# Shower Doors: Glass vas Acrylic **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 16, 2013, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shower-doors-glass-vas-acrylic/671390 "2013-10-16T12:38:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shower-doors-glass-vas-acrylic/671390/1 "2013-10-16T12:38:18Z")
Glass shower doors look nice-but they are heavy and expensive. Also, the installation is time n consuming. Can you use 9instead) 1/2 acrylic with scratch proof coatings? I can’t see why this would not work. Has it been done? ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shower-doors-glass-vas-acrylic/671390/2 "2013-10-16T13:05:47Z")
Is there really a coating that makes acrylic as difficult to scratch as glass? If so, I’ve never seen it in use. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shower-doors-glass-vas-acrylic/671390/3 "2013-10-16T13:57:06Z")
There are acrylic shower doors with textured surfaces that don’t show scratches readily. I doubt transparent would hold up in appearance over time. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shower-doors-glass-vas-acrylic/671390/4 "2013-10-16T13:58:50Z")
How would acrylic shower doors be quicker to install? And who cares if a glass shower door is heavy? It’s not like you have to lift it every time you enter or exit the shower. (Plus a glass shower door isn’t _that_ expensive.) If you want cheap, get a shower curtain rod. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shower-doors-glass-vas-acrylic/671390/5 "2013-10-17T23:42:41Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > If you want cheap, get a shower curtain rod. There’s cheap, and then there’s shower curtain rod cheap. Sometimes the cheap door is better than the really cheap curtain. ---
**Author:** ![Glazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e57/32.png) [@Glazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glazer)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shower-doors-glass-vas-acrylic/671390/6 "2013-10-17T23:58:26Z")
Glass is cheaper than acrylic. Easier to clean. Much easier to remove hard water spots from. Wont turn brittle and crack over time. If you fall against acrylic it will bend under your weight perhaps far enough to come down. Silicone caulk does not adhere very well and it will leak. Mold grows on it better and wont come off. I have installed hundreds of showers and only one from plastic. Even then I used Lexan rather than acrylic. And the only reason I used it then was it was for a Psycho ward at the VA. In ten years I’ve had to replace it twice for scratches and warping. Glass is the cheapest part of a shower installation. Labor, hardware, milling and drilling are where the cost are. The milling and drilling will cost more for plastic because they would have to be done by hand. The plastic will ruin the machines. ---
**Author:** ![Glazer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a88e57/32.png) [@Glazer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glazer)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shower-doors-glass-vas-acrylic/671390/7 "2013-10-18T00:01:30Z")
If you want cheep go with a framed shower from Home Depot. Expect it to last about five years. Or call a glass company and spend $1500 and have it last a lifetime.