Summary: On today’s bathroom remodel podcast, Joe DeMarco of Perry Brothers Construction tells you about the types of shower door handles you can choose to complement your shower door and enclosure. From double-sided handles to oil-rubbed bronze and brass finishes; everything you need to know about choosing the right shower door handles.
Joe DeMarco: Hi, Joe DeMarco here, General Manager from Perry Brothers Construction, a bathroom remodeler servicing North Shore Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire.
On today’s podcast, I’ll be explaining some different types of shower door handles you could choose when designing a shower enclosure, helping you make the best choice for your project.
What’s The Difference Between Single And Double Sided Shower Door Handles?
The first thing I’d like to talk about though would be the difference between a single-sided and double-sided shower door handle. Now, a double-sided shower door handle, you’re going to have a handle on the outside of the shower enclosure, and you’re going to have the handle on the inside of the shower enclosure. But a single-sided shower door handle, of course, you’re only going to have on one side of the shower enclosure.
Personally, I would recommend a double-sided shower door handle because you want to be having easy access, whether you’re getting into the shower or you’re getting out of it, especially if you need a handicap accessible bathroom because you don’t want to be sliding your hand across the glass without anything to grab onto or you could potentially slip and fall.
Knob Handle
So with that out of the way, the first type of shower door handle that I’d like to talk about would be shower door handle knobs. And now a knob is, it’s very simple, it’s elegant, it doesn’t take your eye away from the actual shower door. So if you have a beautiful glass shower door that you want to be the focal point of your shower enclosure, knobs are perfect for that.
You just get maybe like a stainless steel, little small knob. You get two of them on the outside of the shower door, two of them on the inside, so maybe you have a double-sided shower door, so you just have a knob for each side of the glass.
Pull Handle
The next type of shower door handle I’d like to talk about would be a pull handle. So a pull handle, it could be pretty large, it could almost actually act as a handicap accessible grab bar in its own right. And these big handles, they’re easy to grab onto, they won’t require you to use a lot of force to open and close the shower door.
And again, I think they bring an extra measure of safety when you’re designing a handicap accessible bathroom or just the bathroom that’s universally designed for everyone to use.
Towel Rack Handle
The next type of shower door handle I’d like to talk about, and this is a personal favorite of mine, would be installing a towel bar handle. Now a towel bar handle is pretty cool because you can use it as a handle to open your shower door, but you can also hang your towel outside the shower.
So I would maybe recommend, obviously, not to install a tower bar handle on the inside of your shower because, of course, your towel will get wet. But you could put a towel bar handle on the outside of your shower door to get into the shower enclosure. And then on the inside you could do a simple knob or a handle or something different.
C Or D Shaped Handle
The next type of shower door handles I’d like to talk about would be having either a D or a C shaped shower door handle. So now these of course, the C shape shower door handle will be in the shape of the letter C. A D shaped shower door handle will be in the shape of the letter D. Now these, they’re easy to grab onto, you can hook your hand in between the empty space, between the C and the D.
You could grab around them and they look really cool too. I think they add kind of a snazzy design shower enclosures. Really, yeah, just a little more unique than just getting a simple knob or handle because these shower door handles, if they’re a D or a C shaped, are going to look much different than the typical handle on a cabinet or the doorknob on one of the doors to your bathroom or within your home.
Square Handle
The next type of shower door handle I’d like to talk about would be getting a square handle. A square handle, it’s a little more angular and contemporary looking, just like the C and D shaped handles. And again, they can just add a more modern touch to the overall appearance of your shower enclosure.
Ring Handle
The next type of shower door handles I’d like to talk about would be ring handle shower doors. Now ring handles are circular. You could think of them like the ring through a bull’s nose or maybe when you look on someone’s front door, you see one of those lion knockers with the ring through it and you hit that to knock on the door.
It’s the same idea. They have, again, a more angular, kind of unique stylish look to them. You could either have a full circle ring handle, a half circle ring handle, you could use these ring handles to hang your face cloths and towels or any other bathroom accessories. Really cool looking, very unique.
Recessed Handle
The next type of shower door handle I’d like to talk about would be using a recessed handle. Recess handles are actually installed into a groove or a cavity in the shower door. You typically would use a recessed shower door handle in the cavity of a glass shower door because it’s going to make it look more flush and just seem more seamless, like it’s one piece, shower door handle and shower door as one.
Very great option for sliding doors, especially because you don’t want the shower door handles to interrupt the sliding motion as the door slides, of course.
Custom Designer Shower Door Handles
The next type of shower door handle isn’t really a type, but I just wanted to let you know there are of course high-end luxury custom designer shower door handles available on the market. You can get these from all sorts of specialty shops.
Basically if you want to get a little more creative and artsy and decorative with your bathroom design, going for custom designer handles is a great option, especially for shower door enclosures because I’d say a shower in most master bathrooms, it’s going to be the focal point, it’s the reason why you’re excited about redesigning your bathroom. And when you have the perfect shower that just feels like a spa and an oasis of its own, like you’re going down to the hot springs under a volcano. I mean, it’s fantasy meeting reality. It’s something you can’t beat.
What Are Some Different Shower Door Handle Materials?
There are some different materials you could get for shower door handles. Typically, stainless steel is the most popular. For more high-end materials, you might get an oil rubbed bronze or a brass. One thing about shower door handles is especially, so if you get oil rubbed bronze or brass handles, you really only want to clean that with a cloth and warm water.
No dish soap, no abrasive cleaning products, none of that. And also for most shower doors and shower door handles, avoid abrasive scrubbers and any harsh cleansers. I would use just simple dish soap and warm water and a face cloth.
Yeah, never use a Brillo pad or anything like that or you’re going to damage the finish, you might scratch the glass on your shower door. It’s a very bad idea.
So anyways, thanks for listening. It’s always a pleasure to help North Shore Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire better understand the bathroom remodeling process for almost fifty years.
If you have any questions about designing and building a shower enclosure and would like to speak with a general contractor, feel free to reach out to Perry Brothers Construction at 781-233-7511 and we’d be delighted to assist you. Have a great rest of your day, everyone.
