Glass goes in last. By the time we get there the tile is set, the fixtures are chosen, and the room is either newly finished or has been waiting since the house went up. Tenafly hands us both, sometimes on the same block. Either way the enclosure is built to the opening in front of us, in heavy tempered glass, hand templated so the panels sit tight to tile we did not set.
Strip a shower down to frameless and there is not much left to look at: two or three pieces of glass, a pair of hinges, a clamp or two, and a handle. That short list is the whole design. Whatever finish you pick becomes the only metal in the room besides the faucet, so it carries more weight here than it would on a framed unit. Hardware comes in polished chrome or brushed nickel, in matte black, and in oil-rubbed bronze. In a house with older fittings, the bronze or the nickel tends to sit down quietly beside what is already on the vanity. Chrome and black push the room newer.
The second decision is how the door behaves. A wall-mount hinge swings both directions and needs a clear arc on the room side, which matters when a vanity, a radiator or a door casing sits close. A glass-to-glass hinge hangs the door off a fixed panel instead and keeps the swing tight to the enclosure. Heavier glass asks more of the wall behind the tile, so we find out what is back there before promising anything. Frameless glass is meant to run with small, even gaps, and the clear sweep along the bottom edge is what keeps water on the tile side of the room.
One call comes from a bathroom finished three weeks ago. New tile, a niche where the designer drew it, walls closer to true than anything else in the house. Those get templated after the grout has cured, never off a drawing, because a planned wall and a finished wall are rarely the same measurement. The other call comes from a bath that has been in service since the house was young, and this borough has plenty of those: center-hall colonials, Colonial Revivals set back under old trees, Gilded-Age Tudors up by the Magnolia Avenue historic district.
Neither one gets treated as a standard size. We measure the opening as it stands, top to bottom and side to side, and check how far off plumb each wall runs before glass is ordered. Where a wall leans, the panel is cut to follow it rather than fight it. Where a tile edge wanders, hardware placement absorbs it. On the larger primary baths in these houses, tall panels and wide openings, we move up to 1/2 inch glass so the door feels solid in the hand instead of light. Everything is cut and edged in Lodi, about sixteen minutes away, and set by our own crew.
Enclosures we have built for bathrooms in Tenafly and the towns around it, every panel cut for one opening. Click a photo to see how the hardware sits against the glass.
More custom glass in Tenafly: sliding & bypass shower doors, semi-frameless shower doors, shower door replacement, custom mirrors, custom glass shower enclosures, steam shower enclosures, bathtub shower doors, glass railings, commercial glass. See everything on our Tenafly, NJ page. Frameless Shower Doors nearby: Paramus, Ridgewood, Hackensack, Fort Lee, Lodi, Midland Park, Englewood, Teaneck, Fair Lawn, Mahwah, Wyckoff, Franklin Lakes, Ramsey. Learn more about our frameless shower enclosures statewide, or read the How much do frameless shower doors cost in NJ? and Frameless vs. semi-frameless: which is right? guides.
It changes where the glass can land, not whether you can have it. We look at how close a panel comes to the casing, whether the sill sits inside the wet area, and where the door has to open so nothing swings into the frame. Sometimes the fixed panel gets shortened and the hinge moves over. All of that is worked out at the measure, standing in the room, before a single piece is ordered.
That gets decided with the vanity, the toilet and the room door all in front of us. A wall-mount hinge lets the door move in and out, which is easier to step through and easier to clean behind, but it needs a clear arc on the room side. When the arc is not there, we hang the door off a fixed panel so the swing stays tight to the enclosure and nothing collides.
More than most people expect, within reason. Small amounts are taken up in the hardware and the cut. Larger amounts mean a panel is cut on an angle so its outer edge follows the wall while the door edge stays true, which is exactly why the template has to be taken in your bathroom rather than guessed. If a wall runs far enough out that glass cannot cover it honestly, we say so and show you other builds.
Tile, grout and any curb or bench should be done and cured, the pan set, and plumbing trim either installed or marked so we know where the valve and head land. Waterproofing behind the tile matters too, since hinges fasten into that wall. Once those are settled we can measure. Ordering glass off a drawing before the room is finished is how enclosures end up shimmed and out of line.
They are built to run without much fuss, but they are still mechanical. Hinges can be checked and tightened, and the clear sweep along the bottom is the part that wears first, since it takes the water and the door closing on it. Keeping the glass squeegeed and the hardware dry does more for the life of an enclosure than anything else. If something stops closing the way it did, call and describe it.
No, there is not one in the borough. The nearest is the Lodi showroom, 80 Industrial Rd, about sixteen minutes away, open 9 to 5 on weekdays and 9 to 4 on Saturday. Walk in whenever it suits you. Full enclosures stand on the floor, and hardware gets compared at the glass and finish selection wall. Midland Park is roughly twenty-five minutes out and works by appointment.
Lodi stays open until four on Saturdays and sits about sixteen minutes from Tenafly, so you can hold hardware finishes against real enclosures without taking a weekday off. If you would rather we came to you, the in-home measure costs nothing. Call or text (201) 460-1313.
Lodi stays open until four on Saturdays and sits about sixteen minutes from Tenafly, so you can hold hardware finishes against real enclosures without taking a weekday off. If you would rather we came to you, the in-home measure costs nothing. Call or text (201) 460-1313.
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