Bathrooms on these plots are usually generous and, unusually, most of them have a proper window to the outside. That is an advantage worth designing around, because a bathroom that ventilates naturally behaves very differently from an internal one - and the enclosure can either help that or block it.
Keeping the window working once the shower is enclosed
A bathroom with an opening window dries itself, which is why these rooms rarely have the mould problems internal bathrooms do.
Put a tall enclosure between the shower and the window and the steam has to travel round it, which slows the drying considerably.
So the enclosure position wants to leave the air path from the shower to the window reasonably clear. It is usually possible in a room this size, and it is the kind of thing that is free to get right at the survey and impossible to change afterwards.
Glass beside an outside wall gets cold
An outside wall on this side of the city is genuinely cold on winter mornings, and glass against it takes that temperature.
Cold glass condenses steam heavily, so an enclosure on an external wall drips more than one on an internal wall, which people read as a leak.
It is not a fault and there is no fix in the glass. What helps is where the enclosure sits and making sure the base seal drains back inside rather than out. We explain it at the survey so it is not a surprise in December.
Sizing a door in a room with space to spare
With plenty of floor there is a temptation to make the shower door as wide as possible, and that is where large bathrooms go wrong.
A wide hinged door is heavy, and weight is what wears hinges and makes a door drop.
The better answer in a big room is usually a fixed panel with a normal-width door beside it. You get the large opening and the glass area, and the moving part stays a sensible size. It also costs less, because a fixed panel needs no hardware.
How the job works
- Tell us about the jobSend a few photos, rough sizes and what you need. Use WhatsApp or the form. For a repair, a short video of the door moving helps a lot.
- We call you back in about 2 minutesWe confirm what you need and a time to visit. Where we can, we give you a rough price on the call.
- We come and measureWe measure the opening and check the walls, floor and ceiling around it. Anything made to size is made to these measurements, so they must be right.
- You get a written priceIt lists each item, with GST as its own line. If anything about the job changes, we tell you before we go ahead.
- We fit itYou approve the price and pay the advance. Our own team fits the work, checks that every door and window opens and closes properly, and clears up. Most jobs are done in 3 to 4 days.
