Delta Shower Doors SD3276457 – Review
Our previous shower door was nearly 40 years old and looked pretty bad from a mixture of dirt and corrosion. I erroneously thought the door was an integral part of the built-in shower and that we would have to replace the entire shower unit to do anything about the door. Then I looked at it closer and Googled it and realized the door is separate from the built-in shower and is replaceable. I found a comparable door, available both at Home Depot and Amazon for under $300, so we decided to replace it.
Since Amazon shipping was free, that was preferable to lugging the heavy door home in my little Prius.
Old Door Removal
The first step was to remove the old door.
- Lift the glass panels off their tracks and remove them
- Unscrew the side panels from the wall
- Remove the top frame
- Remove the bottom frame
- Remove all the old caulk. This was the most time-consuming step. To be sure the new caulk will seal properly you should be meticulous here.
New Door Installation
- Using a dime as a template, Round the bottom corners of the side panels (if needed) so they sit flush with the bottom of the shower door opening. If yours are square, skip that step.
- Drill holes in the shower wall to accommodate the side panels. Put screw anchors in the holes. Cover any unused old holes with silicone caulk.
- Install the side panels deciding whether the keep the short side or long side of the side panels facing out (depending on the width of your door space.
- Measure the top frame from wall to wall at the top and cut it to that length.
- Measure the bottom frame length from the inside of the left side frame to the inside of the right side at the bottom of the shower door frame and cut the bottom frame to that length.
- Put the vinyl sealing strip in its groove on the bottom frame and trim the edges flush.
- Run a bead of silicone caulk (I used GE Silicone II + anti mildew – Clear) along the bottom groove of the bottom frame and put the bottom frame in place. I needed to put a weight on the center of it because the bottom of my shower was not perfectly flat. Allow the silicone to dry 24 hours.
- Install the side panel bumpers
- Put the top frame on. Verify the top frame is level. (If it isn’t perfectly level, the glass panels will run “downhill” by themselves banging into the side panel. I did not have mine perfectly level and I now regret that.
- Install the top frame inserts on each side.
- Install the rollers on the glass panels being sure to include the vinyl glass protectors and hole inserts. Don’t overtighten.
- Install the glass panels on the shower by lifting the rollers above the track and setting them back down on the track. Be sure to keep the bottom of the panels inside the lip of the lower frame.
- Drill holes for the bottom door divider and install it.
- Install the shower door handles.
- Run a bead of silicone around both the inside and outside perimeters of the shower frame/shower junction. I used painters tape to keep the silicone application neat and clean
Issues
As stated before, my top track was not completely level and both doors would slide to the right spontaneously. The roller brackets have adjustments for sightly raising or lowering the top edges of each panel. They are primarily for adjusting the alignment of the door with the side panels and don’t change any downhill slope of the top frame. Also, there is a known issue with that adjustment in that you can only adjust to the higher hole. If you use the lowest of the 3 holes the bracket will rub along the top frame. I called Delta support about that and they sent me replacement roller brackets but the replacements were missing the vinyl protectors for the glass. One of the panel’s spontaneous sliding was fixed by lowering one side on the panels side because in that position it slightly rubbed the vinyl insert, causing a slight friction which prevented the spontaneous sliding of the door. The other one really isn’t that bad and I may either leave it as it is or provide some mechanism of slight friction for the other door.
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