Problems with some Corner Shelves
Shelves that get loose and fall off prematurely is the biggest complaint I hear from my clients about their corner shower shelf installations. This is due to suction cups failing and screw anchors falling out of the wall.
Other clients have complained that the more-sturdy screw mounted shelves are too big and clunky.
Some clients complain about water pooling against the wall because of a lack of drainage holes, then soap scum, mold and mildew buildup.
And still others tell me that they regret not looking for a rustproof stainless steel shelf, since some parts of their corner shelves have started to rust.
Common complaints that I hear about glass corner shelves is that soap tends to slip off, they don’t drain water away, and they always look messy between cleanings.
Different Types of Corner Shelves
Glass Corner Shelf
Glass Corner Shelf
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Speaking of your soap slipping away... the most popular corner shelf for shower has always been the glass shelf. These are popular because of their modern and minimalist look.
They're often installed by inserting the glass into a notch created in the tile, usually right at the grout line, but they can also be mounted via two stainless steel brackets that screw into the shower wall.
The safest type of glass corner shelf for shower that's installed into notches cut into the tile during tile installation (imbedded into the thinset mortar).
If installed correctly, the tiles, mortar, and grout, will securely support the glass corner shelf and anything you choose to place on it.
Glass corner shelves like the one above often have a slight green color, but clear glass is also available if you want to spend a bit more money.
Contractors Tip:
Always make sure that the glass shelves you purchase are made from tempered glass or laminated “safety glass”. Un-tempered glass is very dangerous if it breaks, especially in the shower.
Tile Shower Corner Shelf
Image courtesy of icreatables.com.
A tile corner shower shelf made this list because they're super solid and a popular DIY shower storage idea.
These are also popular because they’re inexpensive, and easy to construct, because they're made of a single (or double) tile with a simple finishing strip of tile across the front. A real advantage of these corner shelves is that they will always match your shower wall tile perfectly.
Some people like to use timber framing to create the structure of their tile corner shelves, then cover this structure with tile. This is always a bad idea because no matter how well you waterproof this framing before tile installation, it will absorb moisture. This means eventual swelling, grout cracking, rot and mold.
A better option would be to use a piece of foam shower board like Wedi Building Board.
But for adequate rigidity, a foam shelf needs to be at least ¾” thick and imbedded into the thinset mortar on both sides during a full remodel. In other words, it's not a retrofit style shelf so it cannot be installed into an existing shower.
Ceramic Corner Shelves
Ceramic Corner Shelf
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These corner shelves are made mostly of ceramic and occasionally from porcelain and are cured and glazed in a kiln. This gives these shelves a durable waterproof finish.
Because this is a very old technique, and all the original wall mounted soap dishes were made this way, these shelves tend to have a more traditional (some would say “dated”) look.
Although the tabs on the edges look like they are designed to be mounted into the grout lines in an existing shower, closer inspection reveals that the tabs are much too big for this.
Installation of this shelf requires three notches to be cut into the lower tiles (on each side) to make room for these bigger tabs. That means it’s not a retrofit shelf and cannot be installed into an existing shower.
The greatest benefits of these shelves is that they are inexpensive and can hold a fair bit of weight.
Another benefit of these shelves is that they come in an assortment of different colors so you can more easily match them with your tile color.
A big problem with these shelves is that they can only be installed into perfectly square shower corners. I’ve heard clients complain that they are quite vulnerable to chipping before and after installation.
Stone Corner Shelves
Stone Corner Shelf
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I believe that these 2cm stone shelves can be one of the best-looking permanent corner shower shelves, if they match well with the surrounding wall tile.
I really like this shower shelf idea because it can be inexpensive, a lot more structurally solid than tile, and looks more professional and attractive.
When a stone corner shelf is imbedded into thinset mortar during shower wall tile installation, this shelf can carry an immense amount of weight, making it great shelf or corner foot rest.
Stone pieces like this are generally available in 2 cm thickness, but 3cm can also be found with certain stone varieties for a bolder look.
The 2cm shelves are pretty easy to find online, but I must warn you not to be enticed by the cheaper stone corner shelves (in the $20 – $30 range). I have found that many of these tend to be broken when you get them, or they fracture during handling and installation.
Contractor’s Tip:
If you call your local stone fabricator, they often have dozens (sometimes hundreds) of stone remnants too small to sell to their regular buyers.
And because they have no use for all this extra “junk” they regularly send it all to the local dump. If you speak to them nicely they will often cut and polish a small piece for you for dirt cheap.
And if they won’t cut and polish it, you can probably still buy a small piece from them and try cutting and polishing it yourself. It’s actually not that difficult! There a few good DIY posts online about cutting stone and polishing stone, if you’re interested.
If you’re starting a shower remodel project and you’re considering some built-in shower storage (or recessed shower storage), check out my new post “How to Build a Shower Niche“.
Corner Shelves for Existing Tiled Showers
If you’re only interested in a very small-scale shower remodel and want to increase your shower storage, installing a shower shelf in the corner of a your already tiled shower, is the easiest way to accomplish this.
Retrofit Corner Shelf for Shower
The best thing about a retrofit shower shelf is that it can be easily installed into an existing bathroom shower, and it doesn’t penetrate the shower wall waterproofing membrane.
Stainless steel, in-grout corner shower shelves are among the most popular because they have a very thin profile, can match most metallic fixture finishes, have a modern design aesthetic, AND can be installed into the corner of almost any existing tiled shower wall.
Redblock rb3 Corner Shelf
My favorite stainless steel corner storage shelf for shower is the rb3 Corner Shower Shelf. It's designed for easy installation into 1/8 inch grout lines during a full remodel OR into an existing shower just by removing a bit of grout.
This shelf is the only in-grout corner shelf for shower that's made out of 316L Grade stainless steel which is the most rust resistant stainless steel alloy available.
Full disclosure - I designed this shelf with my brother (and business partner), Dave. I don’t want to brag too much about our shelf, but I will say that my clients find it quite attractive and tell me that it solves many of the corner shelf for shower problems they've complained about over the years.
Schluter Corner Shelf
Schluter Corner Shelf
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Another popular Retrofit corner shelf for the shower is the Schluter Corner Shelf.
Until I designed my own shelf, my “go-to” shower corner shelf has always been the Schluter Corner Shelf because my clients liked the clean minimalist look of a single sheet of stainless steel.
However, from my perspective as a contractor and installer, these shelves are too thick. At 4mm thick with only 1/16 inch thick install tabs, they're often awkward to install in non-square shower corners.
When the shower corner isn't square (very often, btw), there's always a gap on one side where the install tabs don't fully insert into the grout lines. This makes the installation very precarious.
Another problem with these shelves is that they're made from ordinary 304 Grade stainless steel, so any bleach-based cleaning product would cause the shelf to rust.
The edges are also quite sharp (no rounded edges), and they have a poor surface finish.
Screw Mounted Corner Shelf for the Shower
Screw Mount Corner Shelf
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The screw mounted corner shelf for shower is slightly less secure than those installed during tile installation (in grout corner shelf for shower), but they’re much more solid than the temporary shelves like Suction and Adhesive Shower Shelves.
That makes these shelves popular for people needing stronger, more reliable shower storage for all their shower accessories, but aren't interested in a full shower remodel.
The main problem with screw mounted shower shelves is that the screw anchors mount into the tile backer board. That means you must drill through the tile and waterproofing membrane in order to attach them.
Breaching the waterproofing membrane is generally not a good idea even if the drill holes are very small.
However, if you choose an install location opposite the valve wall (outside the splash zone), and surround the screw holes with silicon, I’m generally OK with this kind of installation.
Another problem is that most of these shelves utilize plastic screw anchors to secure the shelf in place, and these anchors are not reliable when used with tile. They are usually not long enough, and the tile hole is too slippery to keep the anchor in place, which causes them to wiggle out over time.
The best way to install these shelves is to find a location that allows you to screw at least one of the mounting screws into a wall stud so the screw can hold firmly. However, this can be a challenge considering there is not often a stud located a few inches out from the corner where the screw is to be attached.
Pole Caddy Shower Corner Shelf
Tension Pole Corner Shower Caddy
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There are some pretty decent tension pole shower caddy's available on the market, and there are some very poor-quality ones. For example, a pole caddy with solid stainless steel construction (rather than chromed steel) and good quality shelf hardware, is a caddy that will probably last for many years.
But regardless of their quality, all pole caddy's share a fundamental design flaw that nobody really talks about. In my experience as a remodel professional, the pressure that's required to make the pole stay firmly in place, is too much for the tub and ceiling surfaces to handle.
The tub surface where the caddy is placed was never designed for this kind of downward stress, and this pressure often causes the tub surface to crack (almost always in my experience). I have seen hairline fractures in almost all the tub surfaces I've examined where a pole caddy has been in use for as little as one year.
Your ceiling above your shower is also not prepared for this kind of pressure from the top of a pole caddy, especially when there's steel stud ceiling framing.
Even when the pole tension is distributed over a larger surface area, almost every ceiling I've examined has experienced drywall cracking in the corners of the ceiling and/ or fracturing of the drywall sheet directly above the pole.
When the pole caddy is mounted on the shower floor instead of on a tub edge, it's still not ideal since most modern shower pans are prefab foam pans, so this kind of point source pressure can cause the foam to collapse, especially with mosaic tiles.
This can be pretty disastrous over time. I'm talking, grout line cracking and tile delamination, with an eventual collapse of the pan surface and a breach in the waterproofing membrane.
Corner Suction Shower Shelves
Stainless steel corner suction shower shelves are one of the most popular types of temporary shower storage shelves because they are generally inexpensive and super easy to install.
However, I don’t recommend these shelves simply because they do not last, and they’re not nearly as sturdy as the other options I’ve mentioned above.
As compelling as it is to buy this “easy shower storage solution”, most people end up abandoning their suction shelf when it, and all your shower accessories, crash to the shower floor in the middle of the night.
Adhesive Corner Storage Shelf for Shower
Adhesive Corner Shower Shelf
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Not surprisingly, the adhesive corner shower caddy is also a super popular choice because they're inexpensive, easy to install, and they can look a lot like permanent built-in shelves.
One of the problems with this type of corner shelf for shower is that they're often made of plastic, so they don't have the structural stability to handle all your shower accessories, and they tend to get brittle and fracture over time.
Even when they're made of stainless steel, the adhesive pads eventually fail because of the persistent moisture in the shower environment.
As such, I don’t generally recommend the installation of any of these shelves.
Best Corner Shelf for Shower
ln my opinion, the best, safest, and most secure corner shelf for shower is made of rust resistant steel, mechanically connected to the wall, and does not breach the shower wall waterproofing membrane.
A best way to achieve is to install an in-grout stainless steel corner shelf that extend into the grout line by at least 1/4″ on both walls. This way the shelf can be firmly supported by the tiles below, yet still not deep enough to reach the membrane.
The “install legs” must also be made of solid enough material so that they can hold enough weight and not bend or dislodge when bumped.
That's why I usually install my own shelf, the Redblock rb3 Corner shelf in most of my shower builds.
FAQ
What size corner shelf is suitable for a small shower?
The correct corner shower shelf size for a small shower is 6 1/2 inches along each wall, which means 5 3/4 inches measured diagonally out from the corner. This keeps the shelf out of your way while still allowing plenty of space for your accessories, even in the smallest shower.
What is the weight limit for typical corner shower shelves?
It varies depending on the material the shelf is made out of, and the attachment method. But most good quality in-grout or screw-mount stainless steel corner shelves can reliably carry between 5 and 10 pounds, according to their specs.
How do you install shelves into an existing tiled shower?
The easiest way to install a corner shelf into an existing tiled shower wall is to use a retrofit corner shower shelf. They install easily into the corner grout line by simply removing some grout, and do not require any drilling.
Wrap Up
I hope that you've got some insight from my shower corner shelf post and will now be more confident with your shelf choice. I also hope that it has provided you with the confidence to install it yourself if you decide on a retrofit shelf.
Good luck with your corner shelf search and your small scale shower remodel!
