How to fix this glass that is no longer in place?
How to fix this glass that is no longer in place?
Hey, apologies if I'm not using the correct terms, I'm going to do my best to describe the issue.
This is a photo from my shower. There's a glass "wall" and a glass door. The door is connected to the glass wall by a hinge. The glass wall was glued to a metallic frame but it looks like the glue is not holding it in place anymore.
Is it a DIY job for a new homeowner after the millionth thing broke down this month and is ready to step into traffic? Or should I just hire someone? What profession am I even looking for to get it fixed?
If it's an easy enough fix, what keywords do I use to look up a fix and the materials needed?
Any other useful information or advice would be appreciated. Thank you!
Update: thank you all for the comments. I don't think I have the skills to do this project by myself and don't want to risk glass all over the bathroom floor. I've contacted some people who fix windows and stuff, and they've agreed to this work at a reasonable price.
Take the door off. Use a knife to score the existing silicone and then pull the glass out. Use a razor blade and knife to clean up the existing silicone. Clean the surfaces well.
Get silicone bathroom caulk from home depot. Put some in the channel, put the glass back, put more along the seam. Use a wet finger to smooth it out.
Tape it in place while it cures and you're done.
I'm kinda surprised a piece with an attached door is just siliconed in place. Is there no retention screw or anything?
This is the best way of doing it. I'd recommend some paint thinner and paper towels to help clean up the silicon. Even people that have been doing this work for years can get enthusiastic with caulking stuff in and silicon can get messy fast. Plus make sure to give the whole space enough time to fully cure and be good to go against water exposure. I'm also surprised at the apparent lack of retention screw or something in there, pretty strange
I can only confirm what ballskicker and Shadow said - I'd remove the old caulk both mechanically and with the help of a solvent and then caulk it back in.
However, I'm also pretty sure it will eventually sag again without the help of a retaining mechanism.
Given the pictures you posted (which might not provide the full context), I assume someone really just caulked a glass panel into the profiles and left it at that. I assume you would like to avoid drilling the glass (can be done, but is tricky and has the potential to create a mess pretty quickly), so I'd simply manufacture a retaining cap that closes off the profile and holds the glass panel in place. I'd drill a hole into the ceiling to hold the cap in place, or into the profile, depending on the material and the remaining situation at hand.
I'm talking about mounting that right here, after sliding the glass back in / caulking, of couse:
And as an extra aside be careful not to put pressure on the edge where it’s apt to fracture and break.
OP, do this, but when you use silicone caulk (kitchen and bathroom stuff), you need to use rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle to smooth it out or it will stick to your finger and make a mess. Water works great for latex caulk.
i use water with liquid dishwashing soap
Make sure you get the right silicon too. This is in a wet environment so you don’t want stuff that decimates within a few years. If you hire a guy they have commercial grade stuff that can last 20 yrs. If you go to Home Depot I think you can get stuff that might last 10.
Nope, there's no screw or anything mechanical holding it in place.
Thank you for the advice.
Largely agree with the others with one exception. Don't put adhesive inside the channel. It will make future removal basically impossible.
Cut whatever adhesive you can see with a razor, slide the glass out of the channel, clean the channel and glass well, and then reinstall. Run a bead of silicone around the seam. It will be more than enough to hold the glass in place. That's the same way stone countertops are installed - there usually isn't glue between the countertop and the cabinets. The silicone/caulk beads are enough to hold it in place.
Things to keep in mind:
- it's glass, so you'll want to avoid bumping it into things. Put down thick towels/blankets in your work area and wherever you want to put it down. Be very wary of dinging the bottom on the floor/ceiling
- wear PPE. At a minimum leather shoes/boots, thicker pants that aren't skin tight (no skinny jeans), long/heavy/baggy sleeves, leather work gloves, and safety glasses
- it's going to be somewhat heavy. You could measure the panel size and plug it into an online calculator for a decent number. I suggest buying heavy duty suction cups that come with vacuum pumps. These will make moving the glass around a lot easier and they're not that expensive
Good luck!
Run a bead of silicone around the seam. It will be more than enough to hold the glass in place.
I don't think so, the shower door is hanging from the side of that glass panel. Silicone caulk is not an adhesive, it's just a sealant. Opening and closing the door will break it free again.
Ah, for some reason I thought the glass what was moving was the stationary side. I should have taken a better look at the photo. Thanks for the correction!
Granite counter tops also rest on a sturdy base, the caulk used to attach them doesn't have to resist a lot of force trying to push the slab around, the caulk is mostly there to prevent liquids spilling into the cabinets and to provide a decent appearance. Yes, the caulk also somewhat attaches the slab, but keep in mind how hard it is to move to begin with, given the weight of the counter top.
Here, the weight of the glass door pulls the panel out of the rails via the hinges. Silicone won't provide a lasting solution.
Looks kind of like this. They suggest replacing the uchannel with clamping braces instead
This is one flase move from having a bathroom absolutely full of tempered glass pieces
If it were me, I'd fix it the lazy man's way - clean out the slot and the glass very well. I'd then dry it out with rubbing alcohol and paper towels.
Then I'd squirt some Goop adhesive in there, and push it back in place (also consider clear silicone). I like Goop because it sticks to almost everything, cures quickly, holds incredibly well, yet is easy to cleanup (or remove when you need to).
You want enough adhesive in there so just a little oozes out, to ensure it's made good contact.
OP, don't try to do this yourself. If you think you can handle the process without a professional, that's fine, but you're going to need at least one strong friend to help you move all that glass out carefully and hold it straight and still when you're putting it back and gluing it. They'll need patience as well, because no beers until it's all done!
And two suction cup handles.
First things first. Do you have a sledgehammer?
I think you need to do something more to keep the panel from pulling out of its channel again. You should do what others have said, remove the door, pull the panel out, clean out all the old adhesive and caulk, and replace the panel, but you should also add something to keep the panel from leaning down away from the wall again.
A simple fix would be to screw something like this bumper into the ceiling at the end of the top channel, right at the corner of the panel so that it can't slip out. If the ceiling is just sheet rock there then use an anchor as well.
This might not be the prettiest fix, but because the door is hanging off this panel you shouldn't trust it to hold with adhesive only, and definitely not just silicone caulk (which is not an adhesive). Moving the door will flex the adhesive and eventually work it free again.
Oh hey, I just saw you had already posted pretty much the same recommendation I had in mind. I'd personally 3d print an attachment, but your solution is readily available for everyone and cheap. Kudos!
Looks like the fine folks here have you covered. This should be a pretty easy DIY to tackle. As others have said though, that glass can be incredibly heavy, and it's likely tempered, so don't hit the corners on anything or it'll basically explode into a million pieces.