Glass gets heavier as it gets larger, and past a certain size that changes how an enclosure is built. Franklin Lakes primary baths are usually well past it. We lay out oversized frameless enclosures in 3/8 and 1/2 inch tempered glass, work out where the panels break, size the hardware to carry the weight, and template the opening by hand so a wide, tall run of glass still lands tight.
A panel of half inch tempered glass is heavy in a way people underestimate until two of us are carrying one up a staircase. That weight decides several things at once. It decides how wide a single door can be before the hinges are working too hard and the free edge starts to drop over the years. It decides whether a wide opening becomes one door and one fixed panel or a door with a fixed panel on each side. It decides what the hinge side has to be fastened into, because a stud behind the tile carries a heavy door and a thin substrate does not.
Height works the same way. A tall opening in a room with a raised ceiling can take glass well above standard door height, and once panels run that tall they want help staying in plane. Sometimes that is a header across the top, sometimes a slim brace tying a panel back to a wall, sometimes nothing at all because the geometry already braces itself. We settle that at the measure with the panel layout in front of us, not afterward. Every panel gets cut and edged at our own shop in Lodi, and the crew that sets it works for us, which is how a heavy layout stays honest from drawing to install.
Work in Franklin Lakes rarely arrives as a single shower door. A grand estate off one of the winding country roads, or a contemporary custom home on a wooded lot in Urban Farms, tends to have a primary bath plus a run of secondary baths, and when the house is being built or seriously renovated they all need glass at roughly the same time. We handle them as a package: the same hardware finish carried through, the same glass and edge detail, and a fabrication run that produces the whole set together instead of a door at a time.
That only works if we are in early enough. On new construction the useful moment is when the framing is up and the shower walls are defined, because that is when a knee wall, a bench or a niche can still move a few inches to suit the glass. On a renovation it is the day the tile is finished and the pan is set, since we template on finished surfaces. Either way, hand templating is the point: a spa scale bath with marble and a cathedral ceiling is unforgiving, and a fit that is close is not a fit.
Corner runs, three panel layouts and tall walk in glass from baths around Franklin Lakes and northwest Bergen County. Notice where each run is divided, because on an opening this size that single decision drives the rest.
More custom glass in Franklin Lakes: frameless shower doors, sliding & bypass shower doors, semi-frameless shower doors, shower door replacement, custom mirrors, steam shower enclosures, bathtub shower doors, glass railings, commercial glass. See everything on our Franklin Lakes, NJ page. Custom Glass Shower Enclosures nearby: Paramus, Ridgewood, Hackensack, Fort Lee, Lodi, Midland Park, Englewood, Teaneck, Fair Lawn, Mahwah, Wyckoff, Tenafly, Ramsey. Learn more about our frameless shower enclosures statewide, or read the The ultimate guide to custom shower doors and Shower glass thickness: 3/8″ vs 1/2″ guides.
Both are heavy tempered safety glass and both are correct in the right place. The size of the panel is what decides it. A wide door, a tall panel or a long unsupported run behaves better in half inch, which is stiffer and simply feels more substantial in the hand. Three eighths is plenty for an ordinary opening. We look at the layout and the span, then choose.
Three things. The hinges have to be rated for the weight and the width of the door, not just for the glass thickness. They have to be fastened into solid backing behind the tile, which is why we check what is back there at the measure rather than at the install. And the door has to be hung with a little bias so it settles closed. Get those right and a heavy door stays where you put it.
Usually yes, and in a large bathroom it is often the better choice. A door that opens outward puts the swing into floor space you actually have, keeps the handle dry and lets water run back toward the pan. It needs clearance on the outside, so we check what is in the arc: a vanity corner, a towel bar, a bench. Some layouts get a door that does both, which is worth asking about at the measure.
Sometimes, yes. Ordinary custom glass generally needs a week or two between the template and the install day. A large or specialty enclosure can take a little longer, because the panels are bigger to cut, edge and handle, and a heavy layout is not something to rush through the shop. We give you a real date once the template is done and the layout is signed off, not before, and installation is still normally a single visit.
Less than people fear, if you deal with water rather than with buildup. A squeegee after showers takes seconds and removes most of what would otherwise dry on and turn into film. A protective coating helps by keeping minerals sitting on the surface instead of etching in. Avoid abrasive pads and anything with grit. The hardware wants nothing more than a wipe. Do that much and the glass looks the same in year six as year one.
Correct, we have no storefront in town. Midland Park is nearest, 108 Greenwood Ave, about twelve minutes away through Wyckoff, and it runs by appointment only, so book ahead. It is stocked with glass, hardware finishes and samples, which is the part that settles a finish. Lodi is the main shop and the one with enclosures set up whole, 80 Industrial Rd, roughly twenty four minutes out, no appointment needed weekdays until five or Saturdays until four.
Photos of the opening and a rough width and height get the conversation started, and the real numbers come from us standing in the room. Text them over to (201) 507-5918. We will pick a time, drive out through Wyckoff, template the opening and price the enclosure at no charge.
Photos of the opening and a rough width and height get the conversation started, and the real numbers come from us standing in the room. Text them over to (201) 507-5918. We will pick a time, drive out through Wyckoff, template the opening and price the enclosure at no charge.
Text Jessica directly and she'll get right back to you. To speed things up, include:
