I have a lot of people ask me, "can a totally frameless shower door leak?" Yes. There are many things that can cause an enclosure leak. What a home owner can do to help with this issue starts way before the glass arrives at the home. I'm talking about the shower stall. A shower stall has a lot to do with the leaking issues that people have when having a frameless enclosure installed. For starters let's talk about the shower stall dam. A dam is the small little wall that a person steps over when getting into the shower. It is usually about 3"-6" in height and about 3"-7" in width. The top of the dam should be slanted to the inside of the shower stall. A good dam pitch should be about 1/8" to the inside of the shower stall. This will help any water that gets past the door to run back into the shower stall.
We all know that water will run downhill. I come across dams that are pitched to the outside all the time. I inform the homeowner or contractor of the problem so they will have an opportunity to fix it. If they decide not to, I will make the customer sign off on the dam because it will leak and I will not be able to stop it. I do come across dams that are flat a lot and sometimes they leak and sometimes they don't. I can place a small moon shaped dam on top of the shower stall dam to help. It usually does the job. People ask me to use the metal dam for pitches that are to the outside but; metal dam will not work correctly. The water will pile up and sit on the silicone eventually eating its way through. The best thing that can be done is to fix the dam by having a tile contractor tilt the top tile so that the water will run back into the shower stall. Now I will talk about the next thing that will help with insuring the frameless shower doors will not leak.
The next thing that can make a huge difference is the shower head and its location. Shower heads should never be placed so that is sprays directly at the door. Remember that your shower enclosure is frameless and there is nothing to stop the water from escaping out. Sure plastics can be added but water is an amazing escape artist. If there is a way to get out it will find it. The water pressure can even open a shower door up. The best place for a shower head is spraying across the door not at the door. What is the best shower head for frameless shower doors? Rain shower heads are the best. The water that comes from a rain head flows down without too much pressure. The pressure and direction is the key. Movable shower heads that are on a flexible line can be used but, the person taking the shower must be aware of water leakage.
When remodeling a bathroom remember that water can leak from a shower stall so, keep that in mind when it comes to wall moldings and drywall. I love to see walls that are tiled next to shower stalls. Carpets in bathrooms are not a good idea either. I'm talking about attached carpets not bathroom mats. Mats are great! Frameless shower doors are the nicest thing in a bathroom but, can be a headache if not installed right.
Hi, I'm the owner of T&W Shower Doors and I wrote this for homeowners and contractors so that they can prepare for the shower door company that will be installing there frameless shower door. The shower enclosure is always being blamed for leaking problems when it is actually the shower stall.
