“The trend originates from Europe as far back as the '80s, where the bathrooms in historic properties are typically small and don't have the clearance for swinging doors, so partial hinged glass works better,” he says. Half doors (or no doors) serve a handful of practical purchases as well.
Glass shower doors require constant cleaning to avoid hard water spots, so a doorless shower means one less thing to clean. No step-over curb at the entrance makes the shower easily accessible to the elderly and those with mobility issues. Doorless showers are standard in age-in-place universal design.
Myth: European Shower Enclosures Leak Water
Another falsehood about frameless glass showers is that they're prone to leakage – the lack of a frame leaves plenty of room for water to escape. The truth? Leaks only occur in poorly-designed or improperly installed European glass enclosures.
What we've discovered, though, is that a shower door is an option, not a necessity if the shower is designed with that in mind. I know you're probably thinking a doorless shower would only work in a home with a huge bathroom, but a door is no longer necessary even in a small space like replacing a tub with a shower.
European-style showers are a type of walk-in shower, designed most often with frameless doors, wall to floor tile, and a minimal curb (or no curb at all). (You can see an example in the photo above). In our opinion, it's easy to see why this style of shower has become so popular.
“The trend originates from Europe as far back as the '80s, where the bathrooms in historic properties are typically small and don't have the clearance for swinging doors, so partial hinged glass works better,” he says. Half doors (or no doors) serve a handful of practical purchases as well.
Great Britain has the lowest rate of showering per week, at 83 percent. However, the English do love their baths: they have the most baths out of every country, with 32 percent of people bathing each week. Germany comes at a far second, at just 20 percent.
A doorless shower, also known as a walk-in shower, a Roman shower, or a roll-in shower, among other names, is a shower architecturally designed not to require a door or a curtain.
Install a Shower Splash Guard
Splash guards are small, triangular-shaped rubber fins that are placed along the corners where the shower wall meets the floor. They're typically glued in place or attached with self-adhesive strips and can stop water from leaking out the corners of the shower.
“Going Dutch” means splitting the bill in half at the restaurant, and “having a French shower” means to spray on too much deodorant instead of washing oneself. This is the first time I have heard that, but it seems that it is a popular idiom.
Some of these reasons include the illusion of a larger room. Without a shower curtain or door, the room instantly becomes brighter and a bit more spacious as guests are able to scope out the entire space at first glance. It also provides easy cleanup for housekeeping.
This usually occurs between the floor and wall joints of the shower recess. Up to 90% of showers built onto a stud wall will eventually leak because a gap will occur between the tiled wall and the shower recess floor.
There are many advantages associated with having a shower door. Only safety tempered or laminated glass is used in the manufacture allowing you many years of worry free durability with minimal maintenance. This makes up for the added expense of replacing shower curtains.
Keep the air flowing.
Be sure to leave your shower door open and bathroom door open after taking a shower to keep air moving around your shower. If you have one, be sure to leave the bathroom vent fan on until the temperature has cooled down and the steam is gone.
A single panel is all you need
Many enjoy the sleek lines of a shower without a tub. It's no surprise then that homeowners are taking it up a notch and exploring doorless walk-in showers. With an open entry, benefits include greater accessibility, fewer panels and hardware, and a greater open-air look.
Doorless showers simply don't retain heat as well as those with doors, and they can even feel cold at times.
French Doors are simply two doors in an opening that hinge from opposite sides and both open in the middle. Handles are placed next to each other one on each door.
How Big Should a Doorless Shower Be? A doorless shower layout requires a larger footprint than a standard tub or shower stall. Building codes may specify that a standard shower stall must be a minimum of 36 inches by 36 inches while the average doorless shower is about seven feet by four feet with many much larger.
These types of bathrooms do exist, and they are referred to as quarter-bathrooms. These quarter-bathrooms are quite rare simply due to the fact that they contain only one of the 4 main elements of a bathroom. The most commonly seen are those that contain a shower and are typically found at beaches or pools.
Australians have the status of being one of the cleanest nations on the planet. 90 per cent of women and 80 per cent of men bathe or shower at least once daily according to a 2008 report by the SCA, a leading global hygiene company.
Lowest sanitation standards worldwide by select country 2020
In that year, around 76 percent of the population in Eritrea still defecate in the open.
Cleanest respondents are the Bosnians (96%), followed by the Turks (94%). These high scores are no doubt relatable to wudu, the Islamic procedure for washing hands (and mouth, nostrils, arms, head and feet) as a means of ritual purification, for example prior to prayer.