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How
to Install a Shower Door
Printable
Version of this page.
How to Measure a Single Door.
How
to install the Side Lites.
How
to Install Door Panel End Panel
 Installing
Heavy Glass Shower Doors is easier than installing American
Style Framed Doors. At least in a way it is. There are fewer parts,
less measuring and cutting of annoyingly flimsy aluminum strips
and the total amount of time for a heavy glass shower door is a
fraction of the inexpensive versions.
However, heavy glass shower doors are heavy and fragile and expensive,
so the job is nerve-wracking and you have to move slowly at all
times - like a sloth, when you are in the bathroom. Everything is
in slow motion and everyone is tense and sweating. Tempers flare
and endurance is stretched beyond the breaking point. "I can't
take this anymore!" You will scream and your partner will say,
"We haven't even picked the glass up yet." Basically,
if you enjoy defusing bombs, then this is the job for you. OR -
if you enjoy installing heavy glass showers then could could probably
defuse bombs for a living. But that's just my opinion. I can say
all this because you will save sometimes fifteen hundred to two
thousand dollars by installing your own shower systems. Prices vary
across the country, but quite often you will be saving two hundred
and fifty dollars per hour of your installation time, not including
the time it takes to pick up the glass.
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Exploding Glass: Tempered Glass is very strong but the edges are sensitive. How
Strong is it? Never let the edges of the glass touch the tile.
Always set the glass on wood or rubber blocks. If the glass ever even
touches the tile, the glass may get chipped, but even worse, it may
explode. That is one of the major differences between glass and wood.
Wood seldom explodes. Glass explodes pretty often. Not really. I can
only remember one customer out of hundreds, that had his glass explode
and that was before I wrote these pages. We argued over who was going
to pay for the glass; finally he let me pay for half. He never knew
that he hit with the glass because the glass explodes at the same
moment it is hit. That happens at work occasionally. Our workers will
swear they didn't hit anything but I've noticed the glass only explodes
when they are going through a doorway.
To avoid exploding glass you must never let the glass touch
the tile. Duck tape on the bottom corners will help. When setting
the glass into the opening, it really helps to have one person with
a suction cup on the outside and another person on the inside guiding
the bottom of the door.
It is essential to have a stud or two behind the tile where the
door is to be mounted: For good tiling advice,
I advise you to go to John
Bridge's Tile Forum or buy his book from us. There are two mistakes in tiling that make installation difficult: The hinge wall bowed into the shower is bad, and knee wall or other hinge wall not at 90° to the door is bad.
I believe that all tile now days is set onto heavy-duty cement board,
which definitely increases the strength. There is some controversy
about whether it is necessary to hit a stud with the screws. But having
the stud right behind the hinges increases the rigidity of the wall.
If you are unsure about whether your tile wall will handle the weight
then you could use a header across the top and/or pivots instead of
hinges. This will take the weight completely off the wall.
Although I really don't believe anyone today tiles directly onto sheet
rock, if you do have that condition then your bathroom is only going
to last a couple of years and it would be unsafe, unwise, and a big
mistake to install a heavy glass shower door. But you could if you use a header and pivots. Unless your floor is so rotten
that your door will fall through into the living room.
Time Required: The good news is that for a single door, you
can expect to spend between one and two hours on installation. It
may take intestinal fortitude but it is over pretty quick.
Rent a Suction Cup:. A suction cup is a great help for a single
door, but it's not essential. We have them available.
USE a Helper: One person on the inside and one on the outside.
Note: The screws that come with the hinges are two inches long. Three
inch screws in chrome and brass are available. However the three inch
screws are stainless or brass and very soft and very hard to get all
the way in without a pilot hole. I don't remember a situation where
they were necessary. |
| CLICK
HERE FOR MEASURING INSTRUCTIONS |
Overview of Installation: Install hinges on glass, Set glass in opening on shims,
Mark holes. Remove glass. Drill holes. Set glass back in opening.
Screw in screws. Remove Shims. |
| 1. Install hinges
on the glass with the screw heads to the INSIDE of the Shower. |
Note: For 3/8"
glass use two thick gaskets. For 1/2" glass use two thin gaskets.
This may vary with the model of hinge. Instructions are included.
Install Hinge on glass first: You will notice when you install
the hinge on the glass that it can slide up and down and in and out.
Center the hinge in the vertical direction and shoot for 3/16"
between glass edge and outer edge of hinge. After tightening down
the screws operate the hinge to make sure you have that 3/16"
and the glass doesn't hit the base plate of the hinge. If the glass
binds, it may explode. (I have to quit saying that) |
| 2. Set the door
on the sill on top of shims 7/16" thick. I
use wood shingles. Make sure the door is high enough to clear the
highest point of the sill by 7/16". |
Note: You may
want to snap a door sweep made of vinyl onto the bottom of your door
after your finished installing the door. So, leave 7/16 between the
bottom of the door and the highest point of the sill. Most of the
time seals on the sides of the door are not needed. |
| 3. With the
door set in the opening and clearance is right on both sides, mark
the hole locations for the hinge. A helper is good. |
Note: Either
a pen, pencil or yellow pencil generally work well.
Side clearance is supposed to be 3/16" but that depends on how
rough the tile is. There is considerable room for error. This is where
two people are really a big help. I have done it alone. You have to
install screws on one side only and then open the door to install
the other two screws. |
| 4. Remove
the door and improve the marks you have made |
Go over the marks,
changing the dots into a cross. This is so that you can tell if the
drill bit begins to wander. |
5. Drill the holes precisely at your mark. Use a regular Drill. A roto-hammer will break
the tiles.
Drill through the tile and Cement board but not into the wood. You
want the screws to grab the wood stud. Sheet rock doesn't count for
anything. The screws are 2" long. If your tile is applied directly
to sheet rock, and there is no stud back there, then you're in a heap
of trouble. See the note above about studs. |
 A
spade drill bit works best. 1/4 inch. This is included with your shower
door. Some tile is extremely hard. The spade drill bit will work but
you may need to spray it with water to keep it cool. Get a friend
to spray while you lean into the bit. If the spade bit gets too hot
the carbide will fall off. Most tile is soft and easy to drill. We
bought two or three different kinds of diamond drill bits but they
didn't last long at all.
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6. Hammer
in the Anchors |
 Use
anchors whether or not you hit a stud. The 2" screws will only
go into the stud about 1/2" but the presence of the stud strengthens
the wall in the neighborhood of the door. The screws and anchor system
is strong. Even one screw will hold a heavy door with just an anchor.
But don't try it! It may explode.
If you applied the tile directly to sheet rock then I would not recommend
a heavy glass shower door. |
| 7. Cut off
the part of the anchor that sticks out. |
 There
are two kinds of plastic anchors. Either one works fine. The cylindrical
kind, I have found generally will not allow themselves to be pounded
in all the way and so they too, need to be chopped off. |
8. Set the
door back into the opening and screw in the screws. This is not a roto-hammer; it's an impact driver, designed for screws.
We supply hardened screw driver bits of the right size for each screw. |
 We
use an impact driver, NOT a rotohammer, for screwing in the screws.
Doing it by hand is fine if you have arms like Popeye.
If you want your installation to look professional, Don't bugger up
the screws. If you are using a drill motor, try this: Lean into the
drill motor and squeeze the trigger for just a second. Ease off the
pressure and allow the Phillips to reset into the screw. Then lean
into the motor again and tighten a bit more. This should allow you
to screw it up real good. |
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9. Install the Handle.
Remove the shims from under the door.
Tighten up the hinge screws that hold the glass again with a #3
Phillips. Alternate screws and get them real tight. Do not use a
drill.
You might want to tighten them again in a month.
Snap the vinyl on the bottom edge of the glass, and wash it. You're
done.
Here's a pdf of How
to Install the handle.
How
to install a Combo Handle/Towel Bar.
What's the best music
to play when installing the Handle?
Handel's Water music.
(Get
Quicktime) |
10. No matter
how many of these I've installed, a brand new door always looks dangerous
and scary. When the owners come to try out the heavy glass door, it
is a good idea to scream and jump out of the way. Better yet, dive
on the owner shielding them with your body.
Don't worry, I have never (very seldom) heard of one exploding once
it is installed. They explode much less often than the thin-glass
American style. |
This shower door is actually two doors, like a saloon door. It used
brushed satin chrome hardware, which in real life had a very nice
slightly bluish color.
Notes
on Installing a Corner Shower
The page of many shower types
Printable
Page
Once in a while when the installation is done, the glass seems
to slip no matter how tight the screws are tightened.
Here's
what to do. |
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