Dale Gallant from SHODOR shows his prowess and expertise while mounting a glass panel for the custom shower enclosure.
PHOTOS BY MARC LABOSSIERE / FREE PRESS
A custom glass shower enclosure was manufactured by SHODOR Shower Door Specialties.
A stub wall was built at the end of the tub.
A well-coordinated project will usually unfold from start to completion within the expected and allotted timeframe, provided hurdles that do arise can be overcome without causing any major delays.
Every once and a while, a forced delay may be the proper course of action to ensure the quality of a particular aspect of the installation remains at the highest level, with the utmost proficiency. At a recent bathroom renovation, a purposeful pause proved the right course of action.
After demolition is completed, most bathroom remodels follow an expected chronological list of tasks to ready the shell of the space for the final steps of populating the newly designed bathroom with new amenities.
While prepping the space for these items, electrical instances are positioned to meet the requirements of powered amenities such as an air-tub, and/or heated bidet toilet seat and the rough plumbing is modified to accommodate a sink vanity of different width than the old, and a more complicated shower faucet with hand-wand array.
Beyond these services, spatial modifications are also factored into the design well before the shell is being prepped.
For this bathroom upgrade, the new air-tub is tucked into the far-left corner. Although a standard size of 60-by-30-inches with 3 sides typically inset along a tiled wall, the end of the tub (where the tub compressor is located) falls short of the wall by nearly two feet.
As such, the design incorporates a stub wall to close off the open side at the end of the tub (with an access point to the compressor), and a linen cabinet with quartz countertop to fill the void between the stub wall and far wall of the room.
Careful measurements were taken after demolition, factoring in framing and drywall girth, as well as allowances for tape and mud, and tile. With the dimensions known, a tolerance of an eighth of an inch was provided once all facets of the installations in this location were fulfilled.
With floor to ceiling porcelain tile throughout, the stub wall was constructed to be exactly three inches taller than the front of the air-tub skirted edge.
This would be extremely pertinent when ordering the glass tub/shower enclosure with sliding door from SHODOR Shower Door Specialties, to ensure the top side of the return glass panel above the stub wall is level with the adjacent sliding door and static panel along the front side of the tub.
Although I was quite certain the finished measurements would coincide with dimensions pre-provided to SHODOR in order to have the enclosure manufactured in advance and guarantee a timely delivery as the project was nearing completion, I uncharacteristically elected to pause until the area was fully tiled.
This unfortunately would render the ETA of the custom order beyond the expected completion date. No matter, the bathroom was fully functional, except for the lack of the glass enclosure for a couple extra weeks.
When the call did come in from SHODOR that the custom enclosure was ready, it was easiest to simply schedule the SHODOR crew to install the unit themselves, as I had already begun a kitchen project elsewhere.
Historically, I would usually plan to do the installation myself. However, having forced a pause to ensure the measurements would all work out created a tactical conflict with my schedule. Fortunately, I was able to break away from my current project to oversee the glass enclosure installation – and it was a sight to behold.
Dale Gallant and his SHODOR crew arrived promptly, and pre-loaded the items into the abode. With the bathroom fully populated (other than the glass shower enclosure), it was easy to confirm that the finished and tiled stub wall height met the three-inch discrepancy with the tub edge, near perfectly.
The crew prepped the u-channel for the return panel to the back wall along the top of the stub wall, and set the glass panel into place. The main horizontal brace for the enclosure that also serves as the support for the static panel along the faucet wall (and eventual track for the sliding door) was then affixed to the faucet wall, and along the top face of the return panel.
The static panel was then set within a u-channel on the top of the tub edge, also secured to the track at the top of the glass panel. With the structure rigid and secure, the sliding door was then set into position. Slight adjustments ensure the door slides smoothly and fits snuggly against the return panel when the door is closed.
This enclosure was a bit tricky, not only because there was a 90-degree return panel to the back wall, more so due to the three-inch elevation differential between the tub edge and the top of the required stub wall.
And although the allowable tolerances had been met and the custom enclosure could have indeed been pre-ordered to meet the official completion deadline, it still felt as though the correct decision was made to delay the ordering process, until the tiling had been completed – I wanted to be certain.
And having the pros from SHODOR install the unit so precisely was the perfect way to end this stunning bathroom remodel.
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