# Shower Door Hits Toilet - What are the possible ways of repairing this problem?



## mikem84 (Nov 7, 2016)

The glass shower door hits the toilet in my ensuite bathroom. Please see the attached pictures.

What are the available repair options?

Could the shower door be adjusted so that it doesn't hit the toilet?

Could the shower door be taken further in so it doesn't swing as far out and misses (passes by) the toilet?

Could some special hinge or something like that be installed on the shower door so that it stops before it hits the toilet?

Or would the shower door / door opening have to be moved? Is that a big job?

Or would the toilet have to be moved?

Thanks for the help.


----------



## mikem84 (Nov 7, 2016)

Here are some additional photos which may be helpful. Thanks again!


----------



## Tymbo (Jan 18, 2018)

It looks like it _almost_ clears the toilet. I would try loosening the toilet bolts and rotating the toilet a little clockwise.


----------



## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

I don't know if the swing can be reversed. Some of those doors require an engineering degree.


----------



## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

Are the stops adjustable?

Looks to me as if you are swinging the door too far back anyway, this can warp the hinge system, and ruin the sealing of the door, causing major leakage.


ED


----------



## Yodaman (Mar 9, 2015)

I agree with Ed, The door is already open sufficiently. Even if it passed the toilet, you are only going to gain a few more degrees of rotation due to the back set hinges. Without the toilet stopping the door the hinges would be sprung in short order. 

I don't think that door is reversible, but it might be worth a call to the mfg. I am guessing this is a new install. Talked with the installer yet?


----------



## MTN REMODEL LLC (Sep 11, 2010)

I'm confused s to your primary objective/concern here.

Did you want to protect the shower door from damage if it hits the toilet...

....then how about a door stop on the floor/wall. Or you could use a toilet offset flange and scoot the toilet over a little bit.

Did you want more room for using the toilet... without replumbing, about all you can get is 2" with a flange offset. Can you reverse the door swing, I can't tell from the pics.


----------



## Mike Milam (Mar 3, 2017)

I would be more inclined to put a door stop on the wall behind the door to stop it from hitting the toilet. Maybe even one top and bottom so the door didn't twist if thrown back hard.


----------



## Leslie1941 (Mar 25, 2018)

Your toilet looks like old technology, a 1 gallon flusher. Newer toilets are 1.8 litre( 1/2 gallon) flushes,their bowl is smaller and further back. A replacement toilet is under a hundred dollars US. It will fit on the same hole in the floor, and use less water / flush. Check out the models and measure the bowl offset from the wall. If you gain enough space. The same seat can be salvaged. 

A new shower door is often double the price of a replacement toilet. I don't know why, it is just that way.


----------



## mikem84 (Nov 7, 2016)

Thank you for all of the replies. If at all possible, I prefer not to move or replace the toilet, nor reverse the swing of the door.



de-nagorg said:


> Are the stops adjustable?
> 
> Looks to me as if you are swinging the door too far back anyway, this can warp the hinge system, and ruin the sealing of the door, causing major leakage.
> 
> ...





Yodaman said:


> I agree with Ed, The door is already open sufficiently. Even if it passed the toilet, you are only going to gain a few more degrees of rotation due to the back set hinges. Without the toilet stopping the door the hinges would be sprung in short order.
> 
> I don't think that door is reversible, but it might be worth a call to the mfg. I am guessing this is a new install. Talked with the installer yet?


Is there a built-in way to stop the door from swinging passed a particular point? I'm not really sure what to look for.


----------



## mikem84 (Nov 7, 2016)

MTN REMODEL LLC said:


> Did you want to protect the shower door from damage if it hits the toilet...
> 
> ....then how about a door stop on the floor/wall.





Mike Milam said:


> I would be more inclined to put a door stop on the wall behind the door to stop it from hitting the toilet. Maybe even one top and bottom so the door didn't twist if thrown back hard.


Yeah, it's to protect the door and toilet from smashing into each other and potentially causing damage. I don't really want to mess with the toilet nor change the direction of the door (if that's even possible with the current door). Preferably, there could just be some built-in mechanism to prevent the door from opening past a certain point.


----------



## Mike Milam (Mar 3, 2017)

Open the door to just before it reaches the toilet and then measure from the door to the wall behind it. See if these are long enough to catch the door before it gets to the toilet.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Gatehouse-1-in-x-3-7-in-Universal-Rigid-Stop/3353184


----------



## de-nagorg (Feb 23, 2014)

It'll be ugly, but you might be able to put some thick stick-on weather stripping on the wall behind the door, to cushion it enough to keep it from hitting the toilet.

ED


----------



## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

May I ask who designed the bathroom?


----------



## KHouse75 (May 14, 2008)

If you let it open further, I suspect it will either damage the wall or damage the frame. You might have enough wiggle room in the toilet to slide it over just.


----------



## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

You can see in the second photo that the door is a few degrees away from hitting the wall anyway, and it seems to open sufficiently for entrance/exit to the shower, so really all you need is a door stop.

Best if it mounted to the wall. You might grow old before you found something commercially that works out. So one possibility is to make one or two corner blocks out of wood and mount them to the wall. With a rubber bumper, as shown below. About 1" thick sounds about right. Paint them to match the wall. One aligned with the bottom door frame and one aligned with the top door frame would be best.


----------



## mikem84 (Nov 7, 2016)

de-nagorg said:


> It'll be ugly, but you might be able to put some thick stick-on weather stripping on the wall behind the door, to cushion it enough to keep it from hitting the toilet.


Thanks but as you mentioned, that won't look very good, so definite last resort.


----------



## mikem84 (Nov 7, 2016)

Guap0_ said:


> May I ask who designed the bathroom?


It's a new home built by a builder. I will be discussing the issue with them. I'm not sure if they'll agree to do anything so I will have to address the issue myself if they do not. I also want to be able to discuss the possible repair options with them.


----------



## mikem84 (Nov 7, 2016)

Mike Milam said:


> Open the door to just before it reaches the toilet and then measure from the door to the wall behind it. See if these are long enough to catch the door before it gets to the toilet.
> 
> https://www.lowes.com/pd/Gatehouse-1-in-x-3-7-in-Universal-Rigid-Stop/3353184





KHouse75 said:


> If you let it open further, I suspect it will either damage the wall or damage the frame. You might have enough wiggle room in the toilet to slide it over just.





SPS-1 said:


> You can see in the second photo that the door is a few degrees away from hitting the wall anyway, and it seems to open sufficiently for entrance/exit to the shower, so really all you need is a door stop.
> 
> Best if it mounted to the wall. You might grow old before you found something commercially that works out. So one possibility is to make one or two corner blocks out of wood and mount them to the wall. With a rubber bumper, as shown below. About 1" thick sounds about right. Paint them to match the wall. One aligned with the bottom door frame and one aligned with the top door frame would be best.


What is it that normally stops these doors from opening past the point that they should open? Isn't there some kind of built-in stopper or something? I'm sure that I've seen glass shower doors that don't open the whole way and not due to anything on the wall or anything like that. Know what I mean?

Thanks for the suggestions. @SPS-1, thank you for the detailed diagram.


----------



## mikem84 (Nov 7, 2016)

I snapped photos of a friend's glass shower door. Please see the attached.

These "stops" (I'm not sure what they're called) are on the top and bottom of his door. Is it possible for me to install these on my door? Or do I have this all wrong?


----------



## Gregsoldtruck79 (Dec 21, 2017)

I worked in a commercial building for 15 years where there were large showers for men and women. These walk in, all tiled shower rooms had 36" wide 3/8" thick tempered glass shower doors. Heavy doors that cost $2600 each. None of these door had stops and they could only be opened to 90 degrees. My sketch is how these doors were installed. 

I never had a issue in 15 years with anyone "over" opening the door and breaking them or the hinges. Why ? Because the people using the doors would have to pay for their breakage as they all jointly owned the building, and any repair costs were shared by all. 


Any bumper stop put on the OP's shower door on the wall close to the hinges, could be a problem. If it gets opened too quickly and with force, it is going to hit the bumper and "fulcrum" leverage the door. Which may damage the hinges or even worse, shatter the door. 

So in my opinion, there are not many options. Put a small rubber bumper on the door rail where it hits the toilet, move the toilet, change the swing of the door inward which is not ever smart to do, rebuild the whole shower, or the best option....use good judgement and care and just open the door 90 degrees and step out of the shower. 

JMO


----------



## Guap0_ (Dec 2, 2017)

> It's a new home built by a builder. I will be discussing the issue with them. I'm not sure if they'll agree to do anything so I will have to address the issue myself if they do not. I also want to be able to discuss the possible repair options with them.


Believe it or not, it's not the first time that I have heard of that problem. In a brand new high rise apartment building, every bathroom entrance door hit the toilet. They were able to adjust the frame to fix it.


----------



## mikem84 (Nov 7, 2016)

Gregsoldtruck79 said:


> I worked in a commercial building for 15 years where there were large showers for men and women. These walk in, all tiled shower rooms had 36" wide 3/8" thick tempered glass shower doors. Heavy doors that cost $2600 each. None of these door had stops and they could only be opened to 90 degrees. My sketch is how these doors were installed.
> 
> I never had a issue in 15 years with anyone "over" opening the door and breaking them or the hinges. Why ? Because the people using the doors would have to pay for their breakage as they all jointly owned the building, and any repair costs were shared by all.
> 
> ...





Guap0_ said:


> Believe it or not, it's not the first time that I have heard of that problem. In a brand new high rise apartment building, every bathroom entrance door hit the toilet. They were able to adjust the frame to fix it.


We spoke to the builder about the issue. They will look to see if there is any part or accessory that they can add to the door frame in order to prevent it from opening far enough to hit the toilet. Failing that, they have suggested attaching a silicon strip to the door to soften the impact at contact and help prevent accidental damage of the toilet and/or door.

Thanks everyone for your responses.


----------

