A hinged glass shower door is one of the easiest ways you can upgrade your bathroom from an old-fashioned space to a modern sanctuary. In contrast to a sliding shower door that will accumulate dust and other residues because of tracks, a hinged door swings similar to a regular door and offers simplicity and ease of cleaning. Even though hiring professional help will guarantee the highest-quality installation, understanding how to do this yourself is always a plus because precision plays a key role here.
Why You Should Choose a Hinged Glass Shower Door?
It is important to understand the reasons why many people prefer hinged shower doors before moving on to the actual installation process. They give your bathroom an opening feeling of a spa, are easier to maintain compared to framed sliding ones and use stronger glass (usually 3/8″ – 1/2″). Moreover, the life expectancy of such doors is significantly higher due to the absence of mechanisms.
Step 1: Precise Measurement & Planning
Accurate measurement is essential to any successful installation project. The entrance to the shower needs to be measured several times – from top to bottom since older tiling jobs and crooked framing can result in variances as little as an eighth of an inch, which will affect the door operation and how tightly it seals.
This is also when the choice of enclosure is made – one panel or a door and inline panel or neo-angle for a corner shower. It is also important to choose whether the door opens out into the bathroom or inwards depending on the overall layout.
Step 2: Glass Thickness & Hardware
The glass thickness plays an integral role not only in aesthetic but also in durability of the enclosure. Glass that is 1/2″ thick will need less hardware and therefore it gives a much more streamlined look, 3/8″ thick glass is also quite common choice of thickness. All shower enclosures need to have tempered glass which shatters into pieces and not shards in case of breaking.
Hardware (hinges, handles, and clips) should also complement existing fixtures in the home, whether chrome, brushed nickel, matte black, or brass. Quality hinges are very important, because the hinges will have the weight of the glass panel on them many thousands of times throughout the life of the door.
Step 3: Preparing the Opening
Before installation commences, the shower opening should be cleaned, leveled, and inspected to ensure that the wall (whether tile, stone, or acrylic) can adequately mount the hardware. Also, any unevenness on the surface of the tile should be corrected at this point, because glass panels do not allow for adjustment the way framed doors would.
Step 4: Hinge and Hardware Installation/Hanging Glass Panel
This step is the most technologically difficult part of the entire process. Hinges are installed either onto the wall itself or onto another fixed glass panel, and then the glass door panel is hung. Since glass cannot be cut or drilled in site after it has been made (only in the factory), all holes and edges should be perfectly fabricated in advance.
The door should move freely and not catch against the shower base and should close with an equal gap all around. The installer usually uses suction cups and other special lifting equipment to safely move and place the panel without putting strain on the corners and edges.
Step 5: Sealing and Waterproofing
After the door is hung properly, the last step is to seal the edges of the shower door with a good quality silicone sealant. The areas to be sealed include those at which the glass joins the walls and base, as well as any additional glass panels. Sealing is very important, not only to protect the neighbouring walls from the moisture but also for the hardware because it may get damaged by the excess moisture.
Mistakes to Watch Out for When Installing Shower Doors at Home
Typical mistakes made by people who try to install their shower doors at home themselves include incorrect measurement that will result in gaps and improper positioning, underestimation of the weight of tempered glass, and incorrect levelling that will cause the door to move on its own accord. As the tempered glass cannot be altered in any way after being made, errors that occur when measuring or placing an order may require you to start the entire process all over again.
Why Professional Installation Is Recommended?
Since installing tempered glass is quite heavy work, requires accuracy in the process of aligning hinges, and involves the risk of having to redo everything again if something goes wrong, most people find hiring a professional worth the price. Hiring a professional allows you to use special equipment as well as have the skills necessary for making sure that the door will function and seal perfectly from the very first day – thus preserving not only your purchase but also other elements of your bathroom.
Concluding Words
Not only does a correctly installed hinged glass shower door allow improving the look of your bathroom, but it also provides you with its long-term value and functionality. Everything from accurate measurements to correct sealing will affect the performance of the door you are going to get in the end. If you are living in Fairfax, Northern Virginia, DC, and Maryland area, DMV Glass Works will help you to measure, fabricate, and install your new glass shower door.