Shower Door - 1976/36C - Need a non-leaker!

[ohiohatteras]

Have any of you replaced the shower door on a 70's vintage Hatt? I can't find anything to stop the water from coming out under the door! I've replaced the rubber strip, built a caulk wall/dam...we just end up putting about 3 towels down to sop up the water.
So I'm thinking I will just replace the whole dog gone thing....Anybody know if there is a decent replacement or would it require extensive remodeling? Just looking for some ideas...
Thanks
Todd

 

[Starman]

Todd,

Refresh my memeory:

1) does the door open to the outside and you pull in closed when in the shower ?

2) Is there anything between the door jambs on the floor or is it just plain open . In other words, the shower floor is the same height as the rest of the head floor and no divider ?

 

[jim rosenthal]

Tod, good luck with this. If your shower is set up like mine, there is a molded fiberglass pan that is the shower enclosure, which has a hinged door. I have had some of the same problem; the door does not close snugly into the frame, with the result that it leaks. My door opens out and closes from the outside against the frame and pan.

However, my boat's door has a deflector at the bottom of the frame, made of metal, which keeps the direct spray from hitting the space between the bottom of the door and the top of the fiberglass pan (I am doing this from memory as the boat is pretty far away). Does your door have that deflector?

There is also a rubber seal at the bottom of the outside of the door, which snugs up against the outer edge of the pan when the door is closed.

It is not unusual for the door on my boat's shower stall to leak a little, but not enough to soak towels. You will need something to keep the direct spray off the joint between the door and the shower pan.

 

[Mike36c]

The Admiral replaced ours with a complete new door assembly from a local glass shop. It came with a complete new frame and hinge, they even installed it. Works perfect. I'll try to find a pic tomorrow.

 

[SeaSwick]

Jim's got it right with the deflector. Check out some showers at H Depot, Lowe's etc to see what he's talking about.

Are you dealing with a previous owner's remodel??? Look around your door, the deflector may be OUTSIDE the door, or even at the top. Someone may have decided to change the swing direction/side of the door, using the "All I gotta do is change this, this-way & that, that-way..." technique.

Also if it is a previous remuddle... er... remodel, someone may have wanted a little extra room inside the shower, cheating the wall & door panels out to the very outside edges of the shower pan, resulting in a large pan edge inside the shower ("Hey! Great! I can stand shampoo bottles here now!"). If that's the case, the diverter on the door doesn't get the water over the edge into the pan, but onto the pan edge where it runs free & anywhere it wants, just like having no deflector!

 

[Captned]

I built a deflector. It worls great. I'll try and post a picture. I also took the door outside, cut the nasty grey stuff away and caulked with a bathroom type caulk. No more nasty grey moldy areas.

Captned

 

[hunshatt]

Ok, being a glass guy, maybe I can help, at least with a link to the place we get many parts for custom shower doors

www.crlaurence.com

Look for showerdoor parts

If you find something that will work and they won't sell to you drop me a pm and I'll get it.

Tim

BTW any of you that are handy enough to work on your own boats are skilled enough to put the basic doors in. Heavy glass custom, leave that to the professional, the other stuff is easy

 

[Trojan]

If your door sits on top of the water dam you will not stop the flow. The door is supposed to be inside the dam so the water runs or drips back into the shower basin. The PO on my boat had installed a curtain on the inside of the door to stop the water instead recessing the door behind the water dam. It has since been changed.



BILL

 

[whaler23]

Mine also has a small deflector like above, however, I don't recommend that unfinished metal edge, doesn't feel good when you ram your foot into it getting out.

 

[the kuz]

Ours also has a deflector similar to the one above, but with corners rounded off. Think it is OEM configuration. No leaks. Regards, Bob K

 

[ohiohatteras]

Guys...thanks for all the replies!
My door looks just like the ones on the pic. I also replaced the rubber flap under the metal overhang and I still get too much water. I think it is escaping at either end of the flap.
I'm gonna check out the one site and see if they have any sepcial kind of parts to help stop the around the edge leaking. I would also love to see a pic of the custom door!
Thanks
Todd

 

[SeaSwick]

Hey Todd --

One last thing. If you find/build a deflector like in Captned's picture of his outswing door, do two things for convenience.

1.) make the overall length an inch or so longer than the door's width (making sure the extra length is past the hinge side).

2.) install the deflector so that it slopes from the open side downward to the hinge side.

Doing this will keep the extended end of the deflector inside the shower when the door is open & most of any water still running off the door will still drain into the shower along the sloping deflector and not onto the head floor.

None of this is necessary (& the extension will keep the door from even opening!) on an inswing door.

 

[Trojan]

If the door swings in ,you can not get out, let alone in, once the door is closed. Most boat showers do not have that much room that you can swing the door in. My door is a bi fold door and the aft shower and an outward swing in the forward shower. I'm Lucky neither leak or drip.


BILL

 

[bobk]

On my previous two houses, the door to the basement had a sweep on the bottom that was pushed down by a cam effect at the end of the door close cycle. It raised as soon as the door was opened. It was made of aluminum. Wonder if this might be useful on a shower door?

Bob