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Not too long ago our shower door started sagging, and now it’s bad enough it won’t close. Which means when we shower water spills all over the place- and one of these days I just know it’s going to fully fall out.

I’ve included some pictures to make my situation as clear as possible.

I’ve looked for guidance online, but surprisingly I can’t seem to find a solution my problem, despite that I have what I think is a “standard” frameless shower door.

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There’s a piano hinge on one side and gasket that runs along the side of the door holding it up. It seems it has bent and some of it is not even clamping the door anymore.

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I don’t see any screws I can adjust either, which is frustrating. Here’s a picture from the rear for completeness:

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What’s my next course of action? Do I need an entire new glass door or can I replace the part that clamps on to it and forks the hinge?

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    Looks to me as though someone in your household likes to use that door for support and puts a lot of weight on it - hanging on the handle and pulling it down & away from the hinge side. In addition to fixing the door, you'll need to educate this person into not doing that or you'll just have the same problem again soon.
    – brhans
    May 25, 2021 at 12:02
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    Looks like the edge loosened from the top. Then the weight of the door caused the entire aluminum edge to bend. I don't think that this can be fixed -- once you bend aluminum it doesn't generally go back. OTOH, I think that that is a fairly generic piece within the industry. So I'd try to take the door off (so the glass doesn't fall out and break) and visit bath/tile shops to see if they know how to match it.
    – gbronner
    May 25, 2021 at 13:19
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    That's a gentle enough bend that it can be straightened. The only question is whether the grip on the glass can be restored.
    – isherwood
    May 25, 2021 at 13:19
  • Whether you need a professional is not a question for us to answer. That's entirely up to you.
    – isherwood
    May 25, 2021 at 13:23
  • You have 2 great answers so far, so I'll add this as a comment applicable to both. 1) I would use several bar clamps (heavily padded) to very gently and very slowly squeeze the aluminum strip back onto the glass to help straighten it. 2) While there's a good chance that you will be able to repair this, prepare yourself for the possibility that you won't or that the repair won't be lasting - this may be a good time to start investigating a replacement. I'd start with just the door, then look into the full glass-wall if necessary.
    – FreeMan
    May 26, 2021 at 13:29

2 Answers 2

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I think my approach would look something like this:

  1. Dismount the door assembly from the shower wall frame and move it to a safe (soft) workspace.
  2. Pull the glass entirely free of the door frame.
  3. Pull the vinyl sleeve out of the door frame.
  4. Clean all parts thoroughly with bathroom cleaner, then alcohol, to remove all residue.
  5. Very gently attempt to flex the door frame back to straight. Use spacer blocks under it and go easy. If you kink it you're done.
  6. Reinsert the sleeve into the door frame, then the glass into the sleeve. If necessary, use a dilute soap solution as a temporary lubricant.

Once it's all back together you'll need to assess whether there's enough friction to hold the glass. If not, take JACK's advice and look at an adhesive. I'd probably start with something soft but gooey, like rain gutter caulk.

Of course, any decent glass shop can probably reassemble this for you (possibly with new seals) for a reasonable price.

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I'd start out by removing the door and laying it down with the hinge on the floor and pushing the glass back into the hinge. That door will be heavy so know your strength limits. If the door was originally damaged by someone pushing down on it, this might fix it. If the glass doesn't hold into place in the hinge, try some clear epoxy in the slot and push the glass back in and wait for it to cure. This looks like a custom install so finding parts will probably be impossible.

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    The glass is probably set in a silicone or vinyl channel. How would you suggest using epoxy with that? Also, clear epoxy is probably better than JB Weld. You wouldn't really need the metal component and the color could be troublesome.
    – isherwood
    May 25, 2021 at 13:22
  • @isherwood Good point on the JB Weld.
    – JACK
    May 25, 2021 at 13:28
  • Unless the door is a custom width, I'll bet that some sort of replacement could be found if repair doesn't work.
    – FreeMan
    May 26, 2021 at 13:25

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