First of all it’s important to confirm where the glass is going to be secured, and to confirm what spacing is required for everything to fit together. We suggest using tape to clearly mark out where the glass is going to be installed. Use a low tack masking tape, or similar, to mark the relevant positions on the floor and wall, a laser can then be used to confirm where the centre of the glass will sit. The U Channel we supply has a small groove in it’s centre, so the laser can be aligned to double check. Otherwise mark out the centre of the glass by eye. Equally you may prefer to mark out the glass positioning based on the outer or inner face of the glass that is being installed.
In this installation we are allowing the following tolerances; 9mm for the offset wall to glass hinges, glass door physical size of 491mm, 7mm for the H seal between the glass, shaped glass panel of 458mm, and in this instance as the right hand wall was running in, the base tolerance was 13mm running to 6mm just under ceiling angle. These dimensions are physically marked out on the masking tape, and double checked.
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Regarding tolerances in general, we tend to recommend and allow the following deductions;
-9mm for offset or inline wall to glass hinges
-12/13mm from the height of a glass door, when a Drip seal is being used on the underside.
-7/8mm for H and Bulb seals.
-6/7mm around the perimeter of any fixed panels, where U Channel is being used.
More or less tolerance may be required, and tolerances (reductions) are always relevant to the space that the glass is being installed.
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Now that the glass door and panel spacing and positioning has been established, it’s time to cut the U Channel down to size. We are using a butt joint, where the vertical wall U Channel will sit atop the floor U Channel. Once the U Channel has been cut down to the required size, drill the spine of the U Channel, then flip it over and use a larger drill bit to again drill and form a counter sunk hole for your stainless screws.
We will mark the hole placement for the floor U Channel first, once happy, drill, wipe away the excess, remove the tape, add a small amount of silicone to the hole, insert the rawl plug, position the U Channel and then screw in place with your stainless screw of choice. Be careful to ensure the screw head is not standing proud, as this can compromise the glass itself.
Repeat the process for the wall U Channel, first mark the positioning, drill, wipe away any excess, insert the rawl plug, position the U Channel then screw to secure in place. Double check the alignment of the two U Channels at the join is correct. Once happy it's now time to mark the centre of the ceiling U Channel.
Now it’s time to check the angled glass panel is going to fit into position. Depending on how level the floor and walls are, you may need to level the glass accordingly. Often packers or spacers are needed to help raise or align the glass by a few mm. These can be purchased from many of the DIY stores.
It's now time to measure and cut your ceiling U Channel down to size, and then fix to the ceiling with rawl plugs and stainless screws, when the three U Channels are aligned, the glass can be inserted for a final check. Before finally putting the glass in position, an option is to place a small amount of silicone at the wall and floor join, and above the screw heads on the floor, in case any water does track down into the U Channel.
It's now time to fit the door to the wall, and align to the now installed fixed panel. For the drip seal to work, we advise packing the door up approx 11mm/13mm from the base of the tray. We favour 12mm and regularly allow 12mm clearance for the underside of all doors we supply. The drip seal has two vertical fins which need to be in a vertical alignment, these should not be kinked or twisted.
Attach the hinges to the glass shower door, once ready lift and position the door in place so that the holes on the hinge back plate can be marked. Again put masking tape or similar where the hinges will sit so that any markings can be clearly identified on the wall.
The door needs to now be moved out of the way so that the holes can be drilled and plugged. Once the area has been cleaned, it's time for the door to be put in position again, this time the screws will be fixed so that the door is now hung and secure. At this point adjustments can be made to the height and levelling of the door relative to the vertical wall and the sloped glass panel which is in position. One crucial point is to ensure the tops of the panels are aligned.
Once the positioning is confirmed, the relevant seals are cut to size and placed on the glass door and panel as required. It is important to get a tight fit with the seals, as they ensure a water resistant perimeter for the door. In this enclosure, a bulb seal was used on the wall side, a drip seal on the underside of the door, and a h seal was placed on the fixed panel to help orientate that the door is to be pulled to open.
The door knob is then fitted to the door.
Now it’s time to silicone the actual glass screen in position. We advise running a bead of silicone down either side of the glass where it meets the U Channel, and where the U Channel meets the wall and floor. Wipe excess silicone away and leave for approx. 24 hours. Your bespoke shower glass enclosure is now ready for use.
