Maintain the appearance by regularly cleaning the glass door and enclosure. Frameless shower doors consist of tempered glass with two or three hinges at one side. If you notice leaks at the sides or bottom of the door, there's a good chance the door is out of alignment and the hinges need to be adjusted. Hinges for frameless shower doors have hex-head machine bolts at the inside that secure the hinges in place. A do-it-yourself homeowner can adjust the hinges and align the door with the help of an assistant. Ask your assistant to hold the door fully open. Position a 36-inch level vertically against the wall at the side of the enclosure where the door closes. If the uppermost bubble on the level intersects one of the bubble lines, enlist a professional installer to reset the frames of the enclosure. If the bubble is between the lines, proceed with the alignment and adjustment. Go inside the shower and ask your assistant to close the door. Loosen the hex-head bolts on each hinge two turns counterclockwise, using the appropriate Allen key.
Hold the door closed with the handle as your assistant installs wooden shims at the underside the door and the top of the shower dam. Lift up on the handle while your assistant fits the shims, as necessary, for a uniform gap between the bottom of the door and the dam from side to side. Ask your assistant to hold the door closed and tighten the bolts on each hinge. Pull out the shims and open the door. Close it and check the alignment across the bottom in relation to the top of the shower dam. If necessary, repeat the procedure and align the door so the gap at the bottom is uniform. /Getty Images Suggest a CorrectionMany people have difficulty with frameless shower doors sticking or fitting poorly. If the door is new, the most common reason for these problems is that the frames or floors are not square or level. Most pre-made frameless doors are adjustable to about half an inch, which helps if you have slightly uneven walls. Check out how you can make these adjustments or other ways you can fix the positioning of your doors.
Take your builders square and check whether the frame of the shower is aligned properly. If the frame is too out of plumb, the only fix is to use a different door, or to take off the tiles and remake it to fit. If the frame is only a small way out, you can adjust the door to fit, or adjust the clamps. Is the floor even? Again, you may need to redo the flooring if you really want to have a frameless door. If the glass door has only lately started to bump the ground as it swings, it is likely that the clamps have worked slightly loose rather than the floor being an issue. Most shower door companies will charge you around $50 to come and adjust the door, but it is a simple job you can do yourself, especially as some doors need to be adjusted more than once a year. Open the door slightly and place wedges under it so the weight is supported. The clamps are usually tightened to the glass with Phillips head screwdrivers. Loosen the top hinge, and the bottom one if the glass is not snug against it.
Then, press the door back against the hinge until it is snug. Before you tighten the hinge clamp, squeeze some locktite under it. If necessary, remove the hinge to allow you to apply the locktite. Recheck that the door fits without a gap and clean up any excess sealer. After the locktite has dried, you can remove the wedges and test the door. If you find that your door needs adjusting often, you may find that adding a third hinge in the middle will fix the problem. Sometimes it is the catch that needs adjusting. This is even easier than adjusting the door itself. The catch is usually held on with a couple of screws, and if you loosen these screws you can adjust it so there is a little resistance to closing and opening. Depending on the type of catch, you might need to add a bit of lubrication to it so it stops sticking. A magnetic catch will probably just need adjusting up or down. If the door has had a hard knock and the hinge has been damaged or twisted, you may need to buy a new door assembly, or install new hinges.
On the other hand, if your frameless door runs on a rail, you should check to see that the rail is not bent or filled with hair, scum, or the like. Always start with the simplest solutions so you can fix the problem before proceeding to re-tile your floor or walls. When fitted properly, frameless shower doors will give your bathroom a modern and uncluttered look that oozes style.Same weight rating as non-adjustable versions (see previous page) Good for troubleshooting off angled walls or use with latch jambs All adjustable hinges use two allen screws to create custom angles to support non-standard conditions. Shower Door Care and Maintenance Information?I don't either, and I don't have a clue why. Well, ask a loaded question, and you get a load for an answer. How can I know if it can be repaired? But together we'll sort this out! Has the door been terminated? First, is the door not working because your little bundle of joy used it as a battering ram against the Newfoundland?
Did she try to set the Olympic record for chin-ups on it? If the door is bent, creased, or the hinge is twisted, you probably need a new door unit. If, the problem has developed gradually over the years, you may be able to Each door is designed to fit adjust within a size range, not just one fixed width, to compensate for irregularities in the enclosure or the walls. usually some adjustment left to compensate for sagging. Sagging means that the door is either hitting on the latch side of the bottom or the top of the latch Now that you have a feel for the function of the door, you have to take a really close look to see what the problem is you are trying to solve. Is there an obstruction like a loose screw in the bottom of theDetermine what you want to accomplish, and them continue reading, if The frame is usually a sort of aluminum sandwich, the hinge "U" sliding into a frame "U". The frame "U" is stationary, either attached directly to the wall or to another panel (sometimes glazed).
I have never had to take as drastic an action as this, but, just in case, you should be prepared! Once you can get the door frame to adjust, you should be able to get it into a position so that it will swing free, as free as the wind blows, as free... I always prefer to install a shower or tub door set in a "virgin"But we can't always have our way, so we must carefully remove the old set with as little damage as possible to the walls. Remove the old door and frame... except the parts directly attached to the walls and threshold. The first step is to disassemble the frame parts. The door may have separate hinges that can be unscrewed, or it may be attached to a frame via a piano-type hinge. screws and take off all the parts until you are left with two vertical "U" strips, one on each side of the enclosure, and a base strip crossing the threshold of the shower between the two vertical strips. The vertical strips and the base strip are
undoubtedly glued and screwed down. This is important to know, because if you try to just pull them off, you may damage the surface of the enclosure, or, if it is tile, loosen tiles. After removing the screws, push a thin 1" putty knife between the enclosure and either vertical strip at the top, and gradually work it down behind the strip. This will cut any remaining adhesive bond and free the strip. Do this on both vertical strips, and then onClean up the residual glue with a razor blade, utility knife, or even a heat gun (see the transcript of my seminar on caulking, Caulk All The Time, People Think You Crazy, for more caulk removal info). Once the enclosure is spanking clean, follow the manufacturer's instructions for installation of your new door. tips that might help... There are four common causes for this problem. Here they are with the 1) The doors are dragging on the bottom track. Solution: Remove the door from the track and adjust the upper rollers so
that the door is a little higher. You may have to adjust both sides to keep the door aligned with the wall strips. 2) The rollers are worn out. Solution: Remove the rollers and take them to a good hardware store forTry to get rollers with the same profile... some have curved edges like donuts and some have squared edges like checkers. shaped to match the profile of the upper track. Getting the wrong shape might not improve your situation! 3) The upper track has been damaged. Solution: If you are lucky, there may be a shower door company in your area that has parts available. Take the old upper track with you. If the upper track does not come off easily, it may be caulked in place. The caulk will have to be cut off to free the track for removal. Since different tracks need different rollers, you may also have to replace your rollers, so bring one along as a sample. 4) The roller mounting brackets are bent, causing