RE: My new frameless shower door is pulling the marble away from the wall!

Hi Chris,

My 3 piece L shape frameless shower was installed about a month ago and the original installer had a bit of trouble lining up the top corner of the L in the two glass pieces that came together above garden tub ledge and 6″ wide piece on front.  He also cut his hand and was having some difficulty with the bead of silicon that he place from top to bottom of that corner, it was a gooey looking stream down the inside corner.

He had arrived late in the day, almost 5 pm and said another installer would return and re set the panel over the garden tub ledge to make the L corner pieces match at the same height.  I gave him some band aids and he was on his way home around 7 pm.  We were to leave the shower door slightly ajar 24 hours to let silicon and installed frameless shower “set” .

We did so and noticed 24 hours later when closing the shower door that it squeaked with a low groan when oped or closed. This groan became progressively louder.  The door is connected to a marble wall insert as we didn’t change the tile, etc. we just replaced a gold framed shower with frameless.

When the second installer arrived, he didn’t reset the glass wall that sits on the garden tub ledge, but he did remove the messy silicon and placed a very nice even bead of silicon from top to bottom of the L corner and voluntarily removed door hinges and plastic trim around door edges so the squeak is gone.  Door now is trimmed on bottom & hinge side.

Follow up contact with the dealer revealed they believe a 1/4″ difference not 1/16″ in glass pieces at the joint is industry standard and does not require adjustment of any kind.

Just a day ago I noticed the caulk between the wall and marble has split as the marble wall piece has pulled away from our bathroom wall.  The shower door hinge is rubbing and the the top right corner of door now hits and grabs the plastic strip on adjacent glass wall piece while the bottom has its original space.

OMG,  can the marble piece be pushed back into place?  The bolts at the top of the marble wall enclosure piece appear to be loosening.

Do you see this occur often?  Should I have known not to replace my shower with frameless if I did not also replace the marble sheet wall enclosure?

Please help,

LS

      

Hi Lisa,

I’m sorry to hear about the issues you are having with your new shower enclosure. I took a look at the photos you sent, and I see what you are talking about. It is hard for me to fault the installer of the shower enclosure for the marble surround coming away from the wall. At least, not completely. If there is a wood stud placed behind the marble where the hinge lands, the installer should have used a screw long enough to reach through the marble wall (looks like it’s about an inch thick) and into the wood stud. A three-inch screw would do the trick. If, on the other hand, there is no wood to anchor into, the installer would have used an anchor of some type for the hinge to support the weight of the door.

More often than not, there is not a stud on the other side of the tile or marble to anchor into. We often use concrete anchors for this purpose, and they work just fine. There are some secrets to achieving success with this, though. If a plastic anchor (plug) is used for this purpose, and it isn’t pushed all the way through the marble and into the wall behind it, the marble will be supporting the weight of the door instead of the wall. That could cause the marble to come away from the wall the way yours is. I am guessing this is the issue in your case. If so, the solution is as simple as pulling the screws, replacing the existing plugs, and pushing them backinto the hole far enough to be anchored into the wall behind your shower. Longer screws could be used, if needed, to reach back there.

Let me know if this helps,

Chris
Showcase Shower Door

Shower Door Issues – Warping

I recently had a Coral sliding frameless glass door installed in my shower enclosure. The doors each have euro through the glass towel bars installed. The mounting screws for the towel bars scrape against each other when the doors are opened from either side. The installer said we could just pull the towel bar towards us as we slide the door but that is not an acceptable long term solution to us. The outside door seems to be bowed inwards slightly in the middle where the towel bar is located. The manufacturer has indicated they would replace the outside door but my question is whether it is a door materials problem or an installation problem that might continue to exist after replacement. Have you seen this type of issue and if so how was it resolved?

Thanks for any assistance.

Ron C.

      

Hi Ron,

Thanks for your email, this is a great question…

Warping is a common side-effect of the glass tempering process. The thinner the glass, the more prone it is to becoming bowed during tempering. I’m guessing that the glass in your sliding bypass doors is ¼” thick, and is more vulnerable to this type of warping. There is a tolerance for the bow in tempered glass, because there is no way to eliminate it completely. When the warping in the glass exceeds the amount that is tolerable, the result is the issue you are experiencing. The manufacturer’s willingness to replace the panel is all you can really ask them for, in fairness.

As far as the installer goes, they should notice the excessive bowing, and turn the panels to face away from each other in a way that prevents the warping from posing a problem. Of course, this only works when the glass type is clear. Obscured glass has a “rough” side, and prevents the possibility of turning the glass around. Thicker glass has less of a tendency of warping during the tempering process, and is a good reason to use thicker glass. Even in an enclosure that utilizes hinges, bowing in glass can present challenges in making the panels line up properly.

Thanks again,

-Chris Phillips