Installing Showers in Older Homes

August 20, 2010

Working in and around Santa Cruz County is a lot of fun. There are many great older homes with really interesting architecture. I get a lot of opportunities to work in homes that have been around for a long time. Older homes present a number of challenges. Floors and walls are rarely plumb, level, or square. Installing a glass door that will operate properly in an out-of-square condition requires and advanced degree of expertise. A big part of what we do is to solve the issues presented by out-of-square openings. My job is to make the bathroom look great, and to draw attention away from the imperfections that may exist.

Another challenge to working in these old fashioned bathrooms is the fact that the tile is old, and can be very brittle. It is also nearly impossible to match, should tiles get broken during the shower door installation. In the shower stall shown here, the original fixtures are brass, and have faded over time. We used a hardware finish called “Antique Brass” to make the new shower enclosure blend in with its surroundings.