Sagging Framed Shower Door – Can it Be Repaired?

Dear Chris.

My shower door is sagging and the gap at the top of the door is wider than the gap at the bottom of the door.  There is also some black plastic coming out of the hinge area of the piano hinge on the shower door. Can I just replace the hinge or do I need a new shower door?

Thanks,

Don

Hi Don,

The type of shower door you are describing is what I call a “manufactured” shower door. These are also known as “standard” shower doors. They have a gasket that runs the entire length (height) of the glass, and the panel is held in place by friction. On the inside of the door there are usually a few screws that are tightened down to cause the aluminum assembly to clamp down on the glass, holding it in place.

Over time, the glass may begin to slip out of the channel that it is being held by. The most common cause of this is people hanging their wet towels (bath mats) over the door to dry. These doors just aren’t designed to hold any extra weight at all. Once the door starts to fail, there is no amount of tightening the screws that is going to hold the glass in place any more. In short, you really do need a new door.

That being said, I have had success in the past with taking the door apart, cleaning out the aluminum very carefully, and replacing the rubber gasket with silicone (wet silicone out of a caulk tube). The silicone was able to hold the glass even though the vinyl gasket had failed. It is quite a bit of work, and you will have to gauge whether or not it is worth the effort.

Thanks for writing!

-Chris