A pivot door turns on a small fitting at the top and another at the floor. Nothing is fixed to the side of the glass. So the door edge stays clean, and the panel reads as one sheet of glass. It suits a wide shower opening where a normal hinged door would feel heavy. We fit these with a tall stainless pull handle, which is what most people notice first. The glass is toughened, which is safety glass. Prices start at ₹970 per sq ft.
How a pivot differs from a hinge
A hinge holds the door from the side. Two or three metal blocks grip the edge of the glass and carry the whole weight of the door on that one line.
A pivot holds the door from the top and the bottom instead. The weight goes down into the floor fitting. The side of the glass is left alone.
Two things follow from that. The door can be made wider, because the weight is better carried. And a pivot door can be set to swing both ways, so you can push it open from inside and pull it from outside. A hinged shower door only opens outward.
The trade-off is the floor. A pivot needs a firm, level fixing point in the tile. We check that at the measuring visit before we agree the design.
The handle is part of the build, not an extra
The long handle in the picture is a 1200mm stainless ladder pull. It runs most of the height of the door.
It is there for a reason beyond looks. A pivot door is heavier than a hinged one, and a long handle lets you push or pull it anywhere along its height. A small knob makes a heavy door feel heavier.
We use stainless steel rather than plated brass on this build. A bathroom is warm and wet all day, and plating on a handle you grip twice a day is the first finish to go. Stainless costs more and does not pit.
Brushed steel is our standard here. Chrome and matte black are both available, and neither changes the rate.
The shower this suits, and the one it does not
It suits a walk-in shower with a wide opening, usually 3 feet or more, and a clear floor outside for the door to turn into.
It also suits a bathroom used by an older person. A pivot door that opens both ways is easier to get through, and it can be pushed open from inside if somebody needs help.
It does not suit a narrow bathroom. A pivot door turns on a point set slightly in from the edge, so part of the door swings backwards into the shower as the rest swings out. In a tight space that is worse than a hinge, not better.
It also does not suit a floor that is not solid. A wooden or hollow floor cannot carry a bottom pivot. We will say so at the visit rather than fit it and hope.
What decides the price
₹970 per sq ft is the starting rate, and a normal 35 sq ft enclosure comes to about ₹33,950 before GST.
The glass here is plain clear toughened, the same as our ₹850 enclosure. The extra ₹120 per sq ft is the door gear. A pivot set costs more than a pair of hinges, and the long stainless handle costs about five times a shower knob.
After that the usual things move the number. The area of glass. A thicker panel if the door is very wide. Any frosting or tinting. And how easy your bathroom is to reach, because a twelfth floor flat with a booked service lift is a longer day than a ground floor one.
The written price lists the glass, the pivot set, the handle and the fitting work on their own lines.
