In a Paterson two- or three-family where one bathroom already has a semi-frameless door worth keeping, the doors for the other units can be built to read like it, whoever put that one in. It works because a semi-frameless door is recognized by a few things: its glass, the finish on its metal and the side it opens from. All of that can be read off the door that is already there. What cannot be copied is the size, so each opening still gets its own template, by hand, and its own glass, cut and edged in our Lodi shop.
Where one unit already has a semi-frameless door you want the others to follow, the job starts in that bathroom rather than in the ones getting glass. The measure begins by noting what makes that door recognizable: whether its glass is standard clear, low-iron or a frosted or rain pattern, how thick it is at the edge, what finish its hinges, handle and channel are in, polished chrome, brushed nickel, matte black, oil-rubbed bronze or something else, and which side it swings from, where the layout lets that repeat. Those are most of what anyone sees of a door like this. The glass reads as the opening, the channel is a single line of metal up the wall, and the hardware carries the finish. Get them to agree and a door in the next unit reads as the same door, even where its opening is wider or narrower.
Sizes are the part no door can lend another. Walls in buildings this old are rarely square, so every opening is templated by hand on its own, and the glass for that unit goes through our Lodi shop to be cut and edged to its numbers, in 3/8 inch tempered safety glass unless the door being followed is heavier. Where that door's finish is one we carry, the new doors are ordered in it. Where it is something else, you choose the nearest of ours, and our Lodi showroom's selection wall is where to compare them side by side. Hinges and handles vary in shape from one installer's door to the next, even in the same finish, which is worth seeing before anything is ordered. A framed door can be followed as well, in glass and finish, though a semi-frameless door beside it will always show less metal.
Take a three-family in Sandy Hill or a two-family in Riverside: the glass there is worked out one unit at a time, because each bathroom is its own opening with its own household using it. Each one gets its own free in-home measure and its own written quote, firm and itemized, so you can see what that unit involves and decide on it by itself. Nothing obliges you to do every unit at once, or in any order but the one you choose, and a unit you are not ready for simply waits its turn. Where a door is following another unit's glass and finish, the quote spells that out, so the match is written down before any glass is cut for it.
When more than one unit goes ahead, the paperwork comes back together: the work is invoiced as one document for the whole building, however many quotes it started as. A unit somebody lives in stays theirs to use until its own install day, and install times can be arranged directly with your tenant if you would rather not sit in the middle of it. On the day, the crew works in that one bathroom, sets the glass and carries the old door out with its hardware. Our own crew handles every unit, licensed and insured, and no subcontractor is brought in. Finishes can also be compared by appointment at our Midland Park showroom, about eighteen minutes north by way of Goffle Road, where glass, hardware finishes and samples are kept.
Semi-frameless enclosures photographed in Paterson bathrooms and in nearby Hawthorne, Prospect Park and Haledon. Look at them the way you would look at the door in your own building: what the glass is, what finish the metal wears and which side each door swings from, since those are what a second unit would repeat.
More custom glass in Paterson: frameless shower doors, sliding & bypass shower doors, shower door replacement. See everything on our Paterson, NJ page. Semi-Frameless Shower Doors nearby: Paramus, Ridgewood, Hackensack, Fort Lee, Lodi, Midland Park, Englewood, Teaneck, Fair Lawn, Mahwah, Wyckoff, Tenafly, Franklin Lakes, Ramsey, Glen Rock, Montclair, Wayne, Carlstadt. Learn more about our shower doors & enclosures statewide, or read the Frameless vs. semi-frameless: which is right? and How much do shower doors cost in NJ? guides.
It helps, and it is a short look rather than a second measure. A finish is easier to judge in the room than in a picture, and glass is easiest to read at its edge, where the thickness shows. If that unit cannot be opened on the day, a close photo of a hinge and the edge of the glass, taken in daylight, gets most of the way there, and the finish can be settled at the selection wall in Lodi.
No. What repeats from that door is its glass, its finish and, where the room allows, the side it opens from. The way it was hung does not come along. Each new door is templated by hand in its own opening and hung plumb there, so if the old one leans, the new ones will stand straighter than it does. From a hallway that rarely shows, and if it bothers you, the older door can be looked at on the same visit.
The sweep under the door and the seal at the strike edge. The channel's job ends at the edges it holds, and the water is turned back by the vinyl at the bottom of the door and by the soft strip on the closing edge, whichever surface the door shuts against.
Yes. The hand flips, so the door hinges from the other side and its handle lands on the other edge, a mirror of the one downstairs. Glass and finish do not change with it, and neither does the thickness. Which way each door opens is settled in its own bathroom, by what stands around that opening, rather than copied from the unit you are following.
Yes, though they will not look the same, which is worth knowing before you order. Over a tub the enclosure usually runs as a fixed panel with a hinged door above the rim. In a stall it works against the curb instead, the channel sits in different places and the glass height changes. We measure both and set them side by side on the quote so the difference is visible before you commit.
That depends on whether the tiles are cracked but still bonded, or lifting away from the wall. A row that is lifting cannot carry a channel, because the metal would move with it. Which of the two you have is settled at the measure. Where the row is loose, re-bedding it is work for your tile setter, and we template the opening once it is sound again.
Which unit has the door you want the rest to follow? That bathroom is where the free in-home measure starts, ahead of the ones getting glass, and each of those comes back with its own written, itemized quote. Bring up how many units are in the building when you call, even the ones not in the plan yet. Call or text (201) 460-1313.
Which unit has the door you want the rest to follow? That bathroom is where the free in-home measure starts, ahead of the ones getting glass, and each of those comes back with its own written, itemized quote. Bring up how many units are in the building when you call, even the ones not in the plan yet. Call or text (201) 460-1313.
Text Jessica directly and she'll get right back to you. To speed things up, include:
