frameless Archives - Page 2 of 4 - Shower Door Experts

Spray Panel in Harper’s Ferry

Posted on November 7, 2021 by Emily Watkins

Shower Door of the Week: Spray Panel in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia

Say it, don’t spray it! …is not actually the tagline here. We’ll keep working on that. But we did want to say: we’re big fans of how this project turned out. Spray panels are simple, just a hinged or stationary piece of glass that takes up some part of the shower or tub opening. Sometimes all you need is that one panel to keep water away from the rest of the room. As an alternative to a metal frame – or even many metal clips – it is the pinnacle of non-invasive design.

This particular panel in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia (which is so beautiful this time of year!) was custom measured to 39×79″ with chrome hardware. All our work is custom, so after you send us the dimensions and we get the ball rolling, one of the experts will come take careful measurements. (Read more about the installation process.)

The client chose to have the glass treated with a sealant, which we recommend but never push. Sealant closes up the microscopic “pores” in glass where scum likes to hang out. It makes cleaning your glass so much easier. And who wouldn’t want that? Anyone in Harper’s Ferry should be happily kicking through fall leaves, not stuck inside scrubbing at soap scum!

And, finally, sneak preview: we’re about to launch the 3rd annual Thanksgiving Hand Turkey! There are fun prizes. and your art will be displayed in our office gallery. Ooooh. Follow along on Facebook and/or Instagram. We’ll be posting the rules, sharing turkey art as it comes in, and – of course – announcing the winners!

Full Height Corner in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Posted on September 29, 2021 by Emily Watkins

Shower Door of the Week: Full Height Corner Unit in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

It’s been awhile since we shared a photo from Pennsylvania! We’re located in Jefferson, Maryland – just outside Frederick. But our service area takes us to D.C., northern Virginia, the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, southern Pennsylvania, and of course most of Maryland. We get around! So keep your eyes peeled for one of our unique vans…

This shower of the week is a full height frameless corner unit. It looks fairly simple, but let’s take a look under the hood. Under the bath mat? Anyway, here are the details:

oil rubbed bronze hardware is a great match for the beige and lighter brown tones of the floor and tile
upgraded handle and robe hook – these are our Symphony handles, which add visual interest
low iron glass is more optically clear than regular glass, looks great against lighter tile colors
glass sealant that makes the glass a breeze to clean

We regularly get questions about cleaning shower door glass. So often that we created a handy blog post about it. The shorter version is that glass sealant fills the microscopic pores and ridges in your glass to prevent scum from accumulating in the first place. After that, your best friends are environmentally-friendly cleaner like Diamond Blue Wash and microfiber cloths. No scrubbing required!

Let us know if you have any questions about shower design, shower maintenance, best songs to listen to in the shower. We are, after all, the shower door experts! We’re over on Facebook and Instagram with behind-the-scenes pics and special offers. Hope to see you there – or maybe on the road in Pennsylvania…

Sandblasted Fade in New Market

Posted on September 3, 2021September 6, 2021 by Emily Watkins

Shower Door of the Week: Sandblasted Fade in New Market, Maryland

A sandblasted shower door is perfect for anyone who wants to shower without the “show”! Our friends over at Rowland Glass Studios do custom sandblasting, so you can request your perfect height. How cool is it to have privacy but still be able to see out? The un-blasted top also lets in more light, which is a plus. But you still might want to include lighting above the shower, as these clever clients chose to do.

That’s all for this week, but we do wish you a happy Labor Day weekend! We’re so grateful for all our hard-working experts, and for the customers who keep our small local family business thriving. 30 years of shower doors!

Drop us a line if you have any questions about shower doors or want to discuss why Sandblast Fade would be an awesome name for our company band. You can also get exclusive content over on our Facebook and Instagram.

Glamor Clamps in Eldersburg

Posted on August 25, 2021 by Emily Watkins

Shower of the Week: Door and Panel Door with Clamps in Eldersburg, Maryland

Clamp your eyes on this shower door! The most noteworthy feature of this door and panel unit is the clamps along the bottom. Usually there would be a channel, but clamps are a minimalist and perfectly sturdy option too.

Ding ding! We have another low iron glass door this week. Long-time readers know the drill. Low iron glass is more optically clear than regular glass and looks great against light-colored tile. Iron particles give glass a slight green tint, which is why low iron glass is more clear. It doesn’t matter as much against darker tile, but with the marbled tile here it was a good choice.

The other upgrade for this unit was glass sealant. We’ll never push it on anyone, but it is quite nice! Especially if you’re not a huge fan of scrubbing glass. Even though glass looks smooth, it actually has lots of teeny tiny ridges and valleys where scum accumulates. Sealant fills in those microscopic gaps so your glass stays cleaner – and easier to clean!

You can keep up with shower of the week – and lots of other fun pics! – on our Facebook and Instagram. We’re also always on standby for shower door chats. No question too small or weird! Get in touch with your friendly local experts! (That’s us.)

Total Clarity in Germantown, Maryland

Posted on August 10, 2021 by Emily Watkins

Shower Door of the Week: Corner Unit with Low Iron Glass in Germantown, Maryland

Shower door of the week was once again unanimous: behold this lovely corner unit! It features brushed nickel hardware, a pull ladder handle, and low iron glass. Combined, these elements make for a de-light-ful shower space. Long-time readers will know that I love a matte black finish, but in this case brushed nickel keeps the look light and open.

Newer readers might be asking: what’s low iron glass? It’s magical! Low iron glass is crystal clear, lacking the slight green tint of regular glass. Iron causes the green hue that dulls the overall perception, so lower iron glass is more optically clear. We recommend it especially against light colored tile. If your tile is, say, turquoise, you can probably skip the low iron glass.

In other Shower Door Expert news, this pic of one of our experts was a big hit on Facebook and Instagram this week! I’ll repeat: this move is for experts only! Do not try at home!

But it turns out that we’re NOT the only ones who can do this! Local teacher Ramona is also a badass expert…

Thanks for sending us the pic, Ramona! If anyone else has sweet shower moves, let us know! You can get in touch all the usual ways – and start a free quote right here on the website if you’re ready for a sparkly new shower. Thanks for tuning in, loyal readers. We’ll be back with another SotW soon!

Waldorf’s Phantom Shower

Posted on July 26, 2021July 26, 2021 by Emily Watkins

Shower Door of the Week: Phantom Unit in Waldorf, Maryland

The Phantom strikes again!

Me: Hey, Schuyler, what do you think of the Waldorf photo for Shower Door of the Week?

Schuyler: I don’t see it… nvm 🤦‍♂️ that bar is dang near invisible!

Noah: this may be the most phantom-y pic I’ve seen

Me: Did they even door??

Noah: 👻

With its extreme clarity and metallic silver tile, this shower unit is pure magic. So how did they achieve this gleaming sorcery?

The Phantom

This unit is a dual-sliding shower door with an innovative all-glass header system and clear acrylic stoppers. And these clients took minimalism to the next level by forgoing the standard towel bar. Instead, they opted for two chrome disc knobs that hardly show up against the silver tile.

The Glass

We never push for upgrades you don’t want, but these clients wisely invested in sealed low-iron glass. What does that mean? Low iron glass is more optically clear than regular glass. It doesn’t have that slight green tinge from the iron content. We usually recommend it for light-colored tile, especially, but you can see here how it preserves the pure silver tones too. And sealant? It helps reduce residue that leaves spots and streaks on your glass. It also makes routine maintenance easier – almost as if you have a phantom maid…?

Shower Singing

You know you want to…

Need to sing us a snippet? Or want to talk shower door design? Get in touch – we love a chat! Or follow along on Facebook and Instagram for inspiration and behind-the-scenes shenanigans…

Corner Upgrade in Fairfax

Posted on July 19, 2021July 19, 2021 by Emily Watkins

Shower Door of the Week: Frameless Corner Unit in Fairfax, Virginia

This week we are taking you on a journey from meh to fab! So many homes in our area built between the 1980s and 2000s have similar master bathroom layouts: a soaking tub adjacent to a shower stall. Often the corner shower has an ugly metallic frame. (Sorry, not sorry.) It’s a functional but outdated look. And that’s why this is our best-selling layout!

We put in a lot of frameless corner units like these when homeowners decide to refresh or remodel. It’s a solid investment, something you can enjoy every day and know will retain its value. Unless your clunky metal shower is actually made of gold, I guess. Then maybe keep the metal. Otherwise, frameless* is the future!

*Within the shower industry, “frameless” refers to any shower enclosure that doesn’t have metal adhered to the edge of the glass. Some people think frameless means no metal whatsoever. This is not the case. Frameless units can be virtually metal-free, except for clips on any stationary panels, hinges, and handle. But frameless also covers units that may have a header atop the unit and u-channel on the stationary panels.

For more upgrade inspiration, follow us over on Facebook and Instagram! If you’re ready to get started on our refresh journey, you can start a quote here on the website or get in touch for a chat. We are always, always down for a shower chat.

Minimalist Matte Black in Mount Airy

Posted on July 8, 2021 by Emily Watkins

Shower Door of the Week: Minimalist Matte Black in Mount Airy, Maryland

Another piece of matte black eye candy! We never get tired of the matte black trend – and neither do y’all. I’ll get back to the glass in a sec, but can we bask in that funky hardware? The bath faucet, shower head, and hook are so cool! But we’re the door experts, so let’s move on to that…

Still here? Okay, let’s geek out. Sharp-eyed blog readers will notice that the hinges are behind the front face of the glass. What’s going on there? The main appeal of these offset hinges is that more of the metal is “hidden” on the inside of the shower. Sometimes this is a technical solution, but we won’t geek out that hard today. The takeaway is that offset hinges are one option to double down on a minimalist shower aesthetic.

And now for something completely different. From our fearless leader, Noah…

For more shower door hilarity, follow us over on Facebook and especially Instagram. You can also get in touch with us at info@showerdoorexperts.com – or go ahead and start a free quote here on the website!

Glass-tastic Low Iron & Sealant in Mount Airy

Posted on June 27, 2021 by Emily Watkins

Shower Door of the Week: Low Iron Glass with Sealant in Mount Airy, Maryland

The vote for shower door of the week was unanimous! This corner unit in Mount Airy is just stunning. The minimalist frameless glass doesn’t distract from the natural spa-like feel of the room. It also makes the space look a lot bigger! We love how the chrome hardware pairs with the greys and tans of the tile work. It’s just a lovely design. But this week, let’s dive deeper and talk all-things-glass…

Low Iron Glass

Regular glass has a slight greenish tint that comes from particles of iron. Low iron glass is more optically clear. It might not be a big deal against darker tile, but we do recommend low iron for light-colored – and especially white – tile. It’s part of what gives a frameless shower that “barely there” look.

Sealant

Every so often we get a comment on our Facebook page: “Glass is so hard to keep clean!” Oh, friends, not so! With some basic prevention and maintenance, clean glass is a breeze. These Mount Airy clients opted to have us treat their glass with sealant. We offer this service to all our clients. Sealant fills up the pores and ridges in your glass to prevent scum from accumulating in the first place. Read more about how to keep your glass clean – it’s easy!

We’d love to hear from you! We’re over on the Facebook and the Instagram. And, as always, at our showroom in Jefferson, Maryland – where we continue to celebrate our 30th anniversary!

Frameless and Framed in Frederick

Posted on June 14, 2021 by Emily Watkins

Shower Door of the Week: Frameless Swing Door with Knee Wall Panel in Frederick, Maryland

This week we’re going back to basics: what is a frameless shower door? We’re fluent in showerdoor-ese, of course, but we don’t expect our clients to know all the industry jargon. So let’s start with this frameless swing door we installed in Frederick, Maryland last week. Within the shower industry, “frameless” refers to any shower enclosure that doesn’t have metal adhered to the edge of the glass. That’s pretty “clear” (hah hah) in the photo below. The only metal in sight is the hardware. It’s a design that’s increasingly popular but not the only way to go…

You might think that “frameless” = no metal at all. But not so! A door can be frameless even if it has a metallic header on top and a channel on the bottom. In that case the metal still isn’t adhered to the edge of the glass.

For contrast, here’s another installation we did in Frederick last week. It is a fully framed bypass unit in matte black. You can see that the glass has metal on every side. In general, framed shower doors are less expensive than fully frameless doors. (That said, a non-standard layout could cost more, so definitely check with us or start a free quote to get all your options.) It’s a traditional – even retro! – layout. In this case, trendy matte black modernizes the look.

We are always happy to nerd out about design and lingo! Get in touch if you have any questions at all. You can also pick up more ideas over on our Facebook and Instagram. Or stop by our showroom in Jefferson, Maryland!

Tag: frameless