Shower doors come in a great many number of various shapes, sizes, materials, and designs. They do, however, fall into one of three basic categories, folding, hinged, and sliding doors. While folding doors are typically found on bathtub shower installations, hinged doors are most common with walk in shower enclosures. Sliding shower doors, on the other hand, can be used for both bathtub enclosures and walk in shower units, making them the more versatile of the three designs.
How Do Sliding Shower Doors Work?
A sliding shower door works in a manner similar to that of a sliding patio door. The assembly is comprised of a support frame with built in mounting tracks, one or two sliding panels, and possibly one or two fixed panels. The most common styles will have two sliding panels to allow bathers to access the shower from either side of the unit. Each panel slides either in front of or behind the other panel, allowing them to be mounted parallel to each other within the track.
Other enclosure designs will have one fixed panel and one sliding panel. While this restricts access to the shower unit to one side or another, it also reduces the potential wear and tear on the fixed panel. Most designs that incorporate a fixed panel will allow the option to choose which side of the enclosure provides the most beneficial access points.
For some larger shower enclosures, two fixed panels may be installed on the outer sides of the sliding panels in order to better bridge the gap in the opening without having to increase the width of the panels, potentially making them too large and bulky. The smaller the panels are and the less they way, the easier it will be to slide them within the track.
What Are Sliding Shower Doors Made From?
Sliding doors are typically manufactured from wither plexiglass or glass, both offering a transparent or semi-transparent appearance. The materials can also be frosted or etched with various designs and patterns. The tracks in which the doors rest are almost always made from metal. There are, however, a number of new glass sliding door styles on the market which are essentially frameless in design. The outer edges of the glass are coated in a thick silicone which not only buffers and smooths the edges, but also allows the doors to slide easily without the need for a traditional frame system. Instead of the door hardware being mounted onto the metal frame, it is mounted directly onto the glass itself.
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