Do shower doors have to be tempered glass?

Yes. IRC R308.4.5 and IBC 2406.4.5 both classify a shower or tub enclosure as a hazardous location with no practical exception. The glass must be tempered or laminated and permanently etched with the safety mark. Anyone offering you annealed glass in a shower is not doing legal work.

How long does a custom enclosure take?

Plan on two visits. We template the opening after the tile is finished and cured, then the glass goes out for fabrication and tempering. Standard clear glass runs about one to two weeks in the DMV. Low-iron, reeded and heavily notched panels run longer because they are made to order and cannot be recut after tempering.

Is the protective coating worth it?

On hard water, yes. The DMV runs 8 to 12 grains per gallon in most of Northern Virginia and Montgomery County, which is where the white haze on old shower glass comes from. A factory-applied coating fills the microscopic pores in the glass so minerals rinse off instead of etching in. It roughly doubles the time before you need an acid restoration.

Can you fit an enclosure to an out-of-square opening?

That is most of them. Tile walls are rarely plumb and old tubs settle. Frameless work absorbs a small amount of variance with wall profiles and adjustable clamps, and we template to the actual opening rather than assuming a rectangle. If a wall is more than about 1/4 inch out over the height, we will tell you before fabrication rather than after.

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Shower Door &Enclosure Designer

Name: Virginia Glass Windows
Address: Alexandria, VA, US
Telephone: (703) 470-7867
Price range: $$

Build your frameless enclosure and watch it draw itself to scale.

Scale drawing of your enclosure
Glass weight and thickness spec
Panel schedule and weights

Step 1What are you building?Pick the layout that matches your bathroom. The drawing redraws as you go.

Step 2Frame styleThis decides how the load travels — through the frame, or through the glass itself.

Glass thickness

Step 3Opening sizeMeasure the finished tile opening, not the old door. Width at the top, middle and bottom — use the smallest.

Opening width52"

Typical range for this layout: 36 to 72 inches.

Opening height76"

Measure from the tub deck or curb to where the glass will stop.

Step 4Glass finishTexture changes privacy, light and how often it needs a squeegee.

Step 5Hardware finishMatch your shower valve and it will look intentional.

Step 6Add-onsAll optional. The coating is the one we push on DMV hard water.

Step 7Where is the job?Parking, permits and building access change how we schedule and crew it.

Scale elevation

52" × 76"

Glass area

27.4 sq ft

Glass weight

134 lb

67 lb per panel

Set crew

2 installers

Two-cup carriers

Fabrication

1–2 weeks

After template

Code path: clear

Shower glazing is a hazardous location under IRC R308.4.5. This build specs 3/8 inch tempered safety glass with a permanent etch mark, which is exactly what an inspector looks for.

See this enclosure in 3DOrbit the same build, watch the door swing, and check the four failure points.

Your enclosure specification

Enclosure typeSwing door with a fixed panel. Hinged door beside a stationary lite. Classic frameless look.	Swing + panel
Frame styleHeavy glass, clamps and hinges only. The look people want.	Frameless
GlassClear. Tempered to CPSC 16 CFR 1201 Category II, permanently etched.	3/8 in clear
Panels2 lites, widest about 29 1/8"	2
Glass areaIncludes return panels where the layout has them	27.4 sq ft
Glass weight67 lb on the heaviest panel	134 lb
Set crew and gearTwo-person carry. Awkward, not heavy.	2-person set
HardwareHides water spots best	Brushed nickel
OptionsSealed surface. Squeegee once and it stays clear for years.	1 selected
Fabrication windowStarts the day we template, not the day you call	1–2 weeks
Opening	52" × 76"

This is a specification, not a quote. Glass, hardware and labor all move with the actual opening, the wall condition and site access, so we price the job after we template it. Take the spec to any glazier — it is the same information we would collect on site.

Next step

Get this exact enclosure quoted

Send us the build you just drew. We confirm the opening, check the walls for blocking and come back with a firm number.

Glass

3/8 in tempered

Frameless swing door with a fixed panel, 52" x 76", 3/8 inch clear glass

Enclosure: Swing door with a fixed panel
Frame style: Frameless
Opening: 52" wide x 76" tall
Glass: 3/8 inch tempered, Clear
Hardware: Brushed nickel
Options: Protective glass coating
Glass area: 27.4 sq ft
Glass weight: 134 lb total, 67 lb per panel
Set crew: 2 installers, two-cup carriers
Fabrication: 1–2 weeks after template
Location: Fairfax / Loudoun / PW

Text it to us

Opens your messages app, already written

Email it to us

Opens your mail app with the full spec

Call and read it out

(703) 470-7867 · 24/7 Emergency Service

10% Off Any Glass Work Licensed & insured 24/7 Emergency Service

Choosing between framed, semi-frameless and frameless

The three styles are not just tiers, they behave differently. A framed unit runs 1/4 inch glass inside an aluminum perimeter. The frame carries the load, so the glass can be thin and the whole assembly is light and forgiving of an out-of-square opening. The trade is that every frame member has a vinyl seal and a caulk joint, and those are what turn black in year three.

Semi-frameless keeps a frame around the stationary panels but leaves the door edge bare. You get most of the open look and keep the tolerance built into the frame. It is the right answer in a lot of tub conversions where the walls are older and nothing is plumb.

Frameless carries the load through the glass itself, which is why it jumps to 3/8 or 1/2 inch. The hinges bolt into wall blocking, not tile, and if that blocking is not there we have to open the wall or switch to a header. That is the conversation worth having before you buy tile, not after.

The two measurements people get wrong

First, measure the width in three places — top, middle and bottom — and use the smallest. Tile walls bow. Second, measure to the finished tile surface, not the substrate, and do it after the tile is grouted and cured. Templating a shower before tile is the most common cause of a remake, and tempered glass cannot be trimmed after the fact.

Questions people ask

The glass is 3/8 or 1/2 inch instead of 1/4, so a panel weighs three times as much and needs a different crew and different hardware. The hinges are structural rather than cosmetic and they load into wall blocking, not tile. And every piece is templated and tempered to your exact opening, so there is no stock unit to pull off a shelf and no way to trim it on site.

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