Privacy Glass Choices and Bathroom Windows

Obscure and Semi-Obscure Glass types

Frosted or textured glass for bathroom windows is a debated option. If you’re reading this, you will probably have a pretty strong opinion on whether your bathroom should have obscure glass, but that might not be the view of the next person. There are also widely different opinions on patterned glass…

The more private your house is generally, the less likely it’ll be to want privacy glass. Also, take note of whether your home is listed… Obviously, there’s an extensive set of guidelines about what you can and can’t do to a listed building, and changing a clear glass pane into a obscure one can change the appearance enough to require permission.

Frosted satin acid-etched glass provides a translucent effect, allowing light to pass through while blurring shapes on the other side; maintaining privacy. Textured glass can add visual interest with patterns that distort and refract – still private, but a very different visual effect. You can, of course, use these types in any setting, not just in bathrooms.

Alternatively, these are not great for bathrooms, but there are some less aggressive levels of distortion available. These are more commonly used on internal screens, but can also be quite helpful in situations where you just need to offer a polite level of distortion. Our most recent use is where a kitchen window clearly overlooks a neighbour’s garden; the small level of distortion is mainly to help that neighbour have a private garden space.

“Tinted” Glass

Most importantly: this is not suitable to use as privacy glass in homes… Since we all see tinted glass on cars, and this clearly restricts how well someone outside can see in, it makes sense that we’re occasionally asked to replicate this in windows and doors. But it sadly isn’t that simple, and it takes a moment to think about why.

Tinted glass works in a very similar way to a two-way mirror in detective TV shows. The people in the darker room can see into the room that’s more brightly lit. Same for cars: we don’t drive cars with interior lights on, so it’s much darker inside the car than outside. However, houses are the opposite. If it’s a little bit too dark inside, we’ll naturally put a light on…which means it’s now brighter inside than out…which means you can’t see out, and you’re brightly lit up like a Christmas tree to everyone outside!

In a home, the proper use for “tinted” glass often is barely tinted at all nowadays: asking for solar control glass will result in a reduction of heat and light being let through the window – great in the summer; still awful for privacy.

Opening Options for Bathrooms

You might want a top guided for a ground floor bathroom, no-one can see in if its open,

On the other hand, a sidehung window allows for fantastic airflow, something we occasionally want in a bathroom window, if only to remove the steam after a long shower

Tilt-turn is less common in the UK but, as always, a fantastic all-in-one choice. The private ventilation provided by the tilt function, combined with the full-opening airflow when the window is fully turned open is obviously the most convenient option. Obviously, there are downsides, otherwise everyone would have this! Tilt-turn mechanisms are more complicated, there more expensive to manufacture. And the frame thickness tends to be noticeably thicker in order to accommodate that mechanism, so you won’t have quite as much light coming through.

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