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February 22, 2008
making french door with clear glass obscure
I got a french door with clear glass for my bathroom
(http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=08403-1416-08403&lpage=none) and want to make this glass obscure. I originally planned to either use the frosting spray or self adhesive film they sell at both Lowes and Home Depot. However, the former turned out to look plain ugly, and the latter is not really obscure enough. Can anybody recommend an easy do it yourself way to make this work? Perhaps there are other window films somewhere? Or we can use some other method?
Comments
You can do your owned stained glass effect. My sister did it on her windows. She is not that handy so it must be pretty easy. I think she got it at a craft store, like ac moore or michaels though I am sure you can find it on line. The ones she did are pretty obscure, she used it for a bathroom window. Plus you can put colors in.
I have also seen on movie sets where they faked out a colored window. They used tint poly and painted it on. It looked pretty cool but not obscure.
Posted by: guest at February 22, 2008 10:35 AM
Curtains on the bathroom side
Paint the glass - you can do cool drawings
Replace glass - this would cost $
Posted by: guest at February 22, 2008 10:53 AM
You can etch the glass. You paint on some totally harsh chemical (ask at pinchik or other hardware store) and it "frosts" the glass for you. Wear heavy duty gloves.
Posted by: guest at February 22, 2008 11:05 AM
We have frosted glass on several bathroom doors and it works beautifully. It doesn't block light, yet gives privacy and is minimal maintenance. Call some glass shops and get some estimates -- it might not be as expensive as you think, especially if you take the door there yourself. In the past we have used a shop in Queens that was quite reasonable. I can't refer them now b/c they have changed hands.
Posted by: guest at February 22, 2008 11:08 AM
For the cost of frosting the glass, you could probably get Dyke's lumber to make you a door with the same number of lights in the same size, but with opaque (not obscure) frosted glass. I'm guessing it's a 24-28" door? I got them to make me one in a custom size last year and it cost about $200. Then I just screw it into the existing hinges, and it hung fine.
Posted by: guest at February 22, 2008 11:18 AM
Use the spray....but you will need many coats. Make sure you let each coat dry thoroughly before applying the next coat.
We used the frosting spray for a dressing room window—and it worked beautifully.
Posted by: PHfamily at February 22, 2008 11:37 AM
Saw a post recently about nicer stick-on film for obscuring doors - if it wasn't here, then it was on Apartment Therapy. Search archives on both.
Posted by: guest at February 22, 2008 12:37 PM
I have a frosting film that works fine in our bathroom window. Might want to just try a different brand.
Posted by: guest at February 22, 2008 12:39 PM
You can buy an acid etching kit for glass. I have a full-lite acid etched door on my bathroom and really like it.
I suggest you take the door off the hinges and do the etching outside and wear protective gear. It's a fairly simple process but you should practice it on a couple of scrap pieces first just to make sure you are comfortable with the process prior to working with your actual glass door.
Posted by: guest at February 22, 2008 1:03 PM
Got some film at Ikea a few years ago that worked really well.
Posted by: guest at February 22, 2008 1:18 PM
have someone sand blast the glass. goto sinoglass on 3rd ave around the 40 something st. i got ton of glass and got sandblasted for less than 230(included glass).
Posted by: armchairwarrior at February 22, 2008 1:58 PM
Olana is a historic house on the Hudson River built by Fredrick Church ca 1860's.
Inside the house there are partitions that are two pieces of glass, between the glass is a razor cut patterned paper. It might be an option.
Posted by: guest at February 22, 2008 5:13 PM
Um, the word you're groping for is "opaque," which means non-transparent. "Obscure" means not known about, vague--that sort of thing.
Posted by: guest at February 24, 2008 5:44 PM
No, opaque would mean that no light gets through, and that's not what the OP wants.
Obscure is the correct word - though to be precise, it is probably the view through the glass that OP wants to obscure, not the glass itself.
But we all know what OP meant.
Posted by: guest at February 27, 2008 5:45 PM
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