The tile is finished, the pan is set, and now someone has to decide where the door swings and how wide the fixed panel beside it should be. That answer is different in a Cape Cod hall bath than it is in an oversized master suite up near the Ramapo Mountains, and different again in a townhome where the shower sits between three finished walls. So we come out, read both jambs with a level, work the layout out with you on paper, and cut every panel in our own Lodi shop to the numbers we took. Corner units, neo-angles, an inline door and panel, a long walk-in run: the shape follows the room. Our own crew sets the glass, and the visit to measure costs you nothing.
A measure is mostly reading walls. We check plumb at both jambs, top and bottom, because a jamb that drifts on its way up hands you a tapering gap beside the door, and no bead of sealant makes that look intended. We check the curb, since most are pitched back toward the pan on purpose and the bottom edge of the glass has to sit on that slope rather than on a level line. We note the tile lip, the niche, the bench and where the shower head points, because the door has to swing clear of all of them and the water has to have somewhere to go besides your floor. We also settle which side the hinges live on, and that follows the traffic in the room more than it follows the plumbing.
Everything after that happens in Lodi. The template becomes a cut list, the glass is sized off it, and the edges are ground smooth and polished. Every hole the hardware needs is machined while the panel can still be worked. Tempering comes last and it is a one way door: heat treated glass will not take a saw or a drill bit, so a panel measured wrong is not adjusted, it is made again. Hardware comes in polished chrome, brushed nickel, matte black and oil-rubbed bronze, and the finish gets chosen before fabrication so the holes match the hinge. Figure a week or two in the shop for most enclosures. The install is usually one visit: we dry fit, shim the fixed panels plumb, hang the door, seal the joints that need sealing, and tell you how long to leave the silicone alone before the first shower.
Mahwah is the largest township in Bergen County by area, and the glass has to cover that whole range. Up near the Ramapo Mountains there are sprawling custom estates where the master suite is oversized and the shower is a long walk-in run: heavier glass, wider fixed panels, sometimes a brace across the top because the span asks for one. Out on the big wooded lots sit classic Cape Cods with a bath that has not changed shape since the house went up, where the win is a clean corner unit or a neo-angle that finally uses the footprint it has. Then there are the condo and townhome communities, among them Darlington, Society Hill and Ramapo Ridge, where the stall sits between three finished walls and every inch is already spoken for.
A repeated floor plan sounds like it should make the glass repeatable. It does not. Two units in the same townhome community can be a half inch apart at the top of the tile, because they settled differently, were tiled by different hands, or were renovated in different decades. So each one gets its own template, and the panels from one unit are never used as a shortcut for the next. The spread of the township is the other practical piece. Our Midland Park showroom is about 16 minutes from most of Mahwah, which keeps the back and forth short: one visit to read the room, one to set the glass, and a manageable drive if you want to stand in front of a full enclosure display first.
Corner runs, neo-angles and open walk-in panels from bathrooms in Mahwah and the towns near our Midland Park showroom. Look at where the glass meets the tile and how each curb is handled.
More custom glass in Mahwah: 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 Mahwah, NJ page. Custom Glass Shower Enclosures nearby: Paramus, Ridgewood, Hackensack, Fort Lee, Lodi, Midland Park, Englewood, Teaneck, Fair Lawn. 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.
Correct, there is none in the township. The closest is our Midland Park showroom at 108 Greenwood Ave, roughly 16 minutes from most of Mahwah. It runs by appointment, so call (201) 507-5918 first and we will set a time and have someone there for you rather than let you arrive to a locked door. Inside are full enclosure displays and a glass-and-finish selection wall, which is the fastest way to settle thickness and hardware finish. Our main shop and showroom is 80 Industrial Rd in Lodi, about 27 minutes south, Monday through Friday 9 to 5 and Saturday 9 to 4.
Size first. A three-panel neo-angle takes more glass, more hardware and more labor than a door with one fixed panel beside it. Then thickness, since half inch glass costs more than three eighths and is the right call on long spans and heavy doors. Then the hardware finish and how much of it the layout needs. Then the walls: an opening that is out of square or out of plumb takes longer to template and sometimes more material. None of that can be priced honestly over the phone, which is why the in-home measure is free and the written quote lists the pieces separately.
There is a practical ceiling, and it is about weight and span rather than ambition. A tall, wide door in half inch glass gets heavy, so hinge count and hinge placement matter and the wall behind them has to be solid. A long fixed panel may want a support bar or a header to stay stiff. None of that is exotic, it just has to be decided at the measure instead of discovered on install day. If a layout is asking too much of one panel, we will say so and show you where a second panel or a brace makes the whole thing better.
That is normal work for us. We build to the opening that exists: the tile stays, the pan stays, the plumbing stays, and the glass is cut to whatever those leave behind. If the walls lean, the panels are cut to follow them. If the curb pitches, the bottom edge follows that too. We also keep the visit short and clean, which matters when a neighbor shares a wall and there is nowhere to stage material. If your building or association wants proof that we are licensed and insured before we come in, we can send it over.
Two moments matter, and they sit weeks apart. Bring us in while the layout is still a drawing, because the swing of the door, the aim of the shower head and the pitch of the curb are cheap to move on paper and expensive to move once they are set in tile. Then leave the measuring until the room is finished. We template against the surfaces the glass will actually touch, not the framing behind them, so the pan and the grout have to be done and dry first. Contractors expect that split, and it rarely holds anything up.
Yes. Pulling the old unit and its track is part of the install and it leaves with us. What we do not do is tile, pans or plumbing. If the wall needs work behind the old frame, or the pan is being replaced, that belongs to your contractor and has to be finished before we template. Once those surfaces are final we measure, fabricate and set the new glass with our own crew. The old caulk line usually needs some attention as well, and that is handled as part of setting the new panels.
Send Jessica a photo from the doorway plus the rough width of the opening, or call the shop at (201) 507-5918. We will come out to Mahwah, read the walls with a level, and lay the enclosure out with you before a single panel is cut. That visit costs you nothing.
Send Jessica a photo from the doorway plus the rough width of the opening, or call the shop at (201) 507-5918. We will come out to Mahwah, read the walls with a level, and lay the enclosure out with you before a single panel is cut. That visit costs you nothing.
Text Jessica directly and she'll get right back to you. To speed things up, include:
