Stock Sizes of Sliding Shower Doors

In new construction our builder chose an Akers s-60 shower, which has a 52 inch opening….the doors we like are made by Kohler which only go down to a 56 inch opening or Sterling will go down to 54….

We were told at Lowes if you cut the door you lose your warranty…given the fact that the doors fit a variety of openings I assume that the frame gets cut but the doors stay the same which is natural….if you used a Kohler with a 56 minimum opening and cut the frame down to fit the 52…..wouldn’t the doors just overlap a bit more and the opening (getting and out) be a bit smaller?

Thanks,

JD

Hi JD,

Thanks for your question. You are correct, using a standard size enclosure in a smaller opening will simply allow the doors to overlap a bit more in the center. As you pointed out, it will also make the opening smaller. If you are going to purchase the enclosure from Lowes, you will have to settle for the size of the panels that they provide, as it is impossible to cut tempered glass (warranty or not.) On the other hand, your local glass shop may be able to offer you a larger selection of shower enclosures at a competitive price. They are also able to order the door panels at the exact width you want. If you have a number of glass shops in your area, you can shop around a bit. At any rate, I NEVER recommend ordering an enclosure from a home improvement store. They just don’t understand anything about glass… The comment about cutting the doors you got from Lowe’s illustrates this fact.

Good luck!

-Chris