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$300 to $500 for a 5-foot-wide enclosure
Difficulty: Easy to moderate
The most critical step is aligning the door with the frame to ensure a watertight seal, so take your time.
"Done right, nothing beats a shower enclosed in glass," says Rich Rosenfield with pride, as he wipes the glass-and-metal door to a spotless shine. Rosenfield has just spent an hour and a half installing this enclosure, one of about 40 he puts in every week for Banner Glass Shelmar of Waltham, Massachusetts.
Tempered-glass shower enclosures are permanent and easy to clean, and have a sleek transparency that makes a bathroom appear bigger. And when properly installed, they keep water where it belongs.
These enclosures come in two types: framed and frameless. The frameless systems, while elegant, require thicker glass, expensive hardware, and flawless fabrication. Framed units weigh and cost less, and can take more abuse.
He also says that frameless enclosures are much more challenging to install, whereas hanging a framed door and side panel is a project most homeowners can complete in an afternoon.
