Can shower doors be adjusted?

“Can shower doors be adjusted?” is usually typed by someone standing next to a door that has started to drag, swing open on its own or let water out at the edge. The good news is that most of these problems are in the hardware, not the glass, and the hardware is designed to be adjusted. This guide covers the common faults, what to check, and the point where adjustment stops and replacement starts.

Why do glass shower doors stop closing properly?

A glass shower door is heavy, and all of that weight hangs on two hinges or a pair of rollers. Over time a few things happen:

• The door drops. Fixing screws settle or loosen slightly, and the outer edge of the door sinks. It then rubs on the tray or catches the fixed panel.
• The closed position drifts. Many hinges are set to return the door to a closed position. If that setting moves, the door rests slightly open and water escapes at the edge.
• Seals wear. The seals on the bottom and closing edge stiffen and shrink, so a door that is perfectly aligned still leaks. Our seal guide covers choosing and fitting replacements.
• The building moves. New plaster, a settling tray or a wall that was never quite plumb can push the opening out of square, and the door no longer meets the panel evenly.

Working out which of these you have decides the fix.

Can shower door hinges be adjusted?

Usually, yes. Hinges vary between makers, but most frameless and semi-frameless hinges have at least one of these:

• Slotted or oversized fixing holes. The screws through the hinge plates sit in holes with a little play. Loosening them slightly lets the door be lifted or tilted back to level before they are retightened.
• A closing position screw. Self-closing and rising hinges often have a small screw, sometimes under a cover cap, that sets where the door comes to rest. Turning it moves the closed position a few degrees either way.
• Gaskets between metal and glass. These are not adjustable, but they matter: if one has slipped or perished, the glass can end up touching metal, which is one of the main causes covered in our guide to why shower screens shatter.

Some concealed or sealed hinges have no user adjustment at all. If there are no visible screws or caps, look up the hinge model or ask the firm that supplied it before taking anything apart.

How do you adjust a dropped shower door?

Treat it as a two person job. A frameless door in 8mm or 10mm glass is heavy, and it must never be left hanging from one hinge.

1. Look first. Close the door and check the gaps around it. A gap that is wider at the top on the closing side than at the bottom means the outer edge of the door has sunk.
2. Support the door. One person holds the glass, or it sits on packers or a folded towel at the right height. Never let it rest on the tray edge or a tile.
3. Loosen, do not remove. Loosen the hinge screws a quarter to half a turn at a time, just enough for the door to move.
4. Lift to level. Raise the outer edge until the gaps are even top to bottom, checking with a spirit level on the door edge.
5. Tighten evenly. Tighten the screws back up a little at a time, alternating between them. Do not overtighten: clamping the glass too hard puts stress into it.
6. Set the closed position with the adjustment screw, if the hinge has one, so the door rests squarely against the seal.
7. Check the swing. Open and close the door several times. It should clear the tray, the panel and the floor without touching anything.

If the door drops again within days, the screws are not gripping (stripped threads or failed wall fixings) or the hinge itself is worn. That needs a replacement hinge, fitted by someone who has handled heavy glass before.

What about sliding shower doors?

Sliding doors hang from rollers in a top track. Most rollers have an adjustment, often a cam or screw on the roller housing, that raises or lowers that corner of the door. If a sliding door drags, sticks or will not meet the end profile evenly:

• clean the track and rollers first, because hair and limescale build up and make the door feel stiff,
• adjust the rollers so the door hangs level and closes evenly,
• replace rollers that are cracked, flat-spotted or wobble on their spindles.

Rollers and guides are normally specific to the enclosure, so match the part to the make or the dimensions of the old one.

Can a shower door be repaired?

It depends which part has failed.

The last two rows are the important ones. Toughened glass cannot be cut, drilled or altered after it is made, so there is no trimming a door down on site and no repairing a chip in the edge. A chipped edge also weakens the panel, so it should be replaced rather than left in use.

When is it time to replace the glass instead?

Replacement makes sense when the glass is damaged, when the opening has changed (for example after retiling or a new tray), or when an old framed enclosure has corroded hardware and parts are no longer available. At that point it is worth weighing up whether to replace like for like or change the style, which our frameless vs framed guide compares.

If the opening is not a standard size, made-to-measure glass avoids packing out gaps with oversized seals. Lumelle Glass, for example, supplies made-to-measure frameless screens in 10mm clear toughened glass on a supply-only basis: your own fitter measures using its measuring guide and fits the new glass. Because nothing can be trimmed afterwards, the measurements need to be right before anything is made, and it is worth having the same person who measures also fit.

Quick checklist before you call someone

• Are the gaps around the door uneven? Try a hinge or roller adjustment first.
• Is the door level but still leaking? Replace the seals.
• Do the hinge screws keep loosening? The hinge or wall fixings need replacing.
• Is the glass chipped or cracked? Stop using the door and replace the panel.
• Is the door simply the wrong size for the opening? It needs new glass, not adjustment.

Most problems stop at the first two lines, and both are jobs that take less time than finding a fitter.