Anyone got/built a glass block wall

[m3jappa]

I,m just getting prepped to do my ensuite and i have a vision of doing the wall which seperates my bedroom and ensuite in glass blocks. I have had a look on a few sites and while they have guides i seem unable to find a couple of bits of info out (i,ll phone them on Monday but thought i'd try PH for now).

I want the wall to act as a shower screen between the two rooms, this wall has 900mm within the shower and approx 550mm out of the shower, at this point the wall returns for approx 650mm and would need to have a door frame mounted to the end with ideally an architrave round it (well definately would actually).

I can't see how to return the wall unless i use corner blocks- the style i want doesnt appear to have corners, how do i get round that. And how does the wall end? literally a 3x3 or 4x4 or whatever and then wrapped in architrave?

I also dont see how to finish neatly at the top and bottom as the proposed fixing methods use a frame of sorts which would need to be dressed/hidden.

I think if i can do it then it would be awesome, making the bedroom and ensuite feel like one room letting lots of light into both yet still retaining privacy.

[Skyedriver]

Not totally sure what you mean to be honest.
You can get corner blocks but you need a frame of some sort.
I have just done a panel in a wall between the hallway and the lounge.
Comments range from "that looks great" to "it looks like a public toilet"
If you are doing a "wet room" then waterproof adhesive and grout required.
You WILL need the reinforcing rods to make it structural.
You must use the spacers but trying to get the last blocks in to the frame is difficult, as the spacer needs cutting or something to get the blocks into the top part of the frame.
THey do take time to ge right

[Steamer]

Have you looked at the acrylic, pre assembled in a frame, options?

I'm just wracking my brains to remember the company we used - it was about 6 years ago, and its been great!

Much cheaper, much lighter, much much quicker and really neat.

Also - nobody questions that its not glass.

Only one thing to keep in mind, just be careful nobody cleans it with something abrasive.

Mine is part of a shower wall, even though its exposed to shower water and soap everyday it still looks amasing when the light shines through it.

The company I used was based in Ireland (still can't remember the name!) the made it to fit, shipped it, and it was fitted in half a day and tiled in. Lots of options for colour, texture and size combinations.

[herbialfa]

For the bottom why not box it out in timber to a suitable height?

It would need to be a certain height anyway to be above the shower tray in the En Suite.

Calculate how many blocks you will need height wise allowing for joints then that should determine the boxing out height, if you catch my drift...........

Then skirting along the bottom.

At the top use coving to hide the gubbings! I hate coving and had proper fibrous plaster cornice and the finish is fine.

I used glass blocks for my shower and the screen is fixed to the blocks and has done the job fine.

If you can't get corner blocks, maybe a say 4" wide strip of UPVC or something to mask the end???

Its all about the detail!

[Simpo Two]

m3jappa said:

I can't see how to return the wall unless i use corner blocks- the style i want doesnt appear to have corners, how do i get round that.

How about building a column of bricks each lying on their side on top of each other? Then from that you can go off at right angles.

(Easy to do, harder to explain)

[m3jappa]

Thanks for the comments, i think i have found a nice answer.

The return is easy as the blocks i want do have corners.
The end with the door its ok, it can be a piece of timber shrouded in the architrave.

I will build the glass blocks approx 400mm from the floor and leave maybe 200mm at the top, these sections on the en suite side will be tiled and on the bedroom side can be plastered, really i suppose i,m getting more of a window than a wall but i think it will look cool. I may build a seat for the shower at the same level as the top of the plinth iykwim.

I think for now i just need to rip it all out and then build the frame as i am governed to certain sizes and then go from there.

[dustybottoms]

herbialfa said:

For the bottom why not box it out in timber to a suitable height?

It would need to be a certain height anyway to be above the shower tray in the En Suite.

Calculate how many blocks you will need height wise allowing for joints then that should determine the boxing out height, if you catch my drift...........

Then skirting along the bottom.

At the top use coving to hide the gubbings! I hate coving and had proper fibrous plaster cornice and the finish is fine.

I used glass blocks for my shower and the screen is fixed to the blocks and has done the job fine.

If you can't get corner blocks, maybe a say 4" wide strip of UPVC or something to mask the end???

Its all about the detail!

^^^^^^This, I built a glass block wall shower in to the corner of the bathroom and boxed it in and stained the wood edging to match the flooring and skirting boards, looks great. I didn't have to come up with a solution at the top as I just built it floor to ceiling with extended stained skirting board at the base of the glass blocks and the entrance doorway to match the continuation of skirting at floor level.
I then put inside a raised shower base and used an extra wide UPVC window ledge section to make a higher raised edge at the entrance of the shower tray part (raised higher inside than the skirting board at the entrance and sealed in) so that an extra long shower curtain covered the drop from ceiling to shower tray in the door way and hung inside the additional UPVC ledge that I put in place.

Really hard to explain, but looks a good job.