Hinges
Hi Chris
I have looked through your blog and haven’t noticed this addressed, so any help you can give would be most appreciated. We have a frameless glass door on our shower. The lower hinge is pulling away from the ceramic tiled wall that it is secured to. The plate is still tight against the wall, but the two screws that hold the hinge are about 1/4 inch out. The door is hanging unevenly and I’m afraid it will pull off the wall entirely. I see that the screws need to be tightened, but I can’t see how to get access to them. Can you help? (I’m assuming the door needs to be completely removed first.) Is this a DIY job, or do I need to call a professional?
Thanks so much,
Roberta
Yes, the screws are backing out of the back plate. The only way to access those is from the side that is against the wall. I would say that this is something that could be done by a handy person or two. The easy way to approach this is to put a person inside the shower and one outside. If you can pass the screw-gun over the shower door to each other, you can get away with using just one. The key is to put shims under the door (soft wood shims work great) until they support the weight of the glass. You will need to pull all of the wall screws out of both hinges so that you can pivot or lean the door enough to get at the screws. Once you have tightened the two screws that hold the hinge to the back plate, you can put all of the screws back in where they were before, and be back in action.
Having glass suction cups helps a lot with manipulating the glass. It can be done without them, but they will sure make the job easier. The advantage to hiring a pro is that he will have the right tools, and experience moving the glass around without breaking it.
Let me know how it works out,
