The Dimensions of a Knee Wall for Shower Glass

Glass Block

• If you install glass in the form of blocks in your shower for the knee-wall portion, you have two options when you lay out the glass block. You can choose to put the cuts at the bottom of the glass block wall, which is best if you have a wall that runs the height of the wall, so the cuts are less visible. The other option is to run the glass block full from top to bottom, even if this puts the wall slightly higher than you originally planned.

Glass Panel

• Glass panels can only be cut down to size by a professional with the proper glass-cutting equipment. They need to come out to your house and measure the dimensions of the knee wall in person, so that they can fabricate the piece of glass according to your specific knee wall. Since knee walls vary from house to house and have no defining measurements, there are no templates that can be shared between houses, except for track homes (cookie-cutter homes such as those in subdivisions).

Angled Roof

• Most of the time, you'll deal with knee walls that separate the toilet area of the shower from the actual shower, with the glass running from the top of the knee wall to around 7 feet (the average finish height for shower wall material), or up to the ceiling. This means you need to decide if it runs to the average finish height of 7 feet, or all the way up. Glass panels have an easier transition in terms of visibility, but the choice between glass block or glass panels is up to the individual.

Log Homes

• One of the most difficult situations with glass knee walls is if you are building a shower in a log cabin. Because log cabins don’t always have a drywall ceiling offering a smooth reveal, you can find yourself needing to cut around actual logs that are acting as beams and joists for the ceiling. The best decision in this case is to adjust the placement of your knee wall in between any beams. You can then avoid cutting around them (in cases where the knee wall has glass that runs to the ceiling).