Can't Get Frameless Shower Door Fixed

[WinniWoman]

So, we have an almost 7 year old steam shower with a frameless shower door with a transom above it. The clear plastic gasket (not sure if that is what you call it-used to seal in the steam) started coming off the tile wall (the side where the door hinges are) and it was getting some mold, so I told my husband to take it off and replace it. I also had him replace the door sweep which was also too hard to get clean anymore.

So, he did both, this time putting a very thin strip type gasket on the door itself- instead of on the tile (my suggestion- it is just like what is on the bottom of the transom). It easily clears the wall on that side which is good and the sweep seems to be ok also.

He also decided to lubricate the door hinges as the top one was making a slight creaking noise.

Well-Now the door does not shut all the way!It is close- but it does not close totally shut. The hinge occasionally makes a cracking noise when opening or closing the door.

We tried loosening the top hinge and moving the glass a bit. We took off the door sweep- still wouldn't close all the way. Readjusted the door sweep on the bottom. Made sure the door was level. Can't figure it out. Was fine before changing the door sweep and taking the plastic gasket off the wall. There is nothing stopping this door from closing that we can figure out! Except maybe the hinge- maybe inside something isn't working right?

So we called in a guy who installed a door in our other bathroom. Tells us over $1000 to get two new hinges and reseal everything and claims my transom closes int he wrong direction! (I have seen it in installed two different ways in pictures.) We have had no issues with anything until my husband replaced the door sweep and the gasket seal.

In fact a couple of years ago my husband replaced the gasket on the other side of the door- where it opens and closes to meet another glass panel that is fixed to the opposite tile wall- and he used a much better version than the original installer used and it has worked out great.

Well- I decide to go on Home Advisor to try to find someone else. Two places come up on line and only one calls me. Says he can send someone and if he can fix it right then and there he will and it would be like $125 plus the gaskets/seals- no more than another $50 tops depending on what parts he uses. I say ok- that sounds much more reasonable.

Sends a guy who came 1.5 hours past his appt time in the evening - without even calling- and he looks at it - kind of baffled- and says he could maybe get two new hinges and they would be different than what we have and he would have to drill more holes in the tile but the holes would not be seen. He said he would have to go back to the office and talk to the boss. I told him to have the boss call me with the price of the hinges. Well- that was last Thursday and we have yet to hear from them. I wasn't too crazy about putting in different hinges and drilling more holes int he porcelain tile anyway.

I decide to call a guy who replaced glass in our terrace doors last year. Well- he said he is so backed up that he really cannot commit to the job. I call the tile place where the original installer of our door was from (he took ill right after our installation and I am not sure if he is even alive). They gave me the name of the guy they refer to- he was on vacation so I waited a week to call and left a message. Have not heard from him.

I am at a point of just getting a string to pull the door in all the way and tie it to the grip bar in the shower when I take a steam shower! My husband wants to put Velcro on it! LOL! Any insight would be appreciated. No way am I going to pay $1000 to fix this, that's for sure. It just doesn't make sense. Should have left the molded shower sweep and wall gasket the way they were I guess...

 

[Talent312]

You don't seem to be getting much feedback on this issue.
I'd hit it with a hammer and see what shakes loose...

------------------------------------
I'd be more sympathetic, but I'm about to fork over $11K for a new roof.
Ahhh. The joys of home ownership.
.

 

[Panina]

So, we have an almost 7 year old steam shower with a frameless shower door with a transom above it. The clear plastic gasket (not sure if that is what you call it-used to seal in the steam) started coming off the tile wall (the side where the door hinges are) and it was getting some mold, so I told my husband to take it off and replace it. I also had him replace the door sweep which was also too hard to get clean anymore.

So, he did both, this time putting a very thin strip type gasket on the door itself- instead of on the tile (my suggestion- it is just like what is on the bottom of the transom). It easily clears the wall on that side which is good and the sweep seems to be ok also.

He also decided to lubricate the door hinges as the top one was making a slight creaking noise.

Well-Now the door does not shut all the way!It is close- but it does not close totally shut. The hinge occasionally makes a cracking noise when opening or closing the door.

We tried loosening the top hinge and moving the glass a bit. We took off the door sweep- still wouldn't close all the way. Readjusted the door sweep on the bottom. Made sure the door was level. Can't figure it out. Was fine before changing the door sweep and taking the plastic gasket off the wall. There is nothing stopping this door from closing that we can figure out! Except maybe the hinge- maybe inside something isn't working right?

So we called in a guy who installed a door in our other bathroom. Tells us over $1000 to get two new hinges and reseal everything and claims my transom closes int he wrong direction! (I have seen it in installed two different ways in pictures.) We have had no issues with anything until my husband replaced the door sweep and the gasket seal.

In fact a couple of years ago my husband replaced the gasket on the other side of the door- where it opens and closes to meet another glass panel that is fixed to the opposite tile wall- and he used a much better version than the original installer used and it has worked out great.

Well- I decide to go on Home Advisor to try to find someone else. Two places come up on line and only one calls me. Says he can send someone and if he can fix it right then and there he will and it would be like $125 plus the gaskets/seals- no more than another $50 tops depending on what parts he uses. I say ok- that sounds much more reasonable.

Sends a guy who came 1.5 hours past his appt time in the evening - without even calling- and he looks at it - kind of baffled- and says he could maybe get two new hinges and they would be different than what we have and he would have to drill more holes in the tile but the holes would not be seen. He said he would have to go back to the office and talk to the boss. I told him to have the boss call me with the price of the hinges. Well- that was last Thursday and we have yet to hear from them. I wasn't too crazy about putting in different hinges and drilling more holes int he porcelain tile anyway.

I decide to call a guy who replaced glass in our terrace doors last year. Well- he said he is so backed up that he really cannot commit to the job. I call the tile place where the original installer of our door was from (he took ill right after our installation and I am not sure if he is even alive). They gave me the name of the guy they refer to- he was on vacation so I waited a week to call and left a message. Have not heard from him.

I am at a point of just getting a string to pull the door in all the way and tie it to the grip bar in the shower when I take a steam shower! My husband wants to put Velcro on it! LOL! Any insight would be appreciated. No way am I going to pay $1000 to fix this, that's for sure. It just doesn't make sense. Should have left the molded shower sweep and wall gasket the way they were I guess...

Did you try removing what you replaced to see if the door would close? I know it looks clear for closing but maybe there is something you are not realizing. If you remove everything you changed and it still doesn’t close it is the hinges.

 

[WinniWoman]

Did you try removing what you replaced to see if the door would close? I know it looks clear for closing but maybe there is something you are not realizing. If you remove everything you changed and it still doesn’t close it is the hinges.

We did try taking off the door sweep and it had no effect. So, we are planning on removing some if not all of the thin strip on the glass to see if that helps.

 

[vacationhopeful]

If you KNOW the BRAND name for the shower door, go look at the manuafacture's web site. Might have a recall or at least would know its own product.

It could be under warrenty .. like as in "life time" which is the manufacturer's idea of a lifetime..lol. Or until the manufacturer folds.

Plumbers usually use 1 or 2 supply houses. And they just pickup what is in stock or on sale at the supply house. If they ORDERED this door specially for YOUR JOB, the supply house got it from a regional supply house (and maybe your plumber saw a drawing eith sizes of it),

And I would BET your plumber did NOT do the tile work til he had the door on site ... to make sure he could finish the tile & wall to fit this door.

See why years later you can't find a door to fit. The tile & wall sere msot likely BUILT to fit the door.

 

[WinniWoman]

If you KNOW the BRAND name for the shower door, go look at the manuafacture's web site. Might have a recall or at least would know its own product.

It could be under warrenty .. like as in "life time" which is the manufacturer's idea of a lifetime..lol. Or until the manufacturer folds.

Plumbers usually use 1 or 2 supply houses. And they just pickup what is in stock or on sale at the supply house. If they ORDERED this door specially for YOUR JOB, the supply house got it from a regional supply house (and maybe your plumber saw a drawing eith sizes of it),

And I would BET your plumber did NOT do the tile work til he had the door on site ... to make sure he could finish the tile & wall to fit this door.

See why years later you can't find a door to fit. The tile & wall sere msot likely BUILT to fit the door.

No. The door was installed after the shower was constructed- tile and all. I can't remember whether or not I picked out the door first, however. It might have been custom- don't recall. I know it was expensive- that's all I know!

The guy who installed the door only does shower doors. That is his specialty. He is not a plumber. I had an individual contractor do my whole bathroom renovation, but he does not do shower doors. Something about the door manufacturers will not let him sell/install doors because he does not have a showroom or something like that. The guy that did the door works "with" the tile store- which is where I ordered the door from. I don't remember the whole situation as it was at the time.

The man who wanted $1000 to fix it (and also only specializes in shower doors) said the chrome hinges we have from the door manufacturer are $500 a piece! Then he checked on something else and said he could probably get the same kind for $165 per hinge. Anyway, I checked with the tile place and they said the hinges are only warrantied for 1 year. This was also stated by the $1000 guy. He said the $165 hinges he can get are warrantied for life. But again, I wonder if the fact that the door doesn't close is because of the hinges. I am not totally convinced, even with the noise. Unless when my husband sprayed silicone into them it did something, but the one guy said probably not. It was just it was already going bad possibly.

Just seems too coincidental that the door was closing fine until hubby took off the side gasket and door sweep.

 

[clifffaith]

Hope you get to the bottom of your shower door issue soon. But I'd stay away from the Home Advisor guy who sounds like a jack of all trades and expert in none.

 

[WinniWoman]

And tonight Hubby FORGOT on his way home to stop at the tile place to get more of the clear gasket so we can fool around with the door this weekend and get it to as good as we can. Tonight was their late night and tomorrow they close at 5 and not sure if he will make it there by then after work.

A month has gone by and we have gotten no place fast. Meanwhile, my old shower enclosure we had for like 21 years- never had one issue with the cheap door opening and closing right up until the bathroom demolition.

 

[Talent312]

The ninny! He broke it, and now he conveniently forgot the parts.
... But IIRC, it was your idea to begin with.

 

[WinniWoman]

The ninny! He broke it, and now he conveniently forgot the parts.
... But IIRC, it was your idea to begin with.

LOL! And he called the store tonight and the they don't even have it in stock anyway! Yes- I should have left the moldy, half- falling off ones that were there alone. Big mistake...

PS Been through the new roof big bucks thing. Good luck!

PPSS My goal was to be out of this house after our 5 year renovations to avoid the next round of inevitable repairs and maintenance, but I didn't make it. And so it begins.......

 

[Wyominguy]

When I did a bath remodel a few years ago I learned that almost EVERY retailer uses hinges and other hardware, etc. from one source, CL Laurence. Search their website: http://www.crlaurence.com/default.aspx

 

[WinniWoman]

When I did a bath remodel a few years ago I learned that almost EVERY retailer uses hinges and other hardware, etc. from one source, CL Laurence. Search their website: http://www.crlaurence.com/default.aspx

From what I can tell individuals cannot order from there. Not that we would attempt to change out the hinge but I would love to see the prices.

 

[1st Class]

Maybe this will help. You moved the gasket from the wall to the door thereby likely changing the angle and creating a gap, so it's unlikely the hinges are the problem. Suggestion: be sure the gasket is the right size for the thickness of the door, and try again by replicating exactly what you replaced. Put the new gasket back on the tile not on the door. A new gasket is a lot less expensive than those hinges your installer suggests.

 

[WinniWoman]

Maybe this will help. You moved the gasket from the wall to the door thereby likely changing the angle and creating a gap, so it's unlikely the hinges are the problem. Suggestion: be sure the gasket is the right size for the thickness of the door, and try again by replicating exactly what you replaced. Put the new gasket back on the tile not on the door. A new gasket is a lot less expensive than those hinges your installer suggests.

The original gasket that was glued to the tile wall was coming off and a mold magnet, so we got a bulb type, similar to this:

https://www.amazon.com/Shower-Door-...8824356&sr=1-4&keywords=shower+door+bulb+seal

- similar to what is on the transom's bottom above the door- that goes directly on the side of door-not even on the actual glass surface. There is a small gap between it and the tile wall when we close the door, but we also put some that was leftover on the tile wall to form a better seal. Not in the gap but just in front of the gap when the door is closed. We did not like the original gasket on the tile because we felt it would just come off again and we would have the same issue. This one looks so much better and cleaner for the frameless door, but, of course, the door isn't closing tightly.


We still have the old gasket so I guess we could experiment with putting it back up and seeing if the door closes all the way again. I do notice that the hinge does not make a noise all the time when we use the shower door. Only sometimes.

If we cannot solve this, I think we might just leave everything how it is and I can use the transom to keep the shower door closed when taking a steam shower. It is not so bad when taking a regular shower. Water does not seem to leak outside the door. Better than paying $1000!

 

[Wyominguy]

From what I can tell individuals cannot order from there. Not that we would attempt to change out the hinge but I would love to see the prices.

No, you probably can't but you can get part numbers from that site.

Neil

 

[jacknsara]

Mary Ann,
Its very hard to provide useful suggestions based only on the text descriptions provided. Having said that, from a long ago career as a journeyman machine tool rebuilder, I would recommend using the thinnest feeler gauge or a strip of thin paper to probe contact / clearance around the entire periphery of the door. What to do next depends on what is discovered.
Jack

 

[WinniWoman]

Mary Ann,
Its very hard to provide useful suggestions based only on the text descriptions provided. Having said that, from a long ago career as a journeyman machine tool rebuilder, I would recommend using the thinnest feeler gauge or a strip of thin paper to probe contact / clearance around the entire periphery of the door. What to do next depends on what is discovered.
Jack

Yes- we have done that also. There is just a small spot at the top where the paper does not go through where the sealing gasket meets the tile wall and I suspect that could be the problem, but my husband insists the door didn't close before he even put the sealing strip on it.

We could take the strip off in that spot and see, but if it is NOT the problem then we have to try to get this exact sealing strip again for that small area, not as easy as it sounds- tile place doesn't have it, Amazon doesn't have the same one (I guess we could start over and take off what we put on and try something different) or just leave the small spot without the sealing gasket and let the steam come out (not crazy about that option as the sheet rock wall is just beyond it.) Maybe put a bulb gasket on the tile wall in front of instead of on the door.

 

[easyrider]

The first thing to check is if the hinges are on a level wall. Some times the wall move as the house settles or the screw holding the hinge to the wall has failed. If it is way out of level then you might have to fix what ever is causing that first as there is only so much adjustment on the hinge. The hinge has an adjustment screw. To adjust these you put shims at the bottom of the door, loosen the adjustment screw, use the shims to level the door and tighten the screw. Its pretty easy. I think many diy type could you tube this and do it. The worse that could happen is you shatter the door.

Bill

 

[1st Class]

I agree with Bill's advice. After re-reading your original post I see that I completely missed that you had adjusted the hinges. I don't think they necessarily need replacement, but precision is needed when working with glass. One of my strong points is knowing my limitations. I'd call in a professional I trust.

 

[WinniWoman]

I agree with Bill's advice. After re-reading your original post I see that I completely missed that you had adjusted the hinges. I don't think they necessarily need replacement, but precision is needed when working with glass. One of my strong points is knowing my limitations. I'd call in a professional I trust.

Well- no one seems to want the job except the guy who wants to charge over $1000!

 

[1st Class]

Yes, no one seems to want to do the small jobs, aka less expensive. Have you asked friends and co-workers who they've used? That's where we get the best referrals. Our last contractor was referred by our church secretary and he was great!

If you want to try it yourself, here are directions for hinge adjustment on frameless doors. It doesn't sound complicated and certainly not like it's a $1,000 job, so I'm sure you can get the door leveled and balanced once again. I might also suggest if you go this route to spring for the new hinges as it seems they have a rather short lifespan. Good luck!

 

[easyrider]

Well- no one seems to want the job except the guy who wants to charge over $1000!

The cost reflects the possibility of damaging the door or other items and needing to replace it while keeping you happy. If the door shattered or tile fell off, the customer usually wants the guy working on it to pay. If additional problems are found it usually means an extra trip. The cost also includes insurance , bonding and various state and federal taxes that need to be paid. After paying every one, including the accountant, attorney and employees, the $1000 doesn't really go to far for a days work + materials in most cases.

Bill

 

[clifffaith]

The cost reflects the possibility of damaging the door or other items and needing to replace it while keeping you happy. If the door shattered or tile fell off, the customer usually wants the guy working on it to pay. If additional problems are found it usually means an extra trip. The cost also includes insurance , bonding and various state and federal taxes that need to be paid. After paying every one, including the accountant, attorney and employees, the $1000 doesn't really go to far for a days work + materials in most cases.

Bill

We sell window coverings. Back 25 years ago when aluminum mini blinds were all the rage, we sold hundreds every year. (Now I can count minis on two hands with fingers left over at the end of the year).
I got called upon to provide a quote for several blinds. These blinds were accessible from the second floor. To reach the Windows one would lay a plank from the railing on the second floor loft area to the window sill and the shinny across. And then you wouldn't want to drop a tool because below was some sort of interior atrium with a glass ceiling. Now I'd say, sorry we will have to decline the opportunity to provide a quote. Then I just quintupled the price to be sure we wouldn't get a call back.

 

[vacationhopeful]

Agree with Bill's (easyrider) comments above. $1000 does NOT go far in the home improvement world. I work in that universe ... what looks like a simple job has to include TRAVEL time both to & from (pricing the job out onsite .. even looking at pictures and asking for MORE info takes time of the skilled mechanic), picking up the totally NEED (and the MAY) need items, returning the NOT used items (if possible), setting up and breaking down the on-site work area, making the work area like BEFORE JOB and the general HAULING or material & cleanup is all expected of the hired help.

And if it is a 2 man job, that means paying for 2 workman from walking into the shop in the AM til their final item is returned to inventory and the invoice is complete at the end of the day.

Remember, these workman have high workman's comp insurance costs, REquired medical insurance costs, liablility insurance, work vehicle insuirance plus the costs of the work truck, vacation paid time off and all the costs to run an office for paperwork & booking the next customer.

There is NEVER 1 man operation or 2 guys working out of a work truck. The days of a horse drawn wagon and shooting a deer or getting a salmon out of the river to eat .....are GONE.

 

[Elan]

Not to mention that tradesmen expect to get paid like physicians.