Renovation guides

How to install a shower door yourself: step by step

A framed or semi-frameless sliding or pivot door kit on an existing tiled tub or shower. Measure in three places, drill the tile without cracking it or hitting a pipe, seal only the sides the kit says, and let the silicone cure before the first shower.

Difficulty 3 of 5 · 1 weekends · careful

Photo of your room, the look you pick, then this guide with the materials counted for your room.

Step by step

1. Step 1 of 12

   Check the opening and the kind of door

   

   Look at the tile and grout around the opening: no loose, cracked, or hollow-sounding tile where the frame will go. Find the wall with the valve. Read the stop-gate — a frameless heavy-glass door with wall-mounted hinges is not this guide.

   Before you buy the kit

   • The door is a framed or semi-frameless kit, not frameless heavy glass on wall hinges
   • The tile and grout where the frame goes are sound, with no loose or cracked tile
   • You know which wall has the valve
   • You have a helper for the day the glass goes up

2. Step 2 of 12

   Measure the width at three heights

   

   Measure wall to wall across the opening at the top of the tub or curb, at the middle, and at the height where the top of the door will be. Write down the smallest and the largest. Measure the height from the tub or curb to below the shower head. Order the kit whose range covers both widths.

3. Step 3 of 12

   Check the walls for plumb and the tub or curb for level

   

   Hold the level on each wall where the jamb will stand and note how far off plumb it is from top to bottom. Set the level on the tub edge or the curb along the opening. Compare both with what the kit's instructions allow. If either is out by more than that, stop — the door will not close or seal.

4. Step 4 of 12

   Unpack, count the parts, and clean the opening

   

   Check every part against the parts list and read the whole instruction sheet before you drill. If an old door is there, lift the panels out first, then unscrew the frame, cut the old silicone with the utility knife, and scrape it off. Clean the tub edge and the tile where the frame sits with rubbing alcohol and let it dry.

5. Step 5 of 12

   Dry-fit the frame and mark the holes

   

   Cut the bottom track to length if the kit says to, and set it where the instructions show. Stand each wall jamb on it, hold the level on the jamb until it is plumb, and mark the tile through every screw hole. Put a cross of painter's tape over each mark and re-mark on the tape. On the valve wall, check that no mark sits below the valve in line with it.

6. Step 6 of 12

   Drill the tile slowly, in drill mode

   

   Use the glass-and-tile or diamond bit in the size the kit's anchors need. Drill mode, slow speed, light steady pressure, and a spray of water on the bit so it stays cool. Once through the tile, drill only as deep as the anchor. If a tile cracks, stop and read the stop-gate.

   Before the first hole

   • The jamb was plumb when you marked, and every mark is on tape
   • No mark on the valve wall is below the valve, in line with it
   • The drill is in drill mode, not hammer mode
   • The bit is a glass-and-tile or diamond bit in the size the kit names
   • Safety glasses on

7. Step 7 of 12

   Clean the holes and set the anchors

   

   Vacuum or blow the dust out of each hole and wipe the tile. Tap the anchors in until they sit flush with the tile face. An anchor that spins or sinks means the hole is too big — follow the kit's instructions, or move the jamb only if the kit allows it.

8. Step 8 of 12

   Fasten the track and the wall jambs

   

   If the kit says to bed the bottom track in silicone, do it now, on the line its drawing shows. Set the track, stand the jambs, check them for plumb again, and drive the screws. Snug them only — overtightened screws crack tile.

9. Step 9 of 12

   Hang the glass with a helper

   

   Carry each panel upright, by its edges, with your helper on the other end. Never set glass down on its corner or on tile — stand it on cardboard. Hang the panels on the header rollers or set the pivot door in its hinges exactly as the instructions show.

10. Step 10 of 12

    Adjust the door until it closes square

    

    Adjust the rollers or the pivot until the door closes without dragging, the gaps are even from top to bottom, and the panels overlap the way the drawing shows. Fit the bottom guide, the seals and sweeps, and the handles.

11. Step 11 of 12

    Silicone only where the kit says

    

    Find the weep holes in the bottom track and leave them and the side the kit marks as open alone. Tape both sides of each joint the kit says to seal, run a thin bead of silicone, smooth it with a wet fingertip, and pull the tape while the silicone is still wet.

    Before you seal

    • You found the weep holes in the bottom track and they stay open
    • You know from the kit's drawing which joints get silicone and which do not
    • The joints are clean and dry

12. Step 12 of 12

    Let it cure, then test it

    

    Keep water off the door for at least 24 h, or longer if the silicone label says so. Then run the shower against the closed door for a few minutes and look outside it: no water on the floor, no drip at the corners of the track.

    Before the first shower

    • The silicone has cured for the time on its label
    • The door slides or swings closed without dragging
    • No water on the floor after running the shower against the closed door
    • No cracked tile around any screw

Draft guide written from standard practice, not yet reviewed by a licensed pro. Follow product labels where they differ.

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