Frameless shower door mounting

[waterrockets]

Hi, I'm about to start a big bathroom remodel, and I wanted to see if anyone here had installed a frameless shower door before, and knows how the door hinges attach to the framing behind the tile/backer board.

I'm not sure if I'll be doing the installation, but I will have the walls stripped down to the studs. While it's open, I want to make sure I install any necessary blocking to support a frameless shower door.

Is anything more than a stud required? I'll make sure there is a stud coplanar with the center of the shower curb, with it's edge facing the door edge.

Thanks,

Mike

[adam]

wrote

Well Mike, normally when someone decides to put in a new shower door, and they go frameless. There's no real project involved except getting old caulking off. You do realize, a frameless still has framing on each side, but not mounted to the glass, and also usually a sloped sill for water run off back towards the unit. When someone decides on a frameless door, the frame is installed with wall anchors and that's about it! So if you put blocking or a stud in where the door is going to go, you will be far ahead of those that just replace a door.

[waterrockets]

Thanks for the info, but I think you're talking about a "semi-frameless" shower door. Mine will have no frame anywhere, and just three or four hinges connecting it to the wall. Do a Google Image Search for "frameless shower door." Here's an example:

Do these hinges also just require a stud?

Thanks, Mike

[Charles Spitzer]

yes, but typically they are installed after the tile, with screws through holes in the grout line or the tile itself. fill the hole with silicone first before installing the hinge for a water barrier.

[waterrockets]

Yeah, I'm new to these types of doors too, but these pure frameless are the first ones my wife and I saw, and we like the way they look. It sounds like they are made to be very close to the wall. The hinges keep swing the door back to center and dampen, so you don't need any stops. I think the gaps around the door are much smaller than the thickness of the glass, so you don't get water bouncing through the cracks, and a mild slope on the curb should keep the water going the right way when it gets all the way down.

I called the glass shop today and they said that as long as I have a stud parallel to the curb's center line, the hinges will be fully supported (long stainless screws), so I guess that answers my original question.

-Mike

[adam]

wrote

Hmmmmm, never seen one like that. Exactly how does it keep water from going on the floor, or doesn't it? There must be a gap at the pivot area, otherwise the glass would rub, also no latch strike channel. Is there just a couple of door stops on the latch side? No _H_ channel what-so-ever. Maybe I'm missing the obvious?

[Murray Peterson]

[e-mail] wrote in news:1113764959.510653.30920 @l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

Our shower door is a frameless. You should put in two studs where you think the door will go -- by the time the shower is built, your measurements may have shifted enough to drift too far off center from a single stud.

The hinges are held on with long screws that go through your tile. In our case, none of the screws lined up with the mortar joints, and we had to drill 8 holes through porcelain tile -- no fun, but it all worked out fine.

[Murray Peterson]

"adam" wrote in news:F5X8e.89591$ [e-mail]:

There is a plastic "sweeper" on three sides of the door -- it's not a perfect seal, but I have never had water come through our door. No stops either -- the door swings freely inwards or outwards.

[MikeP]

Look at

for some pictures and installation details.

[waterrockets]

Thanks, that's exactly the kind of insight I'm looking for.

I was thinking about stacking two studs face-out instead of edge-out to give me that extra target area. This would also eliminate the possibility of a screw going into the crack between two edge-out studs.

-Mike

Murray Peters> [e-mail] wrote in news:1113764959.510653.30920

[Murray Peterson]

[e-mail] wrote in news:1113914711.263445.300340 @f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

Make sure that you have some really good backing if you do that -- our glass door is *heavy*. Any flex or give in those studs would result in the wall flexing -- not a good idea when you have tile and glass mounted on it.

Personally, I would go with the studs on edge -- at least 2 of the four screws will not hit the crack between the studs.