Monday, July 23, 2007

Glass blocks be gone

Somehow someone sold us on putting glass block in our master shower when we were planning our house (it may have come from our inspiration image coming from John Travolta's bathroom but I can't be sure). Glass block? Isn't that a bit early 80s? I remember an application of this in the living room of a high school friend. Even as an 18-year old, I just wasn't too keen on the look. But it seems to be popular in the Caribbean so I went with the suggestion. There are plenty of examples of really nice applications of it...when used correctly.

Friends visiting our construction zone often comment on how nice it will be to shower with a view. Somehow the glint of excitement rapidly leaves their eyes as we tell them that our plans call for glass block. "Ohhhh, (with the voice raising as they consider what to say next), that will look nice too."

Ironically, our builder has had a real challenge trying to find the right size glass block to make the curve for the shower. After researching for three months, the only solution has been to mix the sizes in order to make the curve. This would mean that we would have a pattern/mixture of 4 inch, 6 inch, and 8 inch block. Huh? Needless to say, it's hard to visualize what this will end up looking like. Both Mr. Big and I fear that it might look pretty random. Add that to my high school flashbacks and you've got a pretty hesitant couple to say the least.

Last week I decided on a whim to ask our window guys if they could make anything that would fit the space. Low and behold, they have done similar applications before and can even use our left over wood grain finish and match the rest of our windows. The rough estimate is pretty much spot on the original cost of the glass block. Perfect! An upgrade at minimal extra cost (imagine that!)

Titco.net

Now we get our view (with a little privacy panel of course) and the high school flashbacks will remain just distant memories. A 30-second inquiry never felt so satisfying!

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