<p>We are in the process of adding a new master bath. I can’t decide whether to go with a clear glass door on the shower or textured. I’ve surveyed people I know and have read people’s opinions on other boards but am still up in the air. Here’s the way I see it:</p>
<p> Pros
Looks pretty - especially since we are installing nice tile in the shower</p>
<p> Cons
Lack of privacy - especially for the more modest (me). Would feel like I’m on display.
Requires daily maintenance to keep it looking pretty</p>
<p>People tend to fall into 3 camps
-those who have it, squeegee it every day and love it
those who have it and hate it because they either aren’t doing
the daily cleaning (and it looks terrible) or they don’t want to
have to do the daily cleaning
those who don’t have it but want it because they like the look<br>
(but haven’t living with the daily cleaning)</p>
<p>I’m leaning toward a ‘not clear’ glass (not necessarily frosted) for the above reasons.</p>
<p>Clear glass is obviously extremely popular at the moment. I can see the appeal but it sort of reminds me of the stainless steel issue. I go into people’s houses all the time and the fingerprints on the stainless steel refrigerators are glaringly obvious ( I was watching a sitcom recently and you could see the fingerprints on the SS refrigerator on the show!). Now, some people will tell you they never get fingerprints and I have no reason to not believe them but when it is obviously an issue in most cases, you have to decide whether that is something you can wither live with or be willing to clean obsessively. I am definitely not an obsessive cleaner. :)</p>
<p>^ That’s exactly what my designer recommended. I was very surprised because designers are all about ‘the look’. This designer has done hundreds of homes and she said clear glass is too much work to keep clean. Really did not expect that from her. OTOH, since she tends to work with her clients for years at a time, she probably gets a lot of feedback from people after they have lived with clear glass for a while. Either that or she has already pegged me as a not-obsessive cleaner. :o</p>
<p>I’d vote for clear. We have clear glass. The top portion stay clean without daily squeegee. I don’t notice the bottom portion. Both ours and my D’s are to the side. Makes it easy not to notice.</p>
<p>Call me old fashioned but when we did our baths,we opted for shower curtains. They are colorful and can be laundered when they get dirty. Best of all, they can be changed to suit the decor d’jour. We looked at doors but didn’t really like them at all.</p>
<p>I am not obsessive and we put in clear - yes, we are now, for the first time in 34 years, daily squegeeing but it takes seconds - honest, and looks pretty good - and I do leave the light on in the shower during parties to show off those pretty tiles…</p>
<p>That’s what I’m torn about - would love to show off the tile - it seems a shame to hide it behind textured glass - OTOH, privacy and easy maintenance is good too.</p>
<p>We plan to age in place in this house (will be the last until we are too old to maintain it), so I’m not concerned about resale.</p>
<p>I’m heading to home depot right now to get a squeegee. I figure we can ‘practice’ on our current shower and decide whether that is something we are willing to do. My friends who squeegee swear it’s not a big deal.</p>
<p>Clear. We’ve had it for years, do not squeegee every day and it still looks wonderful. People always comment on how beautiful our bathroom/shower is.</p>
<p>I like privacy too. So… guess what… I don’t have anybody else in the bathroom with me when I shower! Problem solved.</p>
<p>We have textured glass in two bathrooms we did not remodel. Looks dated and never quite clean, imo.</p>
<p>BTW, when we remodeled we spent the big $$$ on our frameless shower door set-up. Then a couple of years later a friend of mine got a framed version for about 1/4 the cost - the newer frames are very streamlined and look really good as well. I wouldn’t spend for frameless if I did it again.</p>
<p>Here’s a trick for the clear glass door to keep it pretty.</p>
<p>Buy RainX.</p>
<p>You can get at Walmart or any automotive shop. Spray it on the shower, and you will not need to do anything more. The water will bead right off and you do not get the water marks at all.</p>
<p>It takes about 30 seconds to squeegee, this is not like polishing hardwood floors. Think of squeegeeing as your daily exercise. Additionally by squeegeeing you will have less mildew. Worse case scenario you said this would be a shower…take a bath! I hate squeegeeing the shower (ours is seemless), so I take a bath instead. I only get in the shower if I am behind the 8 ball for a time frame.</p>
<p>From a realtor standpoint, most clients that see the frosted immediately say that has to go…it gives the image of soap scum.
Is your shower in the middle of the house? Who is going to see you? Maybe your significant other? OKay, not to be rude, but haven’t they seen you naked already? If it is a modesty issue, just say to those in the house I am going in the shower…DO NOT ENTER!</p>
<p>If they do, then the issue really isn’t about modesty, but more about respect of privacy.</p>
<p>Get the clear - it’s a modern look and will be nice - not just in showing off the tile but I think the clear glass itself looks nice - especially with those frameless type installs.</p>
<p>I don’t understand the privacy concern - don’t you have a bathroom door?</p>
<p>We had rain glass for a long time. For us, even that was too much maintainence and now we have a shower curtain so it can be laundered. If we wanted to show off tiles we would just leave the door open and save ourselves the trouble.</p>
<p>We have a twenty-eight yr. old “textured” shower door. It always looks like it has soap scum on it even when it’s just been cleaned. We plan to sell the house in two years and will prob. do clear glass for resale purposes.</p>
<p>Oh PackMom…get that door replaced so YOU can enjoy it!! We have some things we are needing to do in our house and I’ve decided to get them done for US (especially since we are paying for them) not for the next owners.</p>
<p>Have both in my house. The clear looked great for about 5 or 6 years and even with daily maintenance (and many products) now has water stains. The textured doors on kids tub/shower combo I took out and put up curtain for the reasons others have stated. What I would like is what a friend has—large shower with head positioned so that no door or curtain is needed. And yes, I am modest but I can shut the bathroom door!</p>