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Shower Door Hits on Bottom Frame

  
  
  

shower door swing resized 600A shower door has closing problems just like any door. Sometimes they don’t close very well, whether from abuse or time. Swinging shower doors will occasionally need to be adjusted.

Open the shower door and lift it upward slightly. See if you can determine if there is any “play” in the door and if so, where the cause of it is. Usually, swinging shower doors are connected to a channel that gets screwed onto the shower enclosure from the inside of the shower. It may be that the door and channel are loose at a screw. If that is the case, Lift the door to its normal position and tighten the screws that hold the channel in place.

It may also be that the vertical support that the channel is attached to is loose. Check at the top of this hinge to see if there is any movement in these pieces. There shouldn’t be, but if there is you may have to get creative.

Also check the shower sweep at the bottom of the door. In a lot of cases, the sweep will become warped and/or loose and fall down somewhat. When it drops, the door won’t close without some effort. I would replace the sweep if that is the cause.

Can I use Snips to Cut Shower Door Track?

  
  
  

shower door hacksawWhen you are installing a shower door set, you will need to cut the track to fit in the opening. I wouldn’t use a pair of snips to cut it though as they are aluminum and not meant to be cut with the squeeze of the hand (I'm not sure anyone has the strength for that).

Instead, use a hacksaw. These have a moderately aggressive in cutting, yet they give you plenty of control over the cut. That means the blade won’t wander off of the cut and as long as you are careful, you will get a nice square cut.

Use the old carpenter’s rule of measure twice and cut once. You will need to cut the top and bottom tracks but not the vertical supports. I usually cut the channels or tracks with the walls facing up. That way I can visualize a 90-degree cut and since I only have to cut through two thin walls, it is a pretty quick cut. Move your arm like a machine would. A straight back and forth movement keeping the blade as vertical as possible will yield the best results. Once you get down to the base of the track, the cutting will dramatically slow down because you are cutting through more material.

My Glass Sliding Shower Door is off the Rail

  
  
  

shower door railA sliding shower door can really only cause one problem…it doesn’t slide anymore. For the most part, these doors operate without problems.

It may have been that someone in the shower bumped the door, or even lifted slightly instead of just pushing the door to the side, but either way, you need to get the rollers back onto the track. It may be as fast as lifting the door back on the rail, but they can be a little fussy.

You will need to lift the door enough to clear the plastic door divider at the bottom.  When the bottom of the door clears the divider, swing the bottom of the door out and lift the door up into the head rail. Then set the rollers on the track inside the rail. When you let the door down, make sure it rests back inside the divider. This may be all that is needed to fix the problem.

If that doesn’t work, you may need to either adjust the rollers or even replace them if they are damaged.

Adjusting the rollers is a matter of removing the door (follow the above steps) and loosening the screw(s) that hold the roller in place. The adjustment screw will ride in a slot that allows you to move the rollers up or down. If the door drags on the bottom, move the rollers downward to left the door higher. If the rollers are damaged, take one with you to get the right match.

How to Install New Rollers on a Shower Door

  
  
  

shower wheelsWhen your sliding shower door doesn’t slide so well anymore, first you should try to adjust them. If that doesn’t work, you will need to replace them.

The sliding shower door rollers are at the top of the doors. Lift up the door and swing it away to disengage the rollers from the top track. Try to keep the door in a vertical position as they are thin and can be flimsy. Remove the screws that hold the roller assemblies to the door and take the rollers with you to find a match. There are several styles and so you can save yourself unneccesary trips if you buy the right ones.

Reinstalling them is simply the reverse order. You will have to adjust the rollers once you get them installed. Placing the rollers on the track is more “feel” than actually seeing them. The doors are awkward and you will find yourself tipping the door and placing it into the track. You will need to lift the rollers higher than the track (which is concealed in the header) and then set the rollers onto the track.

Test the fit by sliding the door. Does it drag or rub on the bottom? If it does, lift the door again and loosen the rollers to move them lower (moving them lower in effect raises the height of the door). This will prevent the door from rubbing on the bottom.

How To Repair A Shower Door Handle

  
  
  

showerShower door handles can corrode, become loose, and generally need repair or replacement. Shower door handles are connected by screws and they are easy to fix.

Usually, the problem is that the handle is loose enough to the point where it either falls off or breaks off.

Shower doors either swing like a traditional door, or slide along a track. Swinging doors have a small vertical handle that attaches with two screws. Sliding doors typically have a long handle that spans the width of the door. It will usually be held to the door frame by two screws on each side of the door. The most obvious fix is to tighten the screws to see if that fixes the problem. If the handles tighten back up, you are done.

If you need to replace the handles, you are likely not going to find them in a home center. You should try a glass shop. There are lots of different finishes on door frames. You can try your luck on the web, but by taking the part to an experienced glass shop, they will be able to get the exact part you need.  In many cases you will have to order the parts, but getting the correct part will save you a lot of trouble.

Shower Door Towel Bar Repair

  
  
  

shower door towel barFor those of you with a towel bar attached to your sliding shower door, you know that they can become loose and virtually fall off. The repair is easy however.

Towel bars mount to the exterior side of the shower door (to keep the towels dry of course). They are held in place from screws on the inside of the shower. Each side of the towel bar usually has two screws per side. The screws go into the door from the interior of the shower, pass through the shower door, and into the threads of the towel bar on the outside of the door.

The frames of shower doors are somewhat flimsy and weak, and so stuffing a town in between the frame and the towel bar won’t help it to stay together. They become loose over time, and will pull out if not repaired.

The easy fix is to simply tighten the screws until snug. You may have to use a larger screw to get some bite from the handle. Don’t use a longer screw as this may push through the back of the towel bar. Rather, use a screw with slightly larger threads. This will allow it to bite into the material somewhat without damaging its ability to hold.

Align Sliding Shower Doors For Smooth Operation

  
  
  

shower door roller resized 600I received a call from a homeowner that his sliding shower doors were stuck and wouldn’t move. I agreed to come over and take a look.

His shower doors were not aligned in the track properly. These were doors that sit on a bathtub and effectively turn the bathtub into a shower. The same thing can also occur with a standard shower although the doors are much larger and heavier and so it is less likely to happen.

Sliding shower doors have a divider in the middle of the track to keep the doors separated and running true along the length of the track. The divider also prevents the doors from swinging into the shower. In this case, the outermost door had somehow become wedged on top of the divider and became stuck The customer confided that he was trying to adjust the door and lifted it up. That’s when it got stuck and he called for help.

In many cases the divider will crack or break. You can get replacements at any home center and install them easily.

I would not try to remove the doors unless I had to. It is awkward to lift the door up while tilting it to clear the divider and track. Plus, they are somewhat flimsy with a large piece of glass surrounded by a thin metal frame. If you need to adjust them, try lifting up one side, loosening the roller screw, and then adjust the wheel and retighten it.

Caulk Shower Door Track

  
  
  

caulk shower doorsWhether you are installing a shower door for a walk-in shower or a set of bathtub doors for a surround, there is a small step that homeowners overlook. Caulking the shower door track will help prevent water from getting under the track and leaking.

This important step is done at the beginning of the installation and creates a seal between the bottom of the track and the top of the shower lip or bathtub.

After you measure the opening for the bottom track and cut the track to fit, you will trace a couple of lines with a pencil on either side of the track. Remove the track and then you will lay down a couple of thick beads of caulking inside the two pencil lines. Replace the track setting it down into the caulking so that it lies inside of the pencil lines and compresses into the caulk. This will make it so that water won’t be able to get under the track and leak outside of the enclosure.

Once the track is in position, use painter’s tape and tape the track in several different locations to hold it in place until the side pieces are mounted to firmly hold it in place. Without the tape to hold it in place, the track will tend to move around until the caulking firms up.

Shower Door Repair Only Takes A Screwdriver

  
  
  

sliding tub doorsIf you're at the point where you have to lift up your sliding tub doors to get into the shower, you need to do a little door repair. It is usually the case that the wheels at the top of the door need to be adjusted.

Sliding tub doors, or sliding shower doors, hang from a rail at the top of the opening. There are wheels at the top of these doors that ride in grooves on the rail. Over the course of time, gravity and water play a role in throwing these doors out of alignment. There are a set of wheels on each side of the door. In many cases, it is only one side or the other that needs to be adjusted, and you can do it with just a screwdriver.

Before you try adjusting the door rollers, make sure that the rollers are in the track. Many times, the rollers have come out of the track and the door gouges the bottom rail. If you see metal shavings and scratches, this is probably what has happened. Once the rollers are back into the track you can decide if they need adjusted.

A phillips head screwdriver is all that is needed to adjust the wheels. You typically have to remove the door out of the top track to gain access to the screw. Lift up the door and swing it out to remove it. If you loosen the screw and move the wheels downward, the door will ride higher, that is to say there will be a larger gap between the bottom rail and the bottom of the door. This is good if your door has been grinding the bottom of the rail. Adjust each wheel assembly until the door is level and can fully close to each side of the tub or shower. This will also help to prevent water from leaking out of the tub/shower enclosure.

If the wheels are damaged or broken, take them with you to get a replacement. When you get them back home, replace and adjust them.

Swinging Shower Door And Shower Sweep Adjustments

  
  
  

Flimsy shower doors are wonderful. Not only do theyshower door generate plenty of service calls, but occasionally they need to be replaced. It's a vexing double-whammy for the customer.

Most of us have the same type of shower door:a thin piece of glass surrounded by an aluminum frame. The supporting frame pieces for the door are also aluminum, and depending on the size of the opening, you may have additional glass and aluminum panels. For example, some showers have a "pony wall" with an additional piece of glass on top of it. These units are screwed and caulked together.

The door has a magnetic strip on the latch side that holds it to the other side of the frame. The opposite side of the door is hinged to a channel that you can adjust. this channel is U-shaped and it moves in and out. The whole works is held in place via the head rail that slips over the vertical framework and is screwed to each of these pieces.

You can make the necessary adjustments by removing the screws, adjusting the channel, and screwing it back together.

Before you start, you need to determine where the door needs adjusting. If your shower door is rubbing on the bottom track, you might first look at the shower "sweep," which is the rubber piece secured to the bottom of the door to keep water from splashing out. In many cases, the sweep will come loose and stop the door from opening and closing properly. Here is some information on how to repair a shower sweep.

To correct this, you can loosen the screws that hold the sweep in place, adjust the sweep back into position, and tighten the screws. If the sweep looks really nasty, a new one costs about $20.00.

If your door is rubbing on the latching side, you will have to adjust either the hinge channel or the latch channel. You need to make small adjustments and unscrew only one screw at a time.

It's always easier to adjust the latch channel because you don't have to contend with the weight of the door. The screw at the top will be driven through the head rail into the vertical channel. Unscrew this one and move it away from the door slightly.

Do the same with the bottom screw and your job just might be over. If you move the channel too much, you may have to adjust the bottom even if it wasn't part of the original problem.

If your door hits at the bottom of the opening, either move the bottom of the latch channel away from the door edge, or move the bottom of the hinge channel inward. This will fix the problem by moving the latch edge of the door downward, but you may need to adjust the top of one of the channels so you have a uniform gap. You may also need to adjust the sweep.

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