Glass shower doors - worth the $?

[DisBride2007]

Hi,
We are about to finalize plans to renovate our bathroom. The house was built in the 1920's (bathroom is original to the house) and it is our only full bath, so we need to get it right. We are doing the renovation to both better suit our needs and also to help our future resale value.

One decision I am having a tough time with is the shower doors. We will have a tub/shower combination. We like the look of glass shower doors. But I have heard that some people don't like them, possibly because they are difficult for bathing children? (We don't have any, for the time being.)

Does anyone have advice for what would be practical for our use, as well as for future resale value? TIA!

 

[tlh0726]

If the door is the type that has a track on the top and bottom, one half is stationary and the other side slides, you are correct they are not user friendly at all for bathing children. Also after a year or so, depending on your area's water, things just start looking like crap no matter what you use to clean the track and parts.
If memory serves me correctly Lowe's at one point carried trackless shower doors. Sorta worked similiar to a bifold, track was at the top nothing at the bottom. The "door" bottom was slightly angled inside the tub. Definitely would be more kid friendly.

Until you make a permanent decision, get a tension mounted shower rod and a shower curtain.

 

[mulderxcoltrane]

I agree with the PP. The track on the bottom is not comfortable at all for bathing children. Also, those tracks and doors look nasty after some use. A shower curtain could be changed easily to match decor.

 

[aquaticmom]

I don't have small children, so my concern wasn't small children getting in and out over the track. But, i did remove ours and went back to a shower curtain because the doors were such a pain in the butt to keep clean, and that bottom track never looked nice no matter what I used on it.

 

[prncess674]

I would advise against the shower door, on occasion I have been known to hide things in the shower on short notice when company unexpectedly stops by. Also with shower doors you have to keep your shower pristine and 10 shampoo bottles and an old bar of soap never seems to put off the right attitude.

If you are worried about resale, I would advise against them. If you love them and don't care about the resale then go for it, it is your house.

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

Our house had them when we bought it and I ripped them out. The bottom track is impossible to keep clean- not to mention keeping soup scum off the glass itself. I also felt like the doors themselves were in the way when washing the children.

On a positive, I do miss them when I was the dogs. One of my dogs is an escape artist and he couldn't jump out of the tub with the glass on one side and me on the other. The first time I washed him after I removed the doors, I forgot to close the bathroom door and he jumped through the curtain covered in shampoo. It took 4 of us about 10 minutes to corral the little stinker. He's fast!

 

[eeyorethegreat]

We had shower curtains in our bathroom before remodel Our water was terrible so after about a couple weeks the curtain would turn orange from all the iron in the water. We have a water softener hooked up now so we don't have that problem. When we remodeled, we got glass shower doors because my kids who are now old enough to bathe on there own were always getting water all over the floor. We figured glass shower doors would help in keeping the water in (I swear when water hits my kids they turn into mermaids and mermen they splash all over!!!) I have been pleased with the way the glass doors keep the water in and haven't found them too hard to clean a quick wipe down after the shower helps out a lot. The only thing I can say is that DH told me to pick out the door which I did but then he sent me to my Mom's while he was doing the remodel and he told the guy installing the door to "just pick something" so I never got the shower door that I wanted which was made especially to diminish the view looking in the one we got doesn't make for much privacy and with six people living in this house someone always has to use the bathroom when some one is in the shower- with a shower curtain it was easy to stay in the shower while someone made a quick pit stop with the shower door we don;t have that separation making for the person outside to cross their legs and hope for the best while the person in the shower speeds up on the washing process. Still not having the water all over the floor is a great benefit to the doors! I wouldn't go back to a curtain

 

[JackJack08]

I love mine! We have 2 kids and I just use a toothbrush and some bleach cleaner, about once a month to get any buildup out. I would not recommend getting totally clear ones though....I think they would show a lot of water spots. I never want a curtain again! Difference in people........

 

[GJM]

I always wanted shower doors and we got them when we purchased our one house. Honestly, I hated them - it was such a pain to keep clean. Went back to the shower curtain and I love it. Plus they have so many different and nice shower curtains now.

 

[puffkin]

Our first house had them in the bathroom. I HATE THEM! Impossible to keep clean. I cleaned weekly, used the shower spray after every shower and we wiped down the doors after every use and they still never were clean. The track was impossible to keep clean. My valentines gift from DH that year was to rip out the doors and hang a curtain.

 

[bethy]

I hate shower doors! Impossible to keep clean. But if I were going to get them anyway I'd get ones that have privacy. Even in our master bathroom (which only DH and I use for the most part) I appreciate not having clear glass doors.

I don't love the look of shower curtains but there are some classier ones out there you can buy. They are sooooo nice for keeping the bathroom clean. Nothing I have used on my tracks has really gotten them clean and new looking again. Plus mold builds up UNDER the tracks where I can't reach.

 

[Caitsmama]

If it helps at all, The glass shower doors were the FIRST thing we ripped out of the bathroom in the house we bought. LOL Another poster is correct when she said they are awful for bathing kids!! I would have to lean over the metal track to help wash my dd, and man, that hurt!! I hated those doors!!

 

[jensen]

I ripped them out too... when we built a new tile shower, we measured shower doors and made sure that the opening would fit doors if a future owner wanted them, but we use a curtain.

 

[englishteacha]

We had shower doors when we bought our house, and the 2nd day here we took the door off. We haven't gotten around to taking the frame off, though. How do you take the frame off a fiberglass surround without damaging it?

 

[MyZoeJane]

With a water softener, I suggest simply keeping some diluted vinegar in a spray bottle (1 part vinegar to 4 parts water) and spray down the shower weekly with it. It will help keep buildup away. I use it on my glass doors and they are sparkly!

Or if the smell bothers you (it dissipates very quickly and doesn't linger), I suggest a "green" cleaner like the new products that Simple Green has on the market. The Johnson/P&G anti-scum products on the market are very offensive pollutors/poisons.

 

[sbell111]

We love our shower doors.

We use those scrubbing bubbles automatic shower cleaner gizmos daily and it does a pretty darn good job of keeping the nastiness at bay. It certainly keeps the lower track clean and mildew free. The glass door does sslloowwllyy get a bit of soap scumminess, so it needs a scrub about once every six months (or longer). I have a really simple cleaning method for this.

Rather than contort in the bathroom to try to get it scrubbed, all the while sucking toxic fumes, I take the doors outside to the patio. I shoot them with the hose and then spray them down with random soap scum cleaner. A very quick hit with a scrub brush and another shot from the hose and I'm done. If the entire process takes five minutes of my time, I'm shocked.

 

[RichNKatHolly]

If you watch those home remodeling shows or the how to make your house worth more shows on HGTV, they always suggest (strongly) removing the doors. Apparently they make the bath look dated and a new shower curtain is easy and cheap to freshen up and modernize the space. They do decrease home value in that respect.

 

[DisBride2007]

Thank you all for the responses! I think we are going to stick with the shower curtain for now and if we decide to install them later then we will go for the trackless ones.

 

[MrsPete]

Wow. I'm surprised.

We have shower doors in BOTH BATHROOMS, and the only reason I'm not kicking those things to the curb is that I was laboring under the impression that "everyone" liked them and they'd be better for re-sale (which probably won't be too awfully far away for us -- maybe 5-8 years). It seems that I'm in the majority after all in hating these things.

In all fairness, here's my run-down:

Good points:
Children are less likely to splash water out on the floor.

Bad points:
They get off track and are hard to "get fixed" again.
The tracks are always dirty.
The glass is always dirty.
They add no color or style to the bathroom.

 

[RobinFabulous]

I think they look dated. Also, with population getting older they can be hard for older people to manuver into (think people having to use walkers and such) I also always worried that one of my children would slip and fall through them