the website. Somebody also asked us about a full bathroom model, so also know that we can recommend contractors in your area. We work with some terrific and trustworthy people – very much including Rowland Glass Studios! – and are always happy to share our insider knowledge.

Completely Custom 4-Sider in Pennsylvania

Posted on July 19, 2020August 28, 2020 by Noah Watkins

Shower Door of the Week: Custom Unit in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

This 4-sided custom shower enclosure is the bee’s knees! Well… two bees, combined. 🐝🐝🚿
This was a fun project. The little alcove has handy – and beautiful – bench seating. We love the idea of a small shower alcove! But because the door meets the adjacent panel at a custom angle, we had to be super precise with our engineering and installation. Thankfully, our technicians hit this one out of the park!

What people said on our Facebook page: “absolutely beautiful,” “beautiful,” “love!”

We continue to follow all safety protocols when we visit your homes. Gotta keep our customers and experts safe! We’re also starting to get visitors in our showroom, which opened back up this month. It is so good to see people again! We really missed having in-person chats about bathroom design. If you can, come on by!

If you’re new to the Shower Door Expert blog (welcome!), our showroom is in Jefferson, Maryland. This project was in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, and we get to the southernmost reaches of Pennsylvania fairly often. If you have any questions about our service area (and whether we can scoot outside it for you), please do get in touch – it never hurts to ask!

Getting Steamy in Arlington

Posted on July 12, 2020August 28, 2020 by Noah Watkins

Shower Door of the Week: Steam Unit in Arlington, Virginia

Two? Two transoms in one? Have they gone mad!? Yep, we’re crazy about this steam unit design!

Steam units require tall glass. Usually we recommend either a fixed transom or an operable one. But this custom enclosure has such a high ceiling that we put in both to ensure good symmetry and proportions. The homeowners loved our design! And our expert technicians were pretty proud too.

Shower door nerd note: If you’re still in the designing phase, you can also consider using a bulk head from the ceiling to keep the unit height more standard. But for neo-angle or corner units, it’s important that the bulk head aligns with the curb below. That way the reveals will stay consistent from top to bottom.

We truly love to chat about shower design, so get in touch or even start a free quote!

Our Showroom is Open!

Posted on July 9, 2020August 28, 2020 by Noah Watkins

Showroom Reopening

Our showroom is open again! This spring and summer have been, without question, the hardest months of operation for us in our 30 years as a small business. We moved heaven and earth to keep our experts not only employed but fully supported through the coronavirus pandemic. But we wouldn’t have been able to thrive without the support of our amazing customers! We’re infinitely grateful to everyone who trusted us to keep their homes safe. In that spirit, here’s how you can help us keep our showroom safe for you and our expert family…

Safety Teamwork

Everyone will wear a mask – experts and customers – no exceptions
We’ll all maintain a social distancing interval of 6’
At this time we cannot offer a public restroom
We can welcome only one customer/family at a time
For convenience and safety, we have a strong preference for appointments

If you make an appointment we can guarantee a time slot where you’ll be our exclusive VIP! Meeting new people is one of our favorite things about being shower door experts. We get to hear all about your vision, and you get inspired by our displays! We genuinely love to chat about shower design and figure out how to get you the custom glass door of your dreams. Hope to see you sooner-than-soon! Be safe and well, friends.

Best Shower Door Installations, June 2020

Posted on July 5, 2020August 28, 2020 by Noah Watkins

Washington, DC + Mt. Airy, MD + Aldie, VA

It’s a 3-for-1 special for this week’s #ShowerDoorSunday! With everything going on the last few months, we took a step back from weekly posts. But with the grand reopening of our showroom, we’re ready to get back into the swing of things.

Frameless Door & Panel in Washington, DC

For alcove shower (i.e., standard wall-to-wall) openings, the frameless shower door & panel is the most popular swing option. For opening widths over 60” homeowners sometimes opt for panel-door-panel configurations instead.

This 60” opening in Washington, DC had a toilet we needed to clear with the door swing, so we went slightly narrower on the door (24” instead of the standard 28” width). The modern ladder pull handle complements the modern hardware fixtures within the shower.

Frameless Corner Shower Enclosure in Mt. Airy, MD

A handsome corner shower enclosure in a handsome bathroom in Mt. Airy, MD! The mixed use of materials in the bathroom space is part of what makes this installation so attractive. Marble floors, granite slab horizontally on the curb and vertically on the outside wall, a river stone shower pan, and gorgeous neutral gray tile within the shower. Even the niche shelves use different materials! And yet it all ties together in a wonderful way.

The use of a knee wall on the left side lets good light into this shower, and we accommodated it with a custom notched panel that extends about 2” to the centerline of the 4” wide granite cap. The homeowner wanted to pick up more towel-hanging real estate in the bathroom, so we installed an elegant through-the-glass towel bar on the inline glass panel beside the shower door.

Frameless 2/3 Neo Angle Shower Door in Aldie, VA

Just another gorgeous shower space! Which obviously makes it easier for our glass shower doors to really shine. The use of river stone for the shower pan and in the vertical panel on the back wall is simply masterful.

This 2/3 neo angle design in Aldie, VA required an angle mount on the shower door hinges since the right wall isn’t squared off at 90-degrees. Fortunately, we’ve been making atypical details like this work for the past three decades, so it didn’t pose a problem. The homeowner preferred glass clamps instead of low-profile u-channel at the base of the stationary glass, which we were happy to accommodate.

Interested in a quote for a new shower door? Our online quote request form makes it a super simple process!

Wet Room Shower Doors in Martinsburg, WV

Posted on May 15, 2020October 28, 2020 by Noah Watkins

Shower Door of the Week: Custom Frameless Corner Shower Doors in Martinsburg, West Virginia

Free-Standing

This West Virginia homeowner wanted the wet room bathroom experience, so we made it happen with a custom frameless shower door. Frequently, so-called “corner shower doors” are found in bathrooms with a shower pan directly adjacent to a soaking tub. That set-up requires a glass cutout to accommodate the tub deck. But this shower we recently completed in Martinsburg is completely free-standing. And it turned out beautifully!

No Curb

Because the bathroom is designed as wet room, there is no curb on this shower. Typically, we see 4” curbs defining the shower pan. But since the bathroom floor and shower pan floor were made of the same materials, there was no need for a curb. Some homeowners like to avoid using a shower curb to make their showers ADA/wheelchair friendly.

Oil Rubbed Bronze

You can see that the free-standing soaking tub in this bathroom has earthy brown tones. The floor material also has a rustic earthiness to it. So when it came time to talk shower door hardware, we recommended oil rubbed bronze finish as the best match. Our oil rubbed bronze finish is available in light, medium, or dark to match pretty much any other bathroom fixture available in oil rubbed bronze.

Want a Free Quote?

Our showroom in Jefferson, Maryland is temporarily closed to keep everyone safe. But our office staff is available to give you a quote for a custom shower door! You can fill out a quote request form on our website, send a message on Facebook, or text us at (833)222-2789.
Our installers are classified as “essential workers,” so we’re still able to measure and install shower doors! For our panhandle friends, our schedule typically takes us your way 1-2 per week. So we have appointments available near Harpers Ferry, Charles Town, Ranson, and Shepherdstown, West Virginia at your convenience. Get in touch!

Framed Bypass Sliding Shower Doors in Frederick, MD

Posted on April 26, 2020October 28, 2020 by Noah Watkins

Shower Door of the Week: Framed Bypass Sliding Shower Doors in Frederick, Maryland

Framed bypass sliding shower doors are the most affordable option when upgrading from a shower curtain to shower doors. This Lucette bypass system manufactured by Century Bathworks in New Jersey is a high-quality take on this entry-level style of shower doors.

Not only are these units affordable, they are also versatile. Framed shower doors have thinner glass than frameless shower doors: 5/32” or 1/4” glass for framed shower doors versus 3/8” or 1/2” for frameless shower doors. This means they can be mounted on fiberglass surrounds like the one pictured. Frameless shower doors tend to require tiled surfaces with 2×4 backing to support the weight of the shower doors. But since these framed units are so much lighter, we are able to safely install them in prefabbed shower surrounds.

The main difference between framed bypass sliding shower doors and semi-frameless bypass sliding shower doors is the metal framing around the glass panels. Both types of units have metal around the periphery: two wall jambs, a header, and a sliding track/drip rail. But only framed shower door systems have additional metal around each individual glass panel. For some people, that additional metal is a deal breaker. Either way, framed shower doors are way more handsome than a dingy shower curtain!

We’re always happy to talk design – really! – so get in touch if you have questions. You can also get a free quote any old time.

Completely Customized in Clifton, VA

Posted on April 12, 2020October 28, 2020 by Noah Watkins

A completely customized shower door is art and science! We often have to use notched panels* to accommodate tub decks, knee walls, and bench seats. (A notched panel a stationary piece of glass shaped like Oklahoma flipped on its panhandle.) All in a day’s work! But with these corner shower doors in Clifton, Virginia we needed a panel to fit a remarkably tall vanity! There was even a slight lip, or overhang, on the vanity’s marble top. We needed to grind that out for a seamless u-channel fit. So this was a very custom shower door indeed! We’re quite proud of the outcome.

We used glass-to-glass pivot hinges at the very top and bottom of the shower door so that the three wall clamps and two corner clamps were the only hardware breaking up the horizontal line of sight. Pivot hinges distribute the weight of the shower door downward towards the curb, making it easier to hinge the door off of a glass panel instead of a tiled wall.

The brushed nickel hardware on this project ties in well with the earthy gray tones of the accent tile, as well as the gray streaks in the white marble. Overall, it’s a fantastic design completely customized for this space.

Frameless in Charles Town

Posted on March 29, 2020August 29, 2020 by Noah Watkins

Shower Door of the Week: Frameless Glass in Charles Town, West Virginia

Full disclosure: this shower door unit is actually located right outside of Charles Town, in Kearneysville, West Virginia. But we’ve been picking up more and more business around Charles Town and in the Eastern Panhandle. You’ll find us in Ranson, Shepherdstown, Martinsburg, and Inwood. Say hello if you see our van or memorable t-shirts!

This frameless glass shower door and panel represents many of the unit types we find in this area. We do see our fair share of tub doors and corner shower doors as well. But more often than not, we’re installing fairly standard frameless doors like this one.

This panhandle homeowner had recently renovated the bathroom. By positioning their shower seat in the corner instead of on the front plane, they saved themselves some money on their shower doors. Smart! When a bench seat extends all the way to the shower curb, we have to cut out the glass panel to accommodate it, which increases the price by a couple hundred dollars. So get in touch before you start your project if you want some expert advice on design! We love chatting about projects and can get you a free quote early in the process.

Ultimately, we were able to hinge off the right wall with standard duty glass-to-wall hinges and secure the stationary inline glass panel with a single 2” x 2” clamp at the top left of the panel. We positioned the top hinge and this corresponding clamp each 8” down from the top of the shower doors for symmetry. Frameless shower door and panel systems like this one are a handsome way to get custom glass shower doors at an affordable price!

Author: Noah Watkins