Generally speaking, a glass door is better at keeping water inside a shower than is a curtain. Because water damage takes place in the bathroom more than in any other room in the house, it makes sense to manage bathroom splashing.

If you would like to have a new shower door, but find a shower curtain more feasible for financial reasons, perhaps knowing how to install the door yourself will make it affordable. Also, knowing how to properly install such a door can make it easier to understand how to maintain it. It is extremely important to choose a kit that is the proper height. The overall height of the door assembly must fit between the tub or shower pan and the top of the waterproof wall cover.

If a shower door is to be replaced, the following installation information is used in reverse to remove the old door. It is important to completely remove all caulking and debris left on the pan or tub and shower walls.

Removing an old shower door or installing a new one requires the exact same first step cleaning the area thoroughly. A putty knife can be helpful in scraping away beads of old dry caulking.

Next, a pencil line is drawn across the tub or shower pan indicating exactly where the bottom door track is to be mounted. Installing a shower door involves mounting four tracks: a bottom track, two side tracks, and a top track, and then installing and adjusting two doors. A modest amount of cutting will have to be done to ensure that the length of each track is correct.

Since shower door assemblies are normally made of aluminum, a hacksaw is the best cutting device to use. The top and bottom tracks might have to be cut to different lengths depending on how square the opening is. There is no reason to be alarmed by this. There is usually enough door overlap and adjustment to compensate for openings that are out of square (trapezoidal). With kits, cutting the side tracks will probably not be required. This is because the height of the top track is predetermined by the door height.

The instructions that come with the shower-door unit will indicate screw spacing. This will differ from manufacturer to manufacturer depending on the size and strength of their track. On the manufacturer's recommendations, holes will have to be drilled into the tub or shower pan so that screws can be used to hold the track in place. The track should be placed in a bed of silicone caulk. There should be enough caulking so that when the track is pressed into its place, it oozes out the edges. Once the track is screwed in place, the excess caulk should be cleaned with a paper towel and alcohol. It is important to quickly remove the excess. Once dry, a scraper must be used to remove surplus amounts.

Once the bottom track is firmly in place, the side tracks can be mounted. A level is used to ensure that a penciled guideline is perfectly plumb (straight up and down). The side tracks are caulked and mounted in the same manner as the bottom track. Note that normally the side tracks fit within the bottom track. When sheetmetal screws are used to secure the bottom track, screws with lag shields might have to be used for the side tracks. This practice is common since there is usually nothing within the wall to screw into. If the shower walls are made of ceramic tile, a masonry bit will be needed. For those who have never tried, using a masonry bit to drill through ceramic tile is as easy as using a wood bit to drill through soft wood.

Installing the top track and doors is best done with two people. First, the doors are inserted into the top track and then the top track and doors are guided into the side and bottom tracks. Sounds complicated, but it really isn't.

With the track and doors in place, only three steps remain: screwing the top track to the side tracks, adjusting the doors and caulking the perimeter. If you fail to attach the top track to both side tracks, an unsafe condition could result. A firm tug on a door could cause the top track and doors to come tumbling down on an unwary bather. Quarter-inch sheetmetal screws are used on each side of the ends of the top track for safety. Next, a small wrench or screwdriver is used to adjust each door so that it closes parallel to the track. Note: there are two tracks for the shower doors one door fits on the inside track and one on the outside track. The door nearest the showerhead when closed MUST be installed on the inside track.

Finally, to guarantee a watertight installation, it is important to add one final bead of silicone caulk all the way around the door on the inside edge of the frame. All screw heads should be caulked, along with both side-to-bottom track connections.