Glass Shower Doors, Enclosures and Sliders
Your glass shower door or shower enclosures configuration and shape, it’s framing – or lack of framing – describes the type of shower enclosure or door it is. An overview of common shower enclosures and doors are listed below. Illustrations of shower door configurations can be found here.
Frameless, Semi-Frameless, Framed, Sliding Shower Doors, Euroslide, Serenity® & Steam Showers
Frameless shower enclosures and shower doors may also be called trackless, seamless, euro slide or steam showers. These terms often refer to an “unframed” shower unit. A custom frameless glass shower enclosure or door has no framing on the glass corner angles or doors. Stability, safety and other factors dictate whether or not a “header” is needed along the top of a frameless unit. Instead of framing or tracking, hardware clips and hinges or suspended euroslide or Serenity® hardware are used to mount the stationary panels and doors. Frameless shower enclosure and door glass is usually 3/8″ thick.
Semi-frameless enclosures and doors have framed tops and sidewalls, but often the doors, and glass corner angles are not framed. Semi-frameless showers are not as “transparent” as frameless shower, but they do have less plated moldings than a framed shower, and quite often the door will have no side framing. Semi-frameless doors are a popular choice with by-pass tub and shower configurations using 1/4″ or 3/8″ glass.
Framed shower doors and tub sliders are supported on all sides, utilizing framing on the glass top, bottom and sides as well as the shower or tub sidewalls.
Shower Enclosures Terminology and Styles
Bath screen: glass screen or splash that runs along two-thirds of the tub
By-pass doors: doors that slide pass each other, usually on some type of framing or track, also called sliding doors
Euro slide: frameless sliding door suspended from by rollers from the top, also called hydroslide, or Serenity®
Hydroslide: frameless sliding door suspended from by rollers from the top, also called euro slide or Serenity®
Knee wall: a partial wall or buttress (also called sidewall)
Neo angle: three-sided shower with a door that is at a 45 degree angle to the two side panels
Panel and door: panel attached to sidewall and door, door can be hinged to sidewall or panel
Panel, door, panel: panel attached to a door, door attached to another panel; door can be hinged to either panel
Panel and door, full return: shower door is usually attached to a sidewall with a full return panel on a 90º angle (the return is the corner piece that is “returning” to the wall)
Panel and door, inline return: shower door is usually attached to a sidewall and a notched panel
Panel and door, knee wall return: shower door is usually attached to a sidewall, and a panel, panel is notched (like an inline) and attached to a return (the return is the corner piece that is “returning” to the wall)
Pivot door: door that swings out, using pivot hinges top and bottom
Serenity®: frameless sliding door suspended from by rollers from the top, also called hydroslide, or euro slide
Shower door slider: same configuration as a tub slider, with the doors reaching the floor
Single door: one door attached to a sidewall
Sliding doors: doors that slide pass each other, usually on some type of framing or track, also called by-pass
Steam shower: the shower ceiling is usually tiled and the shower glass touches the ceiling trapping the steam inside the shower
Transom: glass panel, usually above the door, that can be opened to vent steam
Tub enclosure: tub with two doors, usually by-pass doors
Tub slider: doors that slide pass each other, usually on framing or track (also called by-pass)