My day typically starts with a hot shower and yes, I tend to take long showers. That means I need my shampoo, conditioner, soap and more in the shower but where? Sadly most builders don't bother put a shower shelf in because it's an added cost and prone to problems tiling around the shelf.
Just because my shower doesn't have a built-in shelf, doesn't mean I don't need (want) one. I've tried nice shelves that adhere to the tiles with suction cups but ultimately, they come crashing down. If you have a combination bathtub/shower, you can keep everything on the lip around the tub but in a standalone shower, you're stuck keeping everything on the floor of the shower.
Finding the Perfect Shower Shelf
You probably have an unwritten list of things you'd like to do to update your home or make it more functional. A shower shelf has been on my list since moving into my new home … but the pandemic has limited shopping in person. As the world opens up, I was pleasantly surprised to discover the Schluter shower shelves (example above) at the International Builder Show (IBS) (click to see what else I found) that I attended last week.
There was no shower display showing how nice the shelf looked once installed. There was a simple display of the various products Schluter makes, including some I've used although they're not shown here. What I can't tell you is what made me stop walking? Was it the Schluter name? the visual display of shower shelves?
Buying a Shower Shelf Online
While writing my review on the products discovered at IBS, I got excited enough to try and order my shelf. Like everyone else, I learned to shop online during the pandemic so I headed to google to start my search. It felt like Google's results were biased … towards companies paying for ads?
So I headed to Amazon as I like being able to access my buying history and their return policy. This is where this article began with BAD information on Amazon. Are you curious about what I considered bad information? Let's see if you can spot the problem …
Now let me give you a clue as I had a specific measurement I needed to check before ordering my shelf. The shower in my master bathroom is a walk-in with a glass wall. If possible, I wanted to hide all my shower paraphernalia so it wouldn't be visible through the glass wall. The short wall is just 9 inches wide so I needed a shelf where one side was less than 9 inches.
Once you look at the measurements in this Amazon listing, you might notice that the width and depth are different where the image shows a shelf that's square with one corner removed. So I checked the measurements for the rectangular, Quadrilat Corner shelf. It also wouldn't fit inside my 9 inch corner (14.6″D x 10.5″W x 1.3″H) but that didn't make sense.
Now I was really frustrated. I'd found the perfect shower shelf product but it was too big? It was time to check the measurements on Schluter's website and I was right, these shelves would all fit inside my 9 inch corner … yeah!
Now here's a goofy scenario to follow when you're doing your research:
- Start your research on Google (open up images to look for what you want) or …
- Use Amazon to identify the generic product name you're searching for, along with the manufacturer if that's important to you. I already knew Schluter produced quality products … or especially with Chinese manufacturers, read their spec sheets (not the marketing ones, but those required by the US government to import products).
- Find a product you're interested in and search for it on HomeDepot.com because they do a better job giving you product information (click for Schluter's product brochure) along with installation and maintenance tips. They're clickable links that get you to the manufacturers info quickly.
Helpful Installation Resources
If you install tile for a living, you already know how to install these shower shelves and many others where the shelf gets installed along with the tile. If your a homeowner who wants to tackle this project … and you should, here are some resources to help you get it done right.
- For written directions with photos, read The Journal of Light Construction's How to Install a Schluter Corner Shelf.
- If you prefer a video, watch Schluter's How to install Schluter®-SHELF-E: Installation with Tile.
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