Yikes! I just read the letters in the latest issue of FH and was horrified to learn that a window near a tub is supposed to be made of safety glass. I just finished framing up a complicated roman tub enclosure in a corner of an addition with windows in it. The windows are double pane fixed glass 2′ square and 4’9″ off the floor with deep sills. There’s is no etching on the glass to say it’s tempered. Any chance I’ll get away with this?
I’m hoping maybe that rule is for windows in a tub/shower combination, or below a certain height, or bigger than a certain size. The separate shower is windowless.
These windows really LOOK safe. They’re so petite, and high. I’m a tall woman, and I designed it so I would have complete privacy and still be able to see out, if you know what I mean. In other words, the windows are about shoulder height. You’d need to be 7 feet tall and have a head like an adze to fall and break the glass. Is that the concern? Could I just put a warning label by the tub? “No giants.” Maybe a picture of a mattock with a red circle and a line through it?
I know the ultimate last word on this is the building inspector. I’d just like to know if I should worry or not. Right now I’m worried all right. I got those windows for at a surplus and salvage place. If I have to replace them with custom tempered glass ones, all my savings are down the drain before I even hook up the bargain bathtub. My husband is going to be furious.
Say it isn’t so!
B
Replies
Here's the code from the book I had to follow, CABO, 1997 Edition. At least it'll identify the relevant section. I won't interpert what they mean by "enclosure".
308 Glazing
308.4 Hazardous locations. The following shall be considered specific hazardous locations for the purpose of glazing:
...
5. Glazing in doors and enclosures for hot tubs, whirlpools, saunas, steam rooms, bathtubs and showers. Glazing in any part of a building wall enclosing these compartments where the bottom edge of the glazing is less than 60 inches (1524 mm) above the drain inlet.
...
"Bottom edge of the glazing is less than 60 inches (1524 mm) above the drain inlet."
Wow, that's tricky. It's hard to even measure from the drain inlet to the bottom of the glazing. If the measurement is meant to be just straight up from the drain and then eyeball to the bottom of the window, then I'm screwed. I've only got about 55" that way. If it's a diagonal measurement, because the window is set so far out, I don't hit glass until 68", but that's above the bottom edge of the glazing. I'm just guessing where the drain inlet is going to come out by the box I put in the bottom of the tub opening hole.
"Glazing in any part of a building wall enclosing these compartments...."
I don't really know what it means by "compartments." It's just a tub in a corner. I guess I'll just hope the framing inspector doesn't think it looks like a compartment so he doesn't bother to measure to the window. And if he does measure, I'll just hope he uses the diagonal distance and a sloppy technique.
And if they get picky on the final inspection after the tub is installed so they can actually see the drain inlet, it's way down at the end behind the shower wall. They have to be pretty mean to climb in there to measure to the windows. Mean and brave, because I'll know what to do with my titanium crowbar and the fleshy part of their thigh if they scratch that delicate paint on my refinished cast iron tub. Well, that's my fantasy. I think the innocent blonde act will probably suffice better than violent threats. Does crying work on building inspectors, or is construction like baseball?
So I'm still worried, but at least now I know there is at least a definable instance when it's OK to have an untempered window near a tub. I can just hope for leniency.
Thanks very much!
B
I wouldn't _think_ to speak for a building inspector........on _any_ of the things you mention. :) Good luck.
"that delicate paint on my refinished cast iron tub"
Please tell us that you're joking.
That's a bigger problem than your window.
I wish I was joking about the delicate bathtub paint. It's not too delicate for my bare bottom, but gritty shoes are right out. It's a modified old cast iron claw foot tub I got at the salvage place for $125 with missing feet. I performed some tests on various kinds of tubs and decided that kind was my favorite. My dad just bought some kind of ridiculous house on a golf course with a gigantic fiberglass whirlpool tub in the guest room bath. I tried that. Hated it. It was loud. The jets made chlorinated bubbles burst in my face. I couldn't get comfortable in it. The sides were too straight up and down and too far apart to get a purchase with the feet so I was just bobbing around in there like a chicken in a stock pot. So next I went out to my aunt's old house in the country and took a bath in her old cast iron tub on the screen porch. It was much better. It just didn't get deep enough because of all the fixtures coming through the end of it. Which is how I get to the refinishing part. I got me this salvage tub and I took some epoxy putty and some fender washer kind of things made to cover up deadbolt holes in doors and plugged up those holes. I sanded them smooth, and then had the whole tub painted by a local guy with Bathcrest brand two part bathtub paint. That cost me $300. (I tried to do it myself with Klenk's and decided it was well worth paying $300 to a guy with an airless sprayer and a paint booth.) Now I'm building a tiled box to hold the footless tub, with the overflow drain and the faucet installed into the top of the box roman tub style. So you can see I've given this a considerable amount of thought and put a lot of effort into it. It's just a tub for me to use very occasionally when the steam shower lacks allure, and I will use it delicately. If I have to replace my windows with glass blocks and spoil my view of that little square of sky I can see through the 2' square opening in the wall, I'm going to be very PUT OUT!
B
How deep are your sills? If you are talking about a 2x6 enterior wall, then you're probably out of luck. If the sills are 7-8" or larger, the inspector may allow the depth of the sill to act like a guard rail. I showed an inspector how a similar scenario with 12" deep sills stopped anyone from being injured. I had him stand in the tub and open the windows. He was 5'4 and had trouble cranking the awning out.
I'll preface this by saying that I have no experience with what you've done in having the tub painted. Understanding that, please take my comments with a grain of salt.
Over the past year or so, others have made several posts about refinishing or somehow repairing a bad surface on a cast iron tub such as yours. In short, they all responded with negative comments. In essence, they said no matter what the new finish, it won't hold up and eventually will fail.
Your comments about the value of cast iron over that cheep fiberglass cannot be disputed. There is nothing better than cast. That's why I had one put in my remodel.
The reason I mentioned that the tub will be a bigger problem than the window is when such a failure does occur (IF it does), the cost of dealing with the failure will be far more than what the cost of new glazing for that window. But, since you had someone else do the refinishing, what's his warranty? And will he cover the cost of labor and ancillary issues (plumbing, carpentry).
From my point of view, it may have been cheaper to buy a new tub (even at the $1700 or so) than deal with the antique.
But since it's not my house coupled with the fact that I haven't even seen what you've done, my opinion should be considered like so many others. I believe the old line goes that "opinions are like a$$holes - everyone has one and they all stink."
But I sincerely wish you the best of luck with this and I hope I'm dead wrong.
"Does crying work on building inspectors"
I have always had very good luck when I can get them to talk about their children and/or grandchildren. And if I "just happen" to have made a fresh pot of coffee, all the better.
(If you ever have to pull permits at the building department I can tell you how to get in and out of there fast. Bring three smallish boys, three sack lunches, a big tub of Legos, a couple of baby blankets and a pillow or two with you. Spread everything/body out, and then go pull a number. You will be amazed at how quickly everyone in the building works to get you out of there. I am willing to rent out my three smallish boys for a very reasonable price.)
"A completed home is a listed home."
What's this with Lego's.
I thought that you where suppose to outfit them with cotton candy and ice cream cones.
Seems like every building inspector has his favorite items to look for (mine always checks for stair riser variance and for tempered glass etchings).
My question is; If your windows are found to be out of compliance, why not just replace the glass. Most windows today are pretty easy to reglaze and, unless you have really weird windows, it might not be that big of an issue, just an additional cost for the replacement glass and a bit of labor....
Good Luck.
Edited 5/26/2002 5:25:05 PM ET by Notchman
Second Notchman's motion. Any decent window you can reglaze.
Ken Hill