Moen recently sent us two of their unique curved shower rods to review. If you have a shower that uses boring straight shower rods, or worse yet, those rolling frosted glass enclosures from the 70’s, please read on. If, however, you have a spacious, frameless glass shower you could play volleyball in and that might be featured on MTV Cribs, we are jealous of you and you have no business reading this review.
First some additional pre-screening: Have you ever been showering and had your shower curtain glom onto you like a wet, possessed ghost? Do you have incredibly broad shoulders? Are you claustrophobic? Do you like to shower with friends? If any of these apply to you, or maybe you just want a stylish way to add a little more space in the shower, then the Moen Curved Shower Rod is for you!
The Moen Curved Shower Rods come in a fixed 5′ length (which can be cut down a bit to size), or telescoping “sets”, which adjust to fit shower enclosures between 54- and 72-inches with no cutting required. In my case, we installed the telescoping variety, in a oil rubbed bronze finish (which looks great if you’re into bronze). Moen’s term for this finish is actually “old world bronze.”
A few things to consider in terms of installation. Since the shower rod is curved, it can add space but also potentially remove some space at its ends, depending on how far in or out you install it. If you install the rod further out, you naturally get more space in the shower. The downside to installing further out, is you’ll lose some space in the actual bathroom (a factor to consider if your bathroom is small like ours). If you install too far out and the shower is in a tub, you run the risk of your shower curtain draping or falling outside the tub during use. If you install the the rod too far in, it will still look cool, but will defeat the purpose of the curved rod. For these reasons, I recommend you do a test fit with your curtain actually on the rod, to find the happy medium for where to mount the rod.
The rod can be installed on tile or drywall, but keep in mind tile installation will require that you use a tile drill bit. Moen includes a couple handy paper templates to mark out your holes (which vary depending on whether you install into studs vs install into drywall). I managed to install into studs, but I wound up using the anchors that Moen included on a different project (I’m cheap that way). My only minor complaint about the Moen curved shower rods is that the anchor screws that came with mine were poor quality (3 out of 6 of them failed to expand and became unusable). If you’re using anchors rather than going straight into studs, and you have problems with the included anchors, I’d recommend a trip to the hardware store for a more robust variety. Anchors aside, the installation process is easy if you’re at all handy.
Once installed, the curved shower rod looks great. A definite step up in style over boring big box store straight rods. The real pleasure with the curved shower rod is actually taking a shower. You and all your co-showering friends will feel like you remodeled your shower, making shower maneuvering and grabbing the soap that much less awkward! And no more wet attacks from the maniacal shower curtain ghost that used to love groping you so much. All in all, highly recommended.
The Moen Curved Shower Rods are available in chrome, brushed nickel and old world bronze. You can find Moen Curved Shower Rods
Looking for a measurement, how many more inches is the rod length itself compared to a standard straight rod? The curve must add some inches. I am trying to look for a shower curtain ( I don’t have the rod yet ) and the widths are quite varied so want to narrow my search. Thanks
How would I go about installing a curved shower rod where one end would have to attach to a glass divider? (One side of our shower is glass; the other is tile.)
This is in response to those that wanted a curved shower bar with a tension fitting, no drilling involved, Bed Bath and Beyond has them, and they say they work great. But I am not personally sure of that. I already have a bad one up there and am removing to install a Delta curved bar with screws. I feel the integrity will be better with screws vs. tension. but you can always try BBY and take it back if it does not suit you.
Becky
Is there any play in the installation if our opening is 59 inches instead of 60? Does it have to be exactly 60 inches??? Is it better to look for an adjustable rod if the measurements are not exact to the fixed opening?
I have a 34″ shower stall, I want a curved rod, can I cut a 54″ to fit.
Hi Pat. It’s been a long time since I installed ours, but my recollection (at least on our particular expandable model) is that they could only be trimmed a small amount. I’d recommend checking directly with the manufacturer of whatever particular model shower rod you’re considering to find out if the rod can be cut to fit a 34″ opening. Good luck with the project!
I have a standard size shower stall 34 inches wide and would like a curved double curtain rod. There is a lip at the bottom of the stall. That holds the curtain in the stall. Is there such a thing?
Hi Angela, there are definitely “curved double shower rods” (just google the part in quotes), however I’m not sure if anyone makes them small enough to fit a 34″ opening.
hello … i prefer a non-telescoping curved shower curtain rod … i’m working with a distance of 57.75″ … is there any reason why i couldn’t take a hacksaw & cut 2.75″ off of the 5′ fixed rod (or cut 1.37″ from each of its’ ends)? … thanks for any 411 that you can throw my way … ryan
Hi Ryan. On this particular rod, the ends of the rod are integrated into the mounting hardware you attach to the wall. As a result you couldn’t just trim the ends off without having to do some significant rebuilding of the end/mounting bracket to reintegrate them. If you have more specific questions to the Moen line, I’d recommend you contact them directly for the most accurate info. Good luck with the project!
This is a strange response considering that the article parenthetically stated the 5′ fixed size could be cut down to size. I also noticed that the insert images showing the flexibility of the flanges show a stunted piece of rod. Is this stub created for these images, or is the stub inserted into the fixed length rod; either way these are details I would appreciated clarification on.
Those stubs shown in the image are what insert into the actual shower rod to hold it in place at each end.
Can someone please give us a friction fit curved shower rod? I would love you for this. PLEASE AND SOON.
Hi Angi. I think the reason for no friction fit on these thus far is that there is a lot of weight that potentially hangs off the curved portion of the rod. That weight would most likely rotate the curved section down. Unless someone comes up with a nifty trick to overcome the physics involved, I’m afraid you’re limited to straight rods when it comes to friction fits. If we hear otherwise, we’ll let it be known though.
Thank you for the information! Like Bertie, I would like to use this curved rod concept in a shower “stall.” I’m building a new house and in the bathroom that will serve the swimming pool, I’d like to tile two side and run a curved rod and curtain(s) to enclose it. Any ideas for how to make this work?
Thank you!
P.S. Your response to Brooke was admirable.
Hi Meredith. Can you email us a sketch? I’m having trouble visualizing what you have in mind here.
We have a tiled shower but can’t afford to buy/put up the glass shower doors yet. So I was looking at getting a curved shower rod to put up in its place till we get the doors up. The catch is I don’t want to put screw holes into my tile. Is there any way to put up a rod with out using screws? If so, where do I go about finding it???
Hi Kristina. Many standard (straight) shower rods are friction fit and can span between tiled walls without using hardware. All the curved rods we’ve seen require drilling holes. Since it’s just a temporary solution, I’d suggest going with a straight rod with friction fit so you can easily remove it later without having holes in your tile. Most bed/bath retailers, or places like Target have straight shower rods (just pick one that doesn’t require hardware installation). Good luck!
Your web page sucks. How do you expect to read the black colored text that overwrites the charcoal background on the right side of the page. Also, when enterning my name and emai, the screen moved to a blank part of the page.
Ah Brooks. If only I went to diplomacy school where you did. Actually, our site shows up just great on most browsers, but we do occasionally get reports of wonky display issues (in almost all of these it was with users using really old versions of Internet Explorer, which I’m sorry to say we don’t support). Please try pulling up the site in a current browser to see if that looks a little better to you, or, if you’d like us to look into your particular issue, please email us a screenshot of what you’re seeing along with the browser name, version and operating system you’re running and I’ll be happy to check into it. Thanks for mentioning the issue, although next time we’d appreciate it if you did so a little more politely and more directly (via email?)
I purchased a home that has a curved shower curtain rod in place and I can not figure out how to remove the rod on one side to put up my shower curtain (my shower curtain has loops that do not open and need to slide through the rod)…is this possible?
Hi Sherry. Most curved shower rods have a trim piece that clips over the ends. You can usually find a small recess where you can carefully pry off the trim ring with a flathead screwdriver so you can access where the rod actually connects to the wall hardware. I’m guessing you’re attached to your curtain rings, but another option would be to replace the curtain rings with ones that can clip around the bar without being threaded on. Hope that helps!
Will liquid nails hold the shower curved shower rod on tile, we do not want to drill through the tile.
Thanks for checking out the article. Although I understand not wanting to drill through tile, I have to say I would not recommend using adhesive to hold up a shower rod, especially a curved rod. The curvature of the rod means there’s even more leverage that’s applied to the attachment points by the weight of the curtain, anything you hang on it, or someone tugging on the curtain. Although not curved you could always try a conventional rod that expands outward and is held in place with friction (often without any hardware being required). Hope that helps!
Can you use the curved rod in just a shower stall-no tub??
Hi Bertie. I think the issue would be that the bottom of the shower curtain would be hanging out over your floor without the tub to keep it in place. Probably not the effect you’re looking for unless you have a way to catch the curtain at the bottom and keep water off your floor.
Does Moen make a 72-inch fixed length curved old world bronze shower rod? I found a part number, CSR2165OWB on Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0036W8AU6/), from the description it appears to be 72″ from end to end. Unfortunately there is no picture to confirm that.
Tony, they do make the 72″ fixed length Moen curved shower rod. I did a quick google search and found one listed here:
http://www.supremekitchenbath.com/servlet/the-36414/-dsh–2155-2155-dsh-OWB-2155OWB/Detail
Let us know how your particular installation goes!
Great information, I really appreciate your information on the Moen curved shower rod.
I have used my straight shower curtain rod to hang wet clothes to dry that cannot go in the dryer. Will the curved rods support several hangers worth of wet t-shirts and sweatshirts? We are doing a bathroom remodel and need to know. Thanks
I would guess so, but that partly depends on how solidly you install the curved shower rod, and how much weight you put on it. Ours is installed onto a stud, and we’ve thrown a couple wet towels on it without a problem. If you’re just using drywall anchors, I’d be a little wary of putting much weight on the curved rod, especially since the weight will actually apply a little torque to the mounting area. Another thing to think about is whether the curve of the rod puts your wet clothes outside the edge of the bath/shower. Again, it depends on how you mount the rod, but if it’s too far out your wet clothes could drip onto your floor rather than in your tub. Hope that helps.