Ken Sheedy, owner of Shower Designs Inc, has spent over two and a half decades in the glass industry. In 2004, Ken recognized the growing trend of frameless glass shower enclosures and decided to focus his efforts on this area of the industry. Ken has a passion for what he does and truly loves going to work each day. This translates to unique one-of-a-kind designs his customers have come to love. Each project is individually designed and engineered to meet the specific requirements of each unique installation. This results in an artistic enclosure that is often the focal point of the room. The satisfaction of providing the wow factor to a customer’s project is the most rewarding part of the job for Ken.
We provide our customers with the continuation of the design concept that they have in mind. This is a joint process that results in an enclosure that completes the space they create. Our best designs come from the customer’s input and creativity. It is very important for us to be involved as early as possible in your project in order to address the structural requirements needed to accommodate a frameless shower enclosure. We work closely with the other contractors on each project to ensure the correct foundation is provided for a frameless enclosure. This is necessary to make your frameless enclosure as frameless as possible. We are required to submit all designs to our hardware suppliers Computer Aided Design (CAD) program. It is never our opinion on the engineering that goes into fabrication. This ensures all designs are structurally sound.
Design Tips To Consider From The Start Of Your Project
1) Proper wood blocking in the wall for the hinges and mechanical fasteners is one of the most important things that should go into the design. See the diagram to the right for a drawing of this specification.
2) Seats and Curbs – must be pitched for proper drainage.
3) Shower soffits must plumb down precisely to lower curbs. This is necessary in order to line up glass panels.
4) Position body sprays and faucet heads towards tile walls, not towards enclosure doors.
5) Tempered glass panels cannot be made in dimensions less than 3 1/2 inches, plan accordingly when designing your enclosure.
Wall Section Diagram –
Note the placement of hinges along the blocking
Design Tips To Consider From The Start Of Your Project
1) Proper wood blocking in the wall for the hinges and mechanical fasteners is one of the most important things that should go into the design. See the diagram to the right for a drawing of this specification.
2) Seats and Curbs – must be pitched for proper drainage.
3) Shower soffits must plumb down precisely to lower curbs. This is necessary in order to line up glass panels.
4) Position body sprays and faucet heads towards tile walls, not towards enclosure doors.
5) Tempered glass panels cannot be made in dimensions less than 3 1/2 inches, plan accordingly when designing your enclosure.
6) For a frameless enclosure, do not use raised decorative tile on any part of the door swing area. Specifically, outside the enclosure where the door swings open. This could impede the door from its full swing and could result in damage to the door.
7) Use caution when designing with glass tiles. Drilling, necessary during the installation of a frameless enclosure, can result in cracked glass tiles. Discuss this with the staff at Shower Designs Inc if you plan to design an enclosure with glass tiles.
8) The correct shower curb pitch will result in proper drainage. Be sure to pitch the curb towards the inside of the shower enclosure. A pitch between 3/16″ and 1/4″ is ideal.
9) Keep in mind that any time we can hinge a door on a wall it allows us to eliminate a horizontal header support, this results in a more frameless look. If a glass door is to be hinged from another glass panel it must be supported on three sides. This requires us to extend the panel to the ceiling or to introduce a header support bar into the design.
10) When in doubt, call the staff at Shower Designs Inc, they will be glad to aid in answering all of your questions.