Shower doors: frameless vs. framed and your impression? archived

It's not that a bathroom can't look nice with a framed......but frameless is really, really nice. If I were able to do either, I'd go for frameless.

FWIW- I prefer the frameless shower doors. When we added a bathroom to the house, the glass place kept trying to get me to do a framed door. I think it was b/c it would be easier for him to install.
I'm so glad that we didn't listen to him, and have no regrets with our frameless doors. They're so easy to clean, and we haven't had any issues with not being water-tight.

My big concern with the framed doors was the ease of cleaning- I was afraid the metal would get icky looking after a while.

we looked into that ourselves recently for our new master bath (also vintage in style). ugh, frameless shower doors are expensive! fortunately, our shower is big enough that it doesn't actually *require* a shower door. so we're just skipping it for now in favor of a new front yard. maybe i'll just put a vinyl shower curtain in the space with a garfield the cat design and totally be done with it.

Frameless: Euro
Framed: US

At least that's what's always been in my head.

I have never seen a framed shower door that didn't look ratty after a few years, no matter how expensive. With that said I don't think a frameless door goes well with a traditional bathroom. Shower curtains are nice, but I admit they work better with a tub (freeboard) than with a shower.

Just my opinion.

I far prefer frameless, mostly because the edges where the frame meets the glass are magnets for dirt, gunk, mold, and soap scum. Frameless are much, much easier to keep clean. AND they look a lot nicer, IMO.

i would go frameless. larger expense, but you'll get over that soon enough and in the long run you'll be much happier with the look and (as peggy says) it is much easier to clean.

Frameless. No competition.

I wanted frameless when we did our remodel, but since we were enclosing the full length of the bathtub (it's not a stand-alone shower), the door installer did not recommend it. He was concerned that the weight of the glass could be too much. But since you're doing a stall shower, I would go frameless. They create the illusion of no door at all and really make the room look larger.

Do you have to have a door? I like the look of a doorless stall shower. I think where the showerhead is located is key to keeping the floor dry. But if a door is essential, I would go with the frameless,

Are you sure they did'nt mean that they would notch the chair rail tile to slip the glass into rather than notching the glass panel prior to it being tempered? I did'nt think you could modify tempered glass without it breaking.

I will have to post a pic of the shower so you can see. I am not concerned about the room looking bigger, but I do want it to look nice. I am concerned the frameless will seem too modern with the more vintage style, but I...ugh. I do not want a shower curtain and I am afraid the shower is not quite big enough to not have something there.

Here are some pics of the shower side of the room. (The second pic shows the shoer on the left, the walk-in cl. straight ahead, and the linen closet to the right. All the wood will be stained the medium dark color.

GB is right, notching the glass is not the way to go. The glass needs to be tempered, and it can't be cut, drilled, or even filed once that's done. Even if the chair rail is made of tile or some other stone product, it can still be notched. I've shopped these frameless shower door/enclosures for stand up shower stalls, and the best I've found is $2800. That was the price I paid (each) for 3 of them, so I assume one would be more on a unit cost basis. Good luck.

Just saw the photos, a talented installer with a diamond blade can easily notch that chair rail to simplify installation and provide tight water seal.

Hmm, pretty sure she said the glass would be notched, but perhaps I am wrong.

I was going to do the frame in oil rubbed bronze to match the lighting and give it more of a vintage look. The glass would be clear.

The place who said they'd notch it priced it at 2130 for the door, and the other place with the framed door said $510 for the door. Big difference!

Now that you see pics, any more thoughts?

But doesn't the frameless just have pivots on one side? If the tile is notched, wouldn't they need to make an extra strip of glass? Otherwise how would it move. Ugh. This is why I called someone before we did the work, but she told me not to call until it was done. Had I known I wouldn't have put the chair rail in that area. So much for planning ahead!

Maybe you can get them to remove the chair rail in that area? I made the tiler change tiles when they were doing our bathroom.

I was going to say frame-less, but I like the idea of the dark frame -- less dirt shows, and it would work with your design. AND it's cheaper!

Here is a pic of the framed one. Of course, not this color. I don't think it's bad, I think it's just fine, but I'd also be happy to save $1500!

JB, unfortunately the tile wraps around, so if they took those 2 inside tiles out the tiles on in inside and outside of the shower that are mitered to fit into them would have no return miter, you know what I mean?

Thing is, I DON'T think the regular frameless would look right. I think it needs to be the kind with the header. On the website they show sort of modified frameless where there are tracks, but the door itself is not framed. I wonder about that.

Pic of the framed below.

Here is the frameless, with header. Not much different, eh?

Re-doing the tiles is not a big deal -- mitered or not. Pick the door you want, make them make it work.

I made the guy re-tile the angled outside corner of the shower because I wanted the tiles to maintain the alternating pattern. He had tiled it so the half tile on one side was next to a half tile, and the whole tile was around the corner from another whole tile. I asked him to change it so it was half tile, whole tile, half tile.

He did it.

I know it can be done, I just think it will open up a whole can of worms I don't want to open at this point. I like the consistency of that chair rail tile going around the entire bathroom. To lose it by the shower would not work for me.

Hopefully we will stay in this house forever and no one will think "why'd she put in that gorgeous bathroom but cheap out on the shower door!"

No one will think that.

Frameless is a bit of a misnomer, there's always a little bit of a frame. In my experience, your last photo is not frameless due to the header and vertical metal piece against which the door closes. I've never seen an installation without the bottom track (fixed on the floor, not the door) in order to catch water and direct it into the shower pan. In my opinion neither of those is necessary, they're there to save money in that installation. It is possible that they could be notching the glass, but they would have taken an exact duplicate of the profile of your chair rail in order to accomplish that. Did you by chance give them an extra piece to take with them?

What is the width of the opening? For you to make a frameless installation, I envision aluminum track vertically on both walls(it is available in o. r. b, that's what I used). One side will support the hinges for the door, and the other side will support a narrow vertical piece of fixed glass against which the door will close. (This piece would not be necessary if they are indeed notching the door to close tight against the tile/chair rail.) This does cut down on the width dimension of the door which may be a problem. I don't know if there is a code, but I wouldn't make the actual door narrower than 22". With this setup there would be a translucent plastic piece glued to the fixed narrow panel against which the door closes to make a seal. This piece is hardly noticable. Hope it works out.

Unless the glass has to swing past the chair rail to close, I promise notching the tile will be easier than the other options. Furthermore they should not charge you extra for this, it's a 5 minute job.

Posted By: jersey_boyNo one will think that.

Hopefully they WILL think the bathroom is gorgeous and deal with the shower door!

Upthecreek, the door would have to swing past the chair rail, as it wraps horizontally around the frame of the shower. The opening to the shower is 31 inches wide. Where did you order your doors from, BTW? I am getting several quotes and want to compare apples with apples, if you know what I mean.

Posted By: shhI don't particularly care either way, and since the bathroom is vintage in style I don't think a shower door with a frame would really be a turnoff to potential buyers who-knows-when.

Don't worry about them. What do you want?

Go frameless. It doesn't look more contemporary at all, it basically disappears, making the tile and fixtures look more prominant. You can probably pick a door handle that matches the style of the bathroom. Frankly, in the era of your bathroom they didn't have showers at all, and if they did they would not have any door. Framed looks very 70's. Plus since your door opening is not huge the frame would be even more prominent.

The 2nd pic you posted is not frameless at all, it is framed.

Here are some better pics of frameless doors:
http://www.customshowerdoors.com/?gclid=CMDz79DjnpUCFQOaFQodJAgckg
http://www.framelessshower.com/

If you look at the 1st link you see that they notched the door around a rail, so it is probably pretty common.

I have a framed door and HATE it. Looks like crap and I have to step over a track on the bottom every time I get in and out. We will probably replace is sometime soon.

From the centurybath website, that is a modified frameless door in my second pic. (Several of the vendors I have contacted use their products.)

Wendy, the first website you linked is the company owned by a former boss's brother-in-law. Funny.

I am sooo confused now.

Yeah, that second picture is also framed; not frameless....