Doors for a shower cabin: description of types, design and selection rules

It is difficult to imagine a modern bathroom without a shower stall. One of its important parameters are doors, on which not only the beauty of the structure depends, but also the presence of a dry floor in the room during the adoption of water procedures.

Today the plumbing market offers shower doors for every taste and budget. Of the whole variety of models, doors are divided into 3 types according to the method of opening:

• folding (accordion);
• sliding;
• swing.

The design is subdivided into:

• frameless;
• wireframe.

A swing door for a shower stall is not very popular, since the bathrooms in most apartments are small, and this type of door requires quite a lot of space to open. Among the advantages of a swing door are:

• noiselessness;
• reliability;
• ease of installation.

It is recommended to install swing doors if the shower stall is used by a disabled person or elderly people. It is recommended to install them in the niche where the shower is located. In this case, the installation is simplified by the fact that the door is fastened to the walls enclosing the shower. It is best to choose a shower door made of tempered glass; to strengthen the outer side, you can use a tinted film, it will not allow the glass to crumble into fragments if damaged.

Glass doors are durable, environmentally friendly, resistant to temperature changes. But the main feature is that they can be made to order for any interior... Specialists will manufacture doors of any size and shape (convex, bent, etc.).The sliding door is easy to use and durable, it does not require a lot of space to open. For installation, you need a frame in the form of hinged rails at the top and bottom, along which the sliding panel "walks".

Main advantages:

• saving space;
• ease of installation;
• strength.

A door that opens in this way is suitable for corner cubicles, it can be glass or plastic. A kind of sliding are pendulum doors. This option is mounted on a vertical rack with special hinges. They unfold in any direction - from themselves and to themselves.

Folding or "accordion" - an unusual type of shower door. Among the advantages are:

• partial opening / closing;
• production from different materials;
• resistance to chips, scratches or cracks.

Fittings are the main thing to look for when choosing. The service life of the door depends on the quality and material of the products. Each type has its own fittings.

• Hinges - used for swing and swing doors. The hinge is sized according to the load it can support (weight).

• Door handles - installed on any type of door, the main thing here is to take into account the shape, which should be convenient for opening and closing with wet hands. It is recommended to choose handles in the form of a ball, polyhedron.

• Connectors - mechanisms for fastening the shutters to the wall and fastening door panels to each other. Depending on the type of doors, high-rise, linear, corner doors can be used.

• Stabilization hoses - necessary to strengthen the strength of the structure, protect against deformation.

• Guides - used for sliding doors. The door roller is installed at the top of the structure, which carries most of the load.

• Carriages - regulate the smooth running of the door panel. When choosing, you need to take into account the width of the door and the weight that the carriage can withstand.

The following materials are most commonly used.

• Glass - the most popular material. It transmits light well, does not deform when exposed to water. But such doors require delicate handling.

• Plastic - a more practical and cheaper option in comparison with glass, but plastic doors can grow cloudy over time, and the surface can be covered with scratches.

• Wood - used in shower cabins is extremely rare, since this material does not tolerate contact with moisture and does not transmit light.

• Acrylic - a synthetic polymer that requires special care. It is necessary to wash such doors only with special means. But acrylic structures can be given absolutely any shape. It differs from other types of material in its low price, variety of shapes and the ability to install it yourself.

For a standard shower stall, the size of the doors is calculated taking into account the width of the opening, usually there are ready-made structures from the manufacturer on sale. If the shower is in a niche, the dimensions are calculated taking into account the dimensions of the opening and the height. If the doorway is too wide, 1-2 inserts on the frame can be mounted on the sides.

If the shower stall is made according to an individual project, the doors are selected taking into account the parameters of the user or users. As a standard, they go from 70 to 110 cm in width, individual sizes can be more or less than these indicators. When choosing a size, you need to focus on the minimum and maximum widths, which are respectively 60 and 120 cm.

For swing doors, the size is calculated according to the width of the doorway, which will be equal to the width of the door. If you want a double-leaf door, then the width of one leaf will be equal to half the width of the opening. Sliding doors are also equal in width to the doorway. The most difficult to calculate are bent or semicircular structures, where the length is calculated along an arc.

What are the design options.

• Matting film - An inexpensive and easy way to make glass opaque, but over time, the film can scratch, bubble or burst. Among the options for the film can be tinting or oracal (self-adhesive vinyl).

• Frosted glass - initially opaque glass, looks impressive and fits any interior. Only silhouettes will be visible through such glass. Another advantage of frosted glass is that soap streaks and dried water drops are not visible on it.

Tinted glass is produced in several ways:

• glass is melted with the addition of coloring pigments;
• colored pigments are fused into the surface layer;
• vacuum glass painting;
• tinting film (for self-tinting).

Frosted glasses (curved or straight) completely hide the bather from prying eyes, but at the same time let in some of the light. There are several ways to produce frosted glass:

• matting with acid-containing products;
• sandblasting the glass surface;
• chemical matting with special pastes;
• firing (fusing different materials into glass), the result is frosted glass with a pattern.

The most popular models are produced by the company Albatros and Jacuzzi (Italy), Huppe, Villeroy & Boch (Germany), also good models from Laufen (Austria).

Glass shower doors look better, they are durable and do not change over time. Some models are covered with a special compound that repels water (drops flow down without leaving traces). Particularly durable among glass door models are produced using triplex technology. This method is the gluing of two or more glasses with a special polymer film, as a result of which the glass does not disintegrate if damaged. This option is ideal for a family with small children. The only drawback is the high cost.

You can install glass structures yourself, the main thing is to correctly adjust the door. In a sliding structure, it should move freely without touching the bottom; you can raise or lower it by adjusting the bar. A budget option is plastic, which is almost as practical as glass. The main thing here is to choose high-quality material, otherwise it may become cloudy or deformed over time.

Before buying, you need to pay attention to:

• fasteners (they must not have defects);
• sashes (should fit snugly against each other and the frame);
• the correctness of the design (there should be no bias in any direction).

If you have a square door, then it is better to choose a sliding or swing design with two leaves. Manufacturers produce doors for standard shower stalls 80x80 and 90x90 cm in size. Other sizes are rare, usually they are made to order.

For information on how to choose a shower stall, see the next video.