I am building a bathroom shower with a curved outside wall (the wall will be tiled on the inside and drywall on the outside). I would like to install a curved shower door that matches the radius of the wall (about 4 or 5 foot radius, not exactly sure yet). All of the stock doors that I have seen have a much sharper curve, so won’t work for my application. A local interior design store quoted me $4000 to have a custom door fabricated, which is far more than my total project budget, ouch! Anyone have any suggestions for a DIY door, hardware, etc.?
Shawn
Replies
Yes. Buy the stock door, then fit your shower to it. Or, spend the 4k and get the custom door.
http://www.nextag.com/curved-shower-door/search-html
How about no door at all? Is that a possibility for your design? We don't have one, and I don't think I will ever put one in again if I can avoid it.
But for alternatives, I'm looking at a waterproof material to substitute for rice paper in a pocket door. The material is made of fiberglass (I think), and the door will be teak. You could perhaps do this. I'll have to find the actual material though, as I have only heard about it.
Have you check with local glass companies.
They are the ones that would do the actual work.
I don't think that they would be that much more than any frameless glass door.
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Curved glass is very expensive and is only done by companies that have invested in the furnaces, moldmaking gear, etc., required for the process.
Dlubak Studios in western Penna is one company that does this. There are others, for sure. The plants that make automotive windshields, for example, are doing curved glass, but in large production runs.
Curving cannot be done by a local glass shop or glazing contractor. Curved parts are something one of those businesses would buy from an outfit like Dlubak.
Companies like Kohler and others sell complete shower units that have curved shower doors, but the curved parts for those are done not by Kohler, etc., but by the glass benders like Dlubak. One mold, one large production run of parts.
It sounds as if you have a one-off situation, thus your large cost.
Did you know about this going into the project, with its curve?
View Image
"A stripe is just as real as a dadgummed flower."
Gene Davis 1920-1985
Actually, $4K doesn't sound like a bad price for this. Especially since it has to be tempered (or laminated).
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
Google "round shower doors", there are stock round doors for 42 x 42 bases, $2100 list.
Edit- here's one. Should have a radius over 4'
http://www.homeportfolio.com/catalog/Product.jhtml?superCatId=24&catId=29&avId=13284&prodId=49780
Edited 8/27/2008 10:24 pm ET by BUIC