Glass Block Shower Sizes For Design and Installation Success

Understanding how to develop the right size shower base and shower walls with glass blocks does not need to be some mysterious process. If you'll follow the steps in this article you'll have an easy to clean, structurally sound, and unique shower you can enjoy in your home or commercial property for years to come.

Step 1) What type of glass block shower do you want?

There are basically two types of showers you can use - a shower without a door, and a shower with a door. Here's an overview of where to use both:

A) Showers without a door (walk in and roll in showers) - Door-less showers have become hot in bathroom design over the last 5 years. The two most popular types of these showers are walk in and roll in showers. The biggest advantage of walk in showers is you can eliminate the cost of the shower door and having to bend over to clean around the door's framing system. The roll in shower also does not have a door, but also eliminates the curb around the base that someone has to step over to get into the shower. This makes the shower much more accessible to those with special needs. The roll in shower base is gradually sloped in towards the drain. The biggest disadvantages of the doorless showers is their bases (or platforms) need to be sized larger.

B) Showers with a door (neo angle or corner showers) - Most showers have doors to prevent water from splashing out. A popular type of shower enclosure is a neo angle variety that is placed in the corner of a bathroom to conserve space. The advantage of a shower enclosure system with a door is that it can fit into tighter spaces (these showers can be as small as 32" or 36").

Step 2) What type of glass block shower base do you want? How do you size this base and design it out at your project site?

There are two generic types of shower bases available for block - (1) the preformed base and (2) the custom concrete base.

The preformed base is created and sized before it is brought to the job site and can be made out of acrylic, cultured marble, or other solid surface materials. It is generally thought to cost less than a custom base, which is often true, but not always. The biggest advantage of these types of systems is they are built as one solid unit to minimize the concern about water leakage through the base. The biggest disadvantage is their size cannot be adjusted at the job site. Pittsburgh Corning makes an acrylic right or left hand entry walk in glass block shower base measuring 72" x 51", a Neo Angle shower measuring 51" x 51", a Square corner shower measuring 48" x 48" and even an acrylic shower base 60" x 32" that can be used to convert a small existing tub space into a new contemporary shower!

The custom concrete or mud set pan base is sized at the new home, remodeling, or commercial building site. Since glass block cannot be cut like tile, you'll need to use layout cards that correspond to the size of the block units to make sure the custom base you'll make will match up with the specific block sizes for your design. Most of the layout cards are approximately 4" wide (3 7/8" is the exact size) to accommodate for the most common thickness of block used for showers. The other base thickness is 3 1/8" wide, although design options with this thickness series are more limited.

Step 3) Choosing the right sizes, shapes, and colors to make your glass block shower cool and unique.

There are a wide selection of block sizes, patterns, shapes, colors and even artistically designed murals available for your shower. Here's a brief overview of your options:

o Sizes and thicknesses of glass blocks for showers - Glass masonry units are made is both metric and American sizes. Most of the blocks available in the United States are American sized. The American sized blocks are available in 4" x 8", 6" x 6", 6" x 8", 8" x 8", and 12" x 12". Specialty shapes can help you turn corners, make 45 degree neo angle showers, create rounded or radius walls if you're looking to make a walk in or roll in shower, or finish off the end of the shower wall with a smooth bullnose look. The blocks have nominal sizes meaning the actual size of the block units is " smaller allowing for a mortar joint to adhere the block to one another (an 8" x 8" block actually measures 7 " x 7 "). The blocks for showers are 3" and 4" thick. Thinner block (3 1/8") are more cost effective, but shower design options are much more limited in this thickness of block.

o Patterns, designs and colored glass blocks - Blocks come in a multitude of patterns providing different levels of privacy, style, and design options. The block are now available in standard and custom colors, tints, and artistically decorated murals to match any interior design style. Check out a comprehensive block web site to see the possibilities.

Step 4) How tall should you make your glass block shower? What do you need to do to make it structurally sound? Most block showers are built on a curb (with the exception of the roll in shower) which is 4" to 5" in height. Since many shower heads are placed 84" above the finished floor consider building your glass block wall 80" tall (this will make the size of your glass block wall + the size of your base equal to the height of your shower head). To make the glass shower walls structurally sound they should be tied into side walls with anchors every third coursing of block (usually this is every 24").

Step 5) Don't worry about any of the first 4 steps and call a glass block shower supplier and installation professional - If you really don't want to figure out what size, shape, and shower base is best call a block specialty company who offers design, supply and installation services. This type of company will usually come to your home or business (without a charge), measure your shower space, figure out the possible types of bases and showers for you, and install it with a guarantee.

Mike Foti is President of Columbus Glass Block, Cleveland Glass Block and Mid America Glass Block of Cincinnati, Dayton, and Akron and Vice President Eastern Glass Block of New Jersey and New York. These companies are nationwide suppliers, glass block shower designers, and installation contractors of glass block windows, showers, walls, and specialty colored glass blocks. Mike can be reached at the following:

Tel. 614-252-5888 Nationwide 877-668-5888

mfotigb@aol.com

http://www.columbusglassblock.com/products-showers.aspx - glass block shower bases & systems

http://www.columbusglassblock.com/learning-center.aspx#LC5 - installing glass block shower walls

Home Tips - Stair Lighting Problems

Walking up and down the stairs in the dark could become a safety issue. If the stairs in the house are not that old, there should be a light switch at the top and a light switch at the bottom of the stairway. This is a three way switch and is designed to allow you to turn the stair lighting on as you walk up the stairs and then turn the stair lighting off, once you've safely reached the top of the stairway. And vice versa as she walked down the stairs.

If you don't have a light switch, there are motion sensor lights that are battery operated and can be installed easily in the stairway. These lights can provide you with peace of mind, while protecting your family from accidents.

Stairway accidents are nothing to joke about, I lived in a two-story house with four other people and was the last one to fall down the stairway. None of us got seriously injured and the stairway was built to meet local building codes and was inspected by a building and safety inspector. The stairs were built correctly and the stair lighting was no problem, but people still fell down the stairway and it always happens in the evening.

During the day time there were two windows that let plenty of light into the stairway and in the evening the stairway became quite dark, rarely was the stair lightning ever turned on. This could have been outright laziness but nevertheless, it was rarely used and eventually became a safety issue.

Lighting your stairway might not end all of your problems but it can and some of your problems. There are plenty of stair lighting systems available on the market today and some of the battery operated stair lighting systems can be installed by most homeowners.

Think safety always and do your best to solve your stair lighting problems as soon as possible to prevent injuries or accidents.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He has just finished a Home Buyers Guide to take some of the frustration out of home shopping.

If your looking for some more building stairs or home building ideas.

Floor Repairs

Fences Keep Us in Line

Fences are any freestanding structure used to mark boundaries between houses and those identified as private or public properties. The materials used here are light compared to walls which are built with concrete supplies that block vision and passage of whatever is on the other side. Gates, on the other hand, are the entry points of any enclosure whether a fence or a wall. These control whoever or whatever enters or exits the property. You can actually make your own fences and gates whether indoors or outdoors by following DIY (do-it-yourself) instructions.

Fences have different uses for different properties and structures. These include:

• decorative fencing - used for homes' gardens and landscaping
• privacy fencing - used for marking boundaries of private properties thus for privacy
• agricultural fencing - used for livestock and horses to keep them locked in and safe from predators
• temporary fencing - used to mark areas for construction and building sites which provide safety and security
• perimeter fencing - used to keep children and pets from wandering away and keep the property safe from trespassers
• boundary fencing - used for marking a piece of real property

There are also different types of materials used for making fences. Examples include aluminum, chain link, chicken wire, palisade, hedgerows, picket, slate, round pole, stake & wire, turf mounds, vinyl, wood-panel, woven wire, and wrought iron, among many others. Others may choose to use hedges, ditches or moats instead of fences to mark boundaries. Properties or areas that often use fences are military areas, railway lines, airfields, zoos, parks, pastures, public swimming pools, and industrial plants to name a few.

Gates used as openings for fences are often made from the same materials and can be locked or latched depending on their use. These often mark where you can enter or exit an area and are usually decorative. There are different kinds of gates from the smallest to the largest which are used for whole buildings such as a castle and modern gates are designed to be remote controlled or automated. Automatic doors are often installed for properties where the main door is too far from the gate.

If you plan to build a fence for your property and you want to do it on your own, there are some simple things you need to do and instructions to follow:

• first is to determine where your property line is, neighbors tend to have disputes about demarcations on their properties
• if you are not sure about where your property line is, check your local zoning and building codes
• call people who are in charge of your home's utilities such as water, gas, cable & telephone and ask them to mark where their lines run on your property to avoid accidents once you start building your fence
• mark the area where you will build your fence by placing stakes on the ground where the poles should go and run string from each point to see if there are anything that will obstruct the materials you are going to use for the fence
• choose the materials you will be using for the fence
• make sure that poles are 8 feet apart which is the standard length of lumber, if this is the kind of material you are going to use
• install corner posts by digging holes that are at least 2 feet deep and with the bottom laid with 2-3 inches of gravel
• place posts, level them and set them by pouring in concrete mix then wait for it to set overnight
• install fence rails, this part can be different for each material used for the railings

Ashley Conner is a writer for Zipcodez.com, a widely-used local business listings search portal. Zipcodez.com also features an efficient job, movie, and restaurant search covering over 100 major cities nationwide. Ashley has covered useful topics and resources from "Arts & Entertainment" to "Wireless & Telecommunications" for Zipcodez.com. You can easily find out what convenient and useful resources are in your neighborhood by visiting http://www.zipcodez.com.

Problems With Black Mold

Removing Interior Walls

Here's a word of advice for any contractor, Carpenter, handyman or homeowner that is planning to remove an interior wall from your home or someone else's. Beware of removing interior walls, to eliminate your fears of the house collapsing. Some of the interior walls inside of the house are important structural components of the building.

Some of these walls hold up floors, roofs and other loadbearing sections that could create safety problems within the structure of the house itself. This is an area where an expert with framing skills should be consulted. What is the definition of someone with excellent framing skills? Some one with at least 10 years as a master framing carpenter.

My home building experience consists of three decades for over 30 years of assembling some of the most difficult sections of a home. During these years I have seen damage done to houses from removing structural interior walls. Most of this damage could be repaired with a little structural engineering. Some of the damage could not be repaired and caused other damage to different sections of the house. The damage caused in some cases to the floor and the roof framing had to be completely rebuilt.

I'm not telling you about every single thing I have ran into but you would be surprised if I started to make a list of all the homeowners and professionals in the building industry or home selling and buying business that contacted me to remove a structural component of a building. There have even been a few of these people that told me everything was going to be okay just go ahead and remove the structural building component.

Needless to say I would leave these people very irritated but I'm sure they found someone to do the job. The bad news is I was normally the person they would hire to go back and repair the damaged building after these people were gone and out of business. There have been cases where people have removed an interior walls against my better judgment and over the years of driving by in these homes I personally got to witness the structural damage that was occurring on the outside of the house.

I have no idea what the inside of the house looked like but could only imagine. My advice again when removing interior walls is to hire an experienced contractor or at least get some advice from an experienced framing carpenter. This does not include your basic know it all that has basic construction experience like your father in law, parents, friends, golfing associates or people you work with that tell you not to worry about it, just do it, everything will work out just fine.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more Building and Remodeling Library and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Visit us and get more information on building and remodeling your homes and What Does A Shear Wall Do

Power Of Intension

Fix Holes in Your Wall From Door Knobs - Home Repair

Fixing holes in your wall can be a challenge if you have no idea how to repair the wall or even how it is built.

Have you ever slammed a door shut because you were a little mad a something of someone. Well now have you ever slammed a door open a little to hard and then hearing a sound like something just stuck to the wall.

Well now that would be the sound of your door knob going through the drywall or plaster. Oh crap now what do I do. And don't try to blame this one on the kids either. Right about now you are wondering how in the heck am I going to repair this and not let it happen again.

You should have a nice round hole in the door. Try to remove the piece of drywall without it falling into the wall. After you get this piece of drywall out set it to the side for possible reinstallation. Now get a measuring tape to see if the wall is framed with 2 x 4 or 2 x 6.

If the wall is framed with 2 x 4 it will measure three and one half inches in between the drywall or plaster. If it is a 2 x 6 framed wall it will measure five and one half inches in between the drywall or plaster.

We will use the 2 x 4 wall for our example on fixing the hole from the door knob. Cut a piece of 2 x 4 about 5 inches long and taper both ends of the 2 x 4 so you will be able to slide the piece of wood into the damage hole.

When you slip the wood into the hole set it on edge and screw the sides into the drywall. This will hold the2 x 4 in place. Next reinstall the piece of drywall you removed and screw it into the drywall. Now for the secret to finishing the wall.

Go down to your local home improvement store and purchase a round rubber door stop that glues onto the wall. These rubber and sometimes plastic door stops will be about 6 inches in diameter and work great for these holes.

You could also buy a few more of them to protect the walls from big bad door openers.
Keep Your Temper In Check and You Won't Have To Keep Writing Them

Greg Vanden Berge has been in the home building and remodeling business in California for over 30 years. With this knowledge he has created a few websites that provide useful information for home owners as well as contractors. His main goal is to educate professionals in the home related businesses, dealing with problems that can easily be avoided with just a little bit of information.

His website provides all kinds of answers to remodeling and new house building in North San Diego Valley Center Remodeling

Visit us now for Drywall Ideas

Books on Home Building - Professional Advice

If you're a do it yourself or or a homeowner who every once in a while, once to tackle a small or large project but doesn't know where to begin, can gather useful information from home building books. I have been using these books for years and may have been worth their weight in gold.

I started my career working for my father and my father worked for his father as a Carpenter. Our job was to frame the house and we built a Lotta homes. I learned how to frame and developed some great carpentry skills from my father and working with other skilled carpenters. Over the years, if you're paying attention, even a monkey can figure out, how to assemble almost anything.

The only problem that I faced, was learning how to build the rest of the home. I would often ask questions to other building trades like plumbers, electricians, roofers and construction superintendents. Some of these people were helpful and others were not. When I was in my early 30s, I purchased my first book on home building. This book lead to other books and soon I found myself with more home building knowledge that my father.

I had about 50 books on home building and soon found myself doing large home remodels, with no formal education. I would attribute almost everything that I learned outside of house framing to books. These books have proven invaluable to me over the years and with a relatively small investment. I couldn't have spent over $200 purchasing these books but have used the knowledge from them to save myself thousands of dollars.

One $20 home building books or home repairs, can save you lots of money, if you're willing to do a little research and the labor to complete almost any home building project.

By the way, if you're interested in learning how to repair a roof, build your own house, interior decorating, structural engineering, building a deck, gathering some more information about home painting or even remodeling your bathroom. An online home building bookstore can save you money if you're willing to do the work.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He has just finished a Home Buyers Guide to take some of the frustration out of home shopping.

If your looking for some more home inspection or home building ideas.

Buying New Construction - 5 Tips What to Do When Buying Foreclosure New Construction Homes

Banks are overloaded with foreclosure and soon to be foreclosed properties yet they still try to hit a home run with every deal. New construction properties are a different animal the banks want to dump them ASAP. Homes are usually incomplete, costs hundreds or thousands to close up and make secure. They are in a fast state of deterioration only a special investor buyer knowledgeable in construction is willing to look much less buy.You can be one of those buyers here are some tips to help make the process go in the right direction for you. If you are not an experienced builder or general contractor hire one to do a preliminary inspection you also should talk with a structural engineer if the home is still in the framing stage or not drywalled.

Architectural plans for an unfinished house are a must. Contact the original builder its worth a try. The local city or county building department should have a set on file whether they will let you copy them is another story. In a community with architectural review check with the HOA architectural review committee they may hold a set of plans. Subcontractors if they can be located may also have a full set.

City or County building departments. Check with the local building department and health departments determine what permits have been issued on this property and what is the status. Will they reissue the permit in your name or that of your contractor, can you continue to complete the home? Who are the permit holders for electrical, plumbing, HVAC, well and septic system these contractors may not have been paid for work completed.

Property open missing doors & windows. Banks are not real interested in spending money so the property may sit for a long period of time open to the weather. You must as soon as you take ownership close-in the home complete the roof, cover all openings windows and doors. You will be protecting your investment from the elements and from vandals.

Subdivision issues. Are the roads, curbs & sidewalks complete? Has the section you are buying in received final city/county approval? Are the common areas completed the pool, playground, tennis courts, boat slips,club house all amenities promised by the developer? If not does the city/county hold a completion bond on all this type work?

Homeowners Association issues. Your subdivision HOA can have as much control over what you can and cannot do regarding your property as the city/county building departments. Are there any outstanding complaints against the builder? Are the plans fully approved by the Architectural review committee? Is the new home being built according to the approved plans? The HOA can stop you in your tracks it's best to check with them early in the process.

You can find some great deals in new construction homes the best places to look are in the more upscale luxury home markets. Also look at a more resort type setting as in lake front, golf course and beach locations. We work in these type markets along with our off campus housing markets. Stay away from subdivisions where the builder was also the developer it will have issues you can not resolve.

And now I would like to invite you to claim your FREE access to 2 recent articles "9 Tips For You to Make Real Money in College Rental Properties " and "9 Steps to Save Big Dollars For Your Student With In-State Tuition" at https://www.collegetowneproperties.com/Free_Helpful_Articles.html

Bill "The College Rental Investment Guy" is a leading expert on College Rental Investment Properties and Off-Campus Housing.