4 Signs You Need a New Frameless Shower Door

You use your frameless shower door a lot over its lifespan. As time passes, age, wear, or accidents can weaken the glass or its connections, and you might ultimately need to replace it.

Sometimes, you get a heads-up that the shower door isn't in good shape. How can you tell if your door has a problem?

Even minor damage can weaken the glass in a frameless shower door. The glass might hold itself together for a while; however, it won't last forever from this point.

Any damage on the shower door could be a sign that you need a replacement. If the glass sheet isn't whole, then the damage might worsen whenever you take a shower. Temperature fluctuations can make cracks shift, widen, and spread.

If you're unlucky, the damage will spread so that the door becomes unusable. In extreme cases, the glass might shatter. Some shower doors have suddenly broken into pieces because of tiny imperfections or areas of damage that create enough pressure over time to make the glass fall apart.

So, look for cracks, chips, pits, and scratches on the glass. This kind of damage is often most dangerous around the edges of the glass or along the parts of the door that attach to the hinge or clamps.

Rust marks around hinges or clamps are also a bad sign. The fixings that hold the glass in place might be corroding. If these areas get rusty, then they'll lose some of their strength and integrity. They are more likely to break, in which case they won't hold the weight of the glass for long.

A shower door should open and close smoothly and easily. If your door suddenly works a little differently than usual, then you might have a problem.

For example, if the door sags down, then it might scrape or drag on your bath or floor when you open and close it. You might even have to hoist it up a little to get it to work without sticking.

Or, the door might start to make unusual noises. You might hear a grating noise or squealing sound when the door turns on its hinges. The glass may sound like it crackles.

A door that has alignment problems isn't likely to give you a sound seal that keeps water in the shower. There will be a gap somewhere that allows water to escape. If the door has hinge or clamp problems, then the fixing is at risk of falling off and bringing the glass down with it.

Your frameless glass shower door should keep water inside your shower and out of the rest of your bathroom. If the door is damaged or has lost some of its original tight fit, then the door might not be watertight any longer. Water will leak out onto your bathroom floor.

Sometimes, the glass screen is the problem. Cracks around the edges of the door might not look large, but they are sometimes big enough to let a noticeable volume of water through. Or, if you have a shower sweep on the bottom of the door, then it might lose its watertight seal if it breaks or wears down.

Leaks are also sometimes due to problems with caulking, seals, and gaskets. These materials might wear, come loose, fall out, or shrink as they age.

For example, if sealant around a hinge's connection to the wall has shrunk away, then it makes a gap. Water can get through and run down the wall. Or, if the gasket between the glass and its hinge has worn thin, then a gap between these two pieces lets water through.

If this has happened for a while, then you might also see mold and water stains on the glass or its connecting pieces. These often collect at the bottom of the door by the wall it connects to.

As a shower door and its glass ages, you might find it harder to keep them clean. The glass might look dull and discolored. It gets harder to clean off scale stains and soap scum without scratching the surface. If metal hinges or clamps have rusted, then they won't clean up well either.

If your shower door looks old and stained, then you have a cosmetic reason to upgrade to a sparkling new door. New glass and fittings will look better and will be a lot easier to clean.

However, soap scum and stains on glass aren't just ugly to look at; they can also damage the door. For example, over time, the minerals in soap scum can soak into glass and weaken it.

If you think that your shower door is about to reach the end of its useful life, then contact MS Glass Outlet. We offer a full range of shower door glass services from repairs to replacement.