Shower cabin installation

A shower enclosure arrives in several boxes: profiles, glass panels, doors, seals and a bag of screws. Installing one takes patience, because toughened glass does not forgive a knock on the edge, and an enclosure whose profiles are not perfectly plumb leaks at the door from the very first shower.

How installation goes

• checking the tray and walls are level and plumb, and unpacking with a parts check;
• screwing up the wall profiles, taking up any wall bow within the adjustment range;
• fitting the glass and doors, seals, hinges or rollers;
• adjusting the doors so they close with no gap;
• silicone on the outside and a water test.

Enclosure, walk-in screen or alcove door

A corner enclosure stands on a tray and has two sides. An alcove door fits between two walls, while a walk-in screen is a single glass panel beside a linear drain or a low-profile tray. A walk-in screen needs a solid wall fixing and a stabiliser bar at the top, because a big sheet of glass acts like a sail. On plasterboard walls, the handyman checks for reinforcement behind the profile.

Silicone inside or outside

Enclosure profiles are sealed with silicone on the outside. That way any water that gets under a profile from inside can run back into the tray. Silicone only on the inside often traps water in the profile, and it then leaks out onto the bathroom floor.

Common questions