shower doors Alcove Paneled Shower Door Construction

[CUChris81]

Hello all.  Seeking feedback on the best way to create a 3 panel shower door (two fixed with door in center) in an alcove with a ceiling above.  See picture for reference.  

 

Ideally this could be done with the doors function, but I can't create a 3 panel glass door like this.

 

So I created it using a half wall with a glass railing and a door inserted into it.  But then this kills the wall above it, requiring a silly soffit, which is fine, but I'm annoyed that I can't render it without the line between the wall and the soffit (can I fix this somehow??)  Also, joining this wall to the two walls on either side merges it and I lose the ability to dimension everything correctly.  

 

If any Chief programmers are reading...  It would be great if I could either:

 

- Insert this half wall/glass rail structure into a doorway (allowing me control over the jamb which is 2cm quartz and had to be inserted using a 3d block) and preserving the wall above the shower door. 

- Give more functionality to doors, allowing side panels (like the casement window function).

- Allow the half walls dialogue to create more vertical layers so that I can have an opening above the railing and then another wall above.

 

Or is there another method that I'm just entirely missing??

 

Building this was a trial and error time suck!

 

Thanks,

 

Christopher

Christopher.Topp@gmail.com

X17 on an M4 MBA

[ericepv]

SHave you tried drawing the wall as a railing and then inserting the door?

[CUChris81]

3 hours ago, ericepv said:

SHave you tried drawing the wall as a railing and then inserting the door?

yes. as mentioned, that is how it is currently drawn.

[ericepv]

I made this from a glass wall, split into 3 panels. For the center panel, I used a glass shower door placed into an invisible wall...  

 

 

 

[JiAngelo]

You beat me to it Eric.

Additionally you can use a pony normal wall at 6" for the sill (turn off baseboard) and add thresholds to the panels to create a sill cap.  Don't check railing and glass will appear above.

Units can be mulled.

[GeneDavis]

I'd just draw it using the OOB X17 glass pony wall, set lower wall height at 5", place a 26" wide door in center, in wall elevation edit the door to be a 3/8 glass slab, no casing no frame, bottom of door 5 1/4" up, top of door 74", drag down wall top to be a tiny bit above door top, and 3D solid continuous (and necessary) top rail.  See rails at the CR Lawrence site.  Then place the glass clips, and spec the door pull.

 

What's the problem

[CUChris81]

thanks everyone.  again, this approach is the one that I used.  Is there any way to blend the lines of the 3D solid/soffit above the glass door into the walls beside it?  that's what I'm bothered by.

[ericepv]

3 hours ago, CUChris81 said:

thanks everyone.  again, this approach is the one that I used.  Is there any way to blend the lines of the 3D solid/soffit above the glass door into the walls beside it?  that's what I'm bothered by.

If all you want to do is get a seamless joint between the wall and soffit, you should be able to accomplish that in PBR or Clay mode. Just make sure the outer surfaces are aligned. 

[PatelHomes]

On 9/3/2025 at 9:36 PM, CUChris81 said:

Hello all.  Seeking feedback on the best way to create a 3 panel shower door (two fixed with door in center) in an alcove with a ceiling above.  See picture for reference.  

 

Ideally this could be done with the doors function, but I can't create a 3 panel glass door like this.

 

So I created it using a half wall with a glass railing and a door inserted into it.  But then this kills the wall above it, requiring a silly soffit, which is fine, but I'm annoyed that I can't render it without the line between the wall and the soffit (can I fix this somehow??)  Also, joining this wall to the two walls on either side merges it and I lose the ability to dimension everything correctly.  

 

If any Chief programmers are reading...  It would be great if I could either:

 

- Insert this half wall/glass rail structure into a doorway (allowing me control over the jamb which is 2cm quartz and had to be inserted using a 3d block) and preserving the wall above the shower door. 

- Give more functionality to doors, allowing side panels (like the casement window function).

- Allow the half walls dialogue to create more vertical layers so that I can have an opening above the railing and then another wall above.

 

Or is there another method that I'm just entirely missing??

 

Building this was a trial and error time suck!

 

Thanks,

 

Christopher

Christopher.Topp@gmail.com

X17 on an M4 MBA                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Good workaround Christopher a custom door symbol or stacked wall might solve the soffit and dimension issue Hopefully Chief adds more door flexibility since details like this are as critical as accurate Freight planning
                                                                                                                                                                              

That’s a nice setup idea Christopher I see why it’s been tricky to model cleanly Your workaround with the half wall and glass railing makes sense but the soffit line issue is frustrating Some users solve this by using custom door symbols or by stacking wall types so the upper wall remains intact Maybe try creating a custom 3 panel glass door symbol and inserting it directly so you don’t lose dimensions or have to fight the joins

Edited September 26 by PatelHomes

[ellisonbrooks]

On 9/3/2025 at 9:36 PM, CUChris81 said:

Hello all.  Seeking feedback on the best way to create a 3 panel shower door (two fixed with door in center) in an alcove with a ceiling above.  See picture for reference.  

 

Ideally this could be done with the doors function, but I can't create a 3 panel glass door like this.

 

So I created it using a half wall with a glass railing and a door inserted into it.  But then this kills the wall above it, requiring a silly soffit, which is fine, but I'm annoyed that I can't render it without the line between the wall and the soffit (can I fix this somehow??)  Also, joining this wall to the two walls on either side merges it and I lose the ability to dimension everything correctly.  

 

If any Chief programmers are reading...  It would be great if I could either:

 

- Insert this half wall/glass rail structure into a doorway (allowing me control over the jamb which is 2cm quartz and had to be inserted using a 3d block) and preserving the wall above the shower door. 

- Give more functionality to doors, allowing side panels (like the casement window function).

- Allow the half walls dialogue to create more vertical layers so that I can have an opening above the railing and then another wall above.

 

Or is there another method that I'm just entirely missing??

 

Building this was a trial and error time suck!
Good workaround, but like heavy equipment transport, sometimes you need creative routing—using custom 3D blocks or molding polylines could give you cleaner side panels while keeping the wall above intact.

 

Thanks,

 

Christopher

Christopher.Topp@gmail.com

X17 on an M4 MBA

 

Best approach is to model it as a custom doorway with glass side panels—this keeps the upper wall intact, avoids soffit lines, and gives cleaner control over dimensions