Tub Glass Doors in Santa Clara, CA

Tub glass doors turn a bathtub with a shower head into a cleaner, drier space than a curtain allows. Many Santa Clara homes built in the 1950s and 1960s, when the city's population grew from about 11,700 to more than 86,000, still have their original tub-and-shower alcove: a standard tub set between two tiled walls. Glass on that tub is one of the simplest bathroom upgrades, and it does not require a remodel.

Three ways to put glass on a tub

• Sliding tub doors: two panels that bypass each other across the full length of the tub. The most common choice for families, since the opening can be moved to either end.
• Hinged tub door with fixed panel: a door that swings out over the tub ledge next to a fixed panel. Feels more open but needs room to swing.
• Fixed tub screen: a single glass panel covering the shower end of the tub, leaving the rest open. Simple to clean and easy to bathe children behind, but it lets more spray out.

Things that matter on a tub

Tub edges are rarely perfectly level, and older cast iron or steel tubs can have a slight crown or dip along the ledge. A sliding door needs a bottom track or guides that seal against that ledge, and a hinged door needs a sweep that clears it. We check the ledge along its full length before choosing a door. We also look at the faucet and spout: a door must clear them as it slides or swings, and a tub spout near the glass can splash past a fixed screen.

Bathing children and cleaning the tub

If the tub is used for bathing young children, a sliding door that opens to the middle, or a fixed screen, leaves room to reach in. Sliding doors also make it harder to clean the far wall of the tub, so think about who cleans the bathroom and how. Frameless sliders with floor guides are easier to wipe than framed doors with a deep bottom track.

Hard water on tub glass

Tub doors sit low, where water splashes and pools on the ledge. In Santa Clara, where city wells supply water at 220 to 300 mg/L of hardness according to the city's water quality report, that water leaves white crust along the bottom of the glass and in any track. A coated glass door, a squeegee and a quick wipe of the tub ledge after a shower prevent most buildup.

Safety glass on tubs

The federal standard 16 CFR 1201 lists bathtub doors and enclosures as Category II glazing, and the California Residential Code treats glass facing a bathtub as a hazardous location when its bottom edge is less than 60 inches above the standing surface. Every tub door and panel we install is tempered. If you have an old tub enclosure and cannot find the tempered mark in a corner of the glass, it is worth replacing.

Cost

Published figures put glass tub doors at about $877 to $1,203 (HomeServe), with sliding and bypass doors ranging from about $400 to $2,050 depending on style. Fixr lists a fixed shower screen at $400 to $700, and Inch Calculator puts replacing a framed or sliding door, including removal and disposal, at about $500 to $1,000.