Taking Serenity Up a Notch in Alexandria

Shower Door of the Week: Custom Serenity in Alexandria, Virginia

Well, you won’t find this shower unit at the big box store! Nope, that’s completely custom work by your favorite local experts. The notch cut into the glass is a perfect fit for that angled ceiling. So if your bathroom has a unique layout, definitely get in touch!

If you’re a huge fan of our blog – and we’ll assume you are! –  you’ll have noticed that this shower door of the week is the same as last week‘s. Kind of – they’re both Serenity units – a single-sliding door with a sturdy low-profile header support bar.  And they both have gorrrgeous brushed nickel hardware and grey tile. But this week we’re giving you a different angle on how customizable our showers can be. So, you know, think outside the box and embrace serenity!

Also same as last week: you can find us on the socials. The Facebook. The Instagram. We post fun behind-the-scenes content including our very own webcomic series! And of course let us know if you have any questions. We offer free quotes and free unicorns. Okay, you caught me – I was just seeing if you read to the very end. The free quotes part is true! Happy showers, friends.

Expert Advice: Cleaning Your Shower Door

Cleaning Glass: an Expert’s Guide

On a recent Facebook post, somebody new commented: “Offer [a shower door] you can get clean. One that you don’t need vinegar, SOS pads and sand paper and hours of hard elbow grease.” And, friends, we do! All our shower doors, in fact!

Person cleans glass shower door
Not how you want to spend your Saturday…

How Glass Works

Glass is made from sand. To the naked eye, glass appears smooth, but it actually has tiny ridges and valleys where soap scum loves to hang out. That’s why using abrasives like sand paper is a really bad idea for your shower door! You’d only be making the surface rougher and happier for the scum!

What To Do

Your shower door experts recommend a two step approach: prevention and maintenance.

Prevention: Glass Sealant

We offer this service to all our clients. It seals those pores and ridges in your glass to prevent scum from accumulating in the first place. It’s kind of like wrapping your shower in Teflon®. You’ll still have to maintain the door, but opting for sealant does reduce those “hours of hard elbow grease” our Facebook follower so hates. We love hanging out with shower doors, but you have other things to do!

Maintenance: Microfiber

  • After every shower: quickly wipe down the glass with a microfiber cloth – or squeegee! it’s fun!
  • 1-2 times per week: when the shower is still wet, give the glass a more thorough wipe with a microfiber cloth.
  • Once a week: when the glass is dry, evenly spray a soapless repellent cleaner on the entire surface. Then use a clean dry microfiber cloth to wipe in a circular motion and buff to a shine!

Our preferred cleaner is Diamond Blue Wash. It’s environmentally friendly and doesn’t leave any residue for you to scrub away later. Do get in touch with any shower maintenance questions at all. You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram for stunning shower doors. And feel free to stop by our Jefferson, Maryland showroom to pick up some cleaner and microfiber cloths!

Woman frustrated with cleaning shower door glass in bathroom

Trend Alert: Matte Black Grid Door

Shower of the Week: Gridworks bypass sliding unit with matte black finish in Frederick, Maryland

This grid shower door we recently installed in Frederick, Maryland is doubly on trend! Grid showers and matte black hardware are both having a moment, and we love it.

Expert Advice: Matte Black Trend

The doors we install are actually from the second generation of the grid shower door movement. Early grid showers had small rectangular panes of glass welded together with metal framing. The look was was an immediate hit, especially in urban areas with uber-contemporary design trends. The units sold like hot cakes, but they were ghastly expensive!

Other manufacturers have found better, less expensive ways to accomplish the same look. We source ours from Century Bathworks in New Jersey. By using a single piece of glass with thin grid framing adhered to it, Century is able to provide this trendy matte black look at a fraction of the cost of its competitors.

Matte black hardware is, in general, also having a moment. Oil rubbed bronze finishes are also popular, but their tone can run the gamut from super dark to super light. It’s definitely easier to pair black with black versus two different oil rubbed bronze finishes from two different manufacturers.

If you’re interested in this trend, get in touch! We’re happy to start chatting about what would work for your unique shower space. You can also get the ball rolling with a free quote. We also post more shower door pics and fun bonus photos on Facebook and Instagram.

Completely Custom Corner Shower

Shower Door of the Week: Completely Custom Corner Door in Poolesville, Maryland

“Custom” is the word of the week around here. I asked our office experts how they would describe this corner unit. Expert Schuyler chimed in, “It’s certainly not standard! The return panel doesn’t extend to the wall. Only 2 of the 3 panels extend to the ceiling.” That was the client’s vision, and we made it happen!

Schuyler adds, “We are the gods of custom.” Not sure that part was meant for the blog, but… I’m not denying it.

Personally, I dig the postmodern vibe of the different heights and open door space. We often recommend low iron glass against light colored tile, but in this case it’s especially key to the vibe. For anyone new to the ol’ blog: low iron glass is more optically clear than regular glass. Iron gives a slight green tint that’s not super noticeable against darker cool tones. But if you’re going for a crisp look, low iron glass is something to consider.

As ever, get in touch if you have any questions about shower door design. We love it when clients come to us with a vision, but we also love starting from scratch to figure out what you want and need from a shower space. In short: we love you guys! If you <3 us too, follow along on Facebook and/or Instagram. This month we once again featured original art from Gypsy Cab Studios to celebrate our favorite holiday of the year…

Shower with a Friend Day!

Upgrade in Adamstown: Centec Dual Slider

Shower Door of the Week: Centec Dual Slider with Chrome Finish in Adamstown, Maryland

Ready for an upgrade but don’t need every single bell and whistle? Our Centec dual slider could be the shower door for you! This traditional “bypass” style of door doesn’t get the same buzz as barn sliders these days, but they remain a great value option. If you’re upgrading from a shower curtain or getting rid of an outdated door, the Centec is an affordable sturdy replacement.

Did I say sturdy? Yep, I sure did. Our bypasses use heavy 3/8″ glass – not the flimsy stuff you’ll find at a big box store…

… and the Centec is completely customizable to your shower layout. We’ll do the measuring and installation so it’s just done, not a project that takes up your free time. During our consultation you can let us know if you want to upgrade the towel bars or change the hardware finish. Centec hardware finish options: brass/gold, chrome, brushed nickel, polished nickel, oil rubbed bronze, matte black. This blog post prompted some chat in the office about how cool a matte black Centec would be – etch some skulls in and you’ve got yourself a goth shower!

Okay, shower door friends, that’s it for this week but stay tuned for more awesome shower doors – and our favorite holiday of the year! February 5th is Shower with a Friend Day. (No really, it is!) We’ll be posting photos on  Facebook and Instagram as always, and we love to hear from our clients and fans.

Acid Etched Shower Door in Greencastle PA

Shower Door of the Week: Acid Etched Cambridge Unit in Greencastle, Pennsylvania

For those who prefer to keep the mystery alive, we present: acid etched shower doors! 👤🚿

This is our popular Cambridge double sliding unit, fully frameless for a stylish modern look. The client opted for completely acid etched glass. We also work with local artisans who can acid etch patterns into the glass, which I personally love. Partially etched glass, whether a privacy bar or funky pattern, is fun and also lets more light in. Some people prefer a “shower cave” especially in the morning, but you can also install additional lighting in the shower enclosure if you prefer privacy and a sunnier start to the day.

We really enjoy coming up with custom solutions to your showering visions! From a recent Google review from client Joanne: “The gal in the office who schedules the installation is super friendly and helpful.” That’s our Emmarose! She’s fantastic. (Don’t worry, she’s not writing this – hah hah – Emily is the blogger!) So if you’re in the greater Washington DC area – including our southern Pennsylvania friends! – give us a shout to talk options. You can also follow us on Facebook and/or Instagram for design inspiration and the fun things we get up to!

Holy Smokes! Smoked Glass in Martinsburg

Spray Panel in Harper’s Ferry

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.)

Caulkmaster 3000!

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!

thanksgiving hand turkey as thanos

 

Full Height Corner in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

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…

Expert Advice: Matte Black Trend

Matte black is a bathroom design trend that’s here to stay! We get quite a few questions and comments about matte black options, so here are some ideas to consider when you’re considering a new shower look…

Black and Light

One of the most popular – and show-stopping! – iterations of the trend is black against white or light-colored walls and tile. This beige space, which could have been dull on its own, is completely transformed by the black hardware.

Mix and Match

Matte black can stand alone, but it also plays well with other metallics and colors. Here the black shower frame is paired with silver-tones, marble, and stone for a unique but entirely cohesive look. Grid showers are also having quite a moment, and these two trends are a match made in shower door heaven!

Be Bold

Chrome is the standard choice for bathroom hardware, but it can fade into the background. Totally fine if a neutral is what you’re after. We love how these folks in Frederick paired a more neutral handle with a bold black faucet and painted panels. And that tile! This unit definitely makes a statement!

Or Start Small

If you want just a bit of black in your bathroom, it’s easy to switch up your cabinet pulls or faucet. For the shower or tub that could mean just a black shower head or handle. Who knows, you might get carried away by the trend!

Get In Touch!

We’d love to know what you think about this design – really! Matte black: yea? nay? We are quite active on Facebook, and you can also get in touch the old fashioned ways – well, not carrier pigeons but, you know, phones and email! We’re also on Instagram where we share even more shower door pics for design inspiration.

Or if you’re ready to dive in, you can get a free quote anytime!

What our Clients Say

"Professional and Attentive"

“After much research we decided to use Shower Door Experts, and we are extremely happy about our experience. They are very professional and attentive to your needs!”

"I LOVE It!"

“Would greatly recommend Shower Door Experts. Very professional. Had my shower door installed yesterday and I LOVE it!!”

"You Can Have the Best"

“Sometimes you can have the best. The folks at Shower Door Experts know how to install a quality shower door and the end result is well worth the money.”