28 inches is a standard opening size; there may be other sizes that are standard as well.

Thanks, Andreadeg. I think I'll need to ask him about it since it seems the opening is wider than that (I'll measure next time I'm there). Don't want to pay more for a door if I don't have to....

Thanks Wa8b. I thought I'd read about "stock sizes" in someone's thread back when I was just gathering info. I'll probably reconsider the frameless then.

I am sorry to disagree with wa8b, but in my frameless-shower-glass shopping experience, I found that indeed the "stock" door is 28", in 2 or 3 basic heights. In fact I orignally designed a 30" door but when I realized I would save a couple hundred dollars I changed to 28".

I believe the "stock" aspect is that the glass manufacturers keep a supply of that size around, and it doesn't have to be custom made for each installation.

Give Wilson Glass or Gasparilla Glass (where I got mine) a call and ask them.

Check with one of the big box stores for standard stock sizes.

tracy_b, if you don't mind me jumping on your thread (after all, we both seek the Holy Grail of double wall ovens. LOL!) ...

The designer spec'd a 30"x80" frameless door for our steam shower. I understand the 30" & would happily go to 28" if it saved some money, but 80" tall seems excessive. I have no issue with doing 72" or 76" if those are more standard heights.

The wooden doors in the bathroom are 8' tall because we have 10' ceilings, but I don't see any reason to have a tall, non-custom shower door. Would it be better to handle this with a transom?

I looked at the Gasparilla site & I could get a frameless door with panel to fill the entire opening with glass for $595 + shipping by using a standard width & height door. However, this wasn't a steam door. How does a steam shower door differ from a 3/8" glass frameless door?

Strictly speaking, "stock size" means different thing for different manufacturers. Also, each fabricator/retailer can choose to "stock" a few most common sizes of glass to be most economical to sell.

Glass retailers get their glass from the distributors, who order from glass manufacturers and in a lot instances, from overseas. They ship them in certain "common" size in containers.

What I found out is that if you stick to 24", 26", 28", usually you can find it less expensive. Sometimes the height makes a difference too, they usually order from the distributors something like 70" or 72". So say you happen to call to order a 26" x 72" door, they will find they can sell you one pretty easily without any customization effort, that will lead the cheapest price.

That said, it's difficult to build your shower solely based on the glass shower door decision. The opening may not be perfectly prime after the tile installation, for example. We are talking about 1/8", 3/16" kind precision. In my case, I have to cut the glass out of square, which make it more expensive.

Bottom line, anything they have to do with the glass will incease your cost, you will find the least expensive glass door if they don't have to do any customization to the glass in their shop/warehouse. The less they have to do, the less expensive.

Both Wilson Glass or Gasparilla Glass are good online places. I inquired with both myself. Wilson Glass is a tiny little more expensive than Gasparilla's quote. You can even find some rock bottom price ($300~$400) on eBay with whatever the size they are listing at.

carydan - thanks. (Since you wrote about Greensboro in another post, I assume you are in Cary, NC?)

We're doing new construction & have a 4'-8" x 5'-3" steam shower. The designer spec'd the 30"x80" door, but I'd like to do a door & panel across the front (4'-8" dimension). The guy supplying the spec'd door quoted the builder $575 + $200 to install.

If I go back to him to ask for a quote for the door + panel option, I want to be able to suggest going to a more standard size to save some money since I'm increasing the size. I want to try to go with the local guy (Greenville, SC area), first, but I don't want the price to triple, either.

Thanks for the info - Jo Ann

Hi Jo Ann,

Yep I live in Cary. The best thing to do is to go back to tell him an overall opening size 4' 8" and tell him you prefer a door size between 26"~28" and want the fixed panel to fill in on one side of the door or maybe both. Have him to play around to come up the least expensive option that he can do with his stock supply. Sometimes it doesn't make much difference especially if they have to order the glass from other distributor but it will make big difference if he has something readily accessible to fit your needs without too much custom work.

80" tall seems a bit over kill, especially if you don't plan to put the exhaust fan directly in the shower. But if you do, the taller the shower enclosure the better I think.

I don't know if the standard 3/8" tempered clear glass is best for the steam shower or how it will change the requirement but I imagine steam shower you want water tight, so plan the door opening as far away as you can from the stream heads. Actually that might be why the design calls for just one door and with the rest enclosed - less leak prone for streams. Multiple glass panes mean multiple seams. Anyway, the thickness of 3/8" should be good. As matter of fact when I first saw the glass, I was suprised it looks pretty thick. Good luck!

Thanks for the added info. I'll definitely check around (about doors) before they start the drywall in case they need to make the opening more narrow. I haven't been back out yet to measure. Dealing with kitchen decisions right now.

I'm in Cary, too! Renting; we're building north of Raleigh.

Any good tile places in Cary? My builder just sent me to one off Capital and 440 and I was hoping for one closer for easier (more often) browsing while I make those decisions.

Thanks!

Hi Tracey, yeah there is a place off Capital and 440 called Best Tile where we found our tiles. Their design consultants are exetremely knowledgeable and the place will be busy on Sat morning. Best time to go is during the weekdays you get full attention from the consultants and have them let you in to browse in their warehouse discounted section. They keep some left-over heavily discounted tiles in their wearhouse. They also stock 3/4" marble threadholds, Kerdi, DITRA and some good quality cement boards. Kinda rare and handy if you want something quick...I haven't found any place in Cary that matches that...the one on Kildare Farm Rd / Maynard have some samples from Crossville Empire series you can take home if you like Crossville. Another place on Trinity Road right between Raleigh and Cary, right next to Lee's Hardwood Floor store, they also have good selection but seem less willing to discount. Have fun shopping.

Thanks, Carydan. I'll definitely check that one out. I'd like to see the discounted tiles, esp. for the smaller areas I need to do like laundry, or mudroom, or powder, etc.

The one I went to was Mosaic Tile.