Shower Door Installation
Handis shower door installation puts tempered glass on tub alcoves and walk-in showers — framed, semi-frameless, or frameless glass — sized to the existing opening, plumb-checked, anchored to the right backing, sealed and water-tested before we leave — from $600 framed to $3,200 for a large custom frameless. The fabric curtain that has been pulled across the tub for years. The cheap framed door whose bottom track has gone black with mildew. The walk-in shower the previous owner left bare and you have been mopping the bathroom floor after every use. New tempered glass is the single change that resets a bathroom faster than any other update. Three variants below cover the budget, mid, and premium price points — same installer crew, same plumb-and-level verification, same 30-day workmanship guarantee.
Variants
What Does Shower Door Installation Include?
Shower door installation is the wet-zone update that swaps a curtain or an aging door for new tempered glass — covering opening measurement and plumb-and-level verification, glass selection sized to the opening, manufacturer-spec anchor placement into tile-backer studs or solid backing, hardware sized to glass weight, magnetic strike-and-sweep seal install, and a final hinge-and-seal water test before sign-off. Handis covers three real categories from $600. Each variant has its own page below with the install details, what wall types it suits, and what the opening needs to be.
Framed Shower Door
Aluminum perimeter frame around 3/16 inch tempered glass. Lightest door, most forgiving on out-of-plumb openings (the frame absorbs up to about 3/16 inch through shimming), fastest install at 2 to 3 hours, traditional look. Best fit for tub alcoves up to 60 inches and walk-in showers where the homeowner wants a budget-conscious update without custom-measure lead time. From $600.
Framed Shower Door — aluminum perimeter, 3/16 inch glass, $600
Semi-Frameless Shower Door
Heavier 3/16 to 1/4 inch tempered glass with partial framing — typically a top channel and one side channel, with the door edge frameless. Modern profile, cleaner sight lines than full framed, accepts up to about 1/8 inch of out-of-plumb in the opening. 3 to 4 hour install, mid-priced. Best fit for walk-in showers and tub alcoves where the homeowner wants the modern look without the custom-glass lead time of frameless. From $900.
Semi-Frameless Shower Door — partial framing, 3/16 to 1/4 inch glass, $900
Frameless Glass Shower Door
3/8 inch or 1/2 inch tempered glass held by hinges and clips only — no perimeter framing. Premium look, longest life on the hardware (heavier hinges, U-clamp wall anchors), and the strictest opening tolerance (plumb and level within 1/8 inch). Custom-measured to the exact opening with a 2 to 3 week glass lead time before installation. 3 to 5 hour install on a single panel; larger multi-panel configurations run longer. From $1,500.
Frameless Glass Shower Door — 3/8 or 1/2 inch tempered glass, hinges and clips only, $1,500
Shower Door Installation Pricing
Final pricing depends on glass thickness, opening size, hardware finish, and whether the existing opening is plumb-and-level within tolerance. Each variant page below has detailed pricing. Request a free estimate for an accurate quote.
Tell us the opening width, the door type (framed, semi-frameless, or frameless), and we will measure plumb-and-level before any glass order goes in.
Why Handis for Shower Door Installation
A shower door is one of the few residential upgrades where the install is harder than the glass selection. The tile opening behind the curtain is rarely as plumb and level as it looked when it was new — settling, freeze-thaw cycles in old Seattle homes, a tile setter who was rushed in 1998. A framed door forgives a lot of that through aluminum shims. A frameless door does not. The reason DIY frameless installs fail at the water-test stage is that the glass was ordered to the tape-measure number, the tape was held against an out-of-plumb tile wall, and the panel arrives 1/8 inch too short on one corner. We measure plumb and level with a 4-foot level and a laser before any custom glass is ordered.
Plumb-and-level verified before any glass order
Frameless glass requires the opening plumb and level within 1/8 inch. Semi-frameless tolerates up to 1/8 inch through partial framing. Framed accepts up to 3/16 inch through aluminum shimming. We measure plumb and level with a 4-foot level and a laser plumb before any custom glass is ordered — if the opening is out, we say so on arrival and route the work to the tile contractor first. A custom frameless glass panel ordered against an out-of-plumb opening is a $1,500 mistake that arrives in three weeks and does not fit.
Hardware sized to the glass, not the cheapest hinge that fits
Frameless 3/8 inch glass weighs about 5 pounds per square foot — a 36-by-72 inch door panel runs about 90 pounds, and a 1/2 inch panel runs heavier. The hinges and U-clamps must be rated for the glass weight with a margin. We use C.R. Laurence (CRL) hinge and clip hardware on every frameless install — the industry-standard manufacturer for commercial and residential shower hardware, with weight-rated kits that match the panel thickness and the door swing direction.
Anchors into tile-backer studs or solid backing
Hinge and clip anchors go through the tile face into the substrate behind. Drywall behind tile holds nothing under sustained shower-door load — the anchor pulls out within months. We locate the studs behind the tile-backer with a borescope check at the planned anchor points; on tile-over-cement-board with no stud at the location, we install a backing plate before the door anchors land. The tile gets carbide drilled with water-cooling and the bit set at the lowest practical RPM so the porcelain or ceramic does not crack.
Magnetic strike-and-sweep seals on every door
The bottom sweep and the magnetic strike at the door close are the difference between a shower door that contains water and one that drips across the bathroom floor. We install full-perimeter clear vinyl sweeps and magnetic strike seals on every install — framed, semi-frameless, and frameless. The seals are sized to the glass thickness (3/16 versus 3/8 sweeps are different parts) and replaced if the sweep that ships with the door does not match the panel.
Water test before sign-off
After the door is hung, sealed, and the perimeter caulk has skinned, we run a low-flow shower test against the door — handheld showerhead at low flow directed at the hinges, the strike, the bottom sweep, and the perimeter seal — and watch for any visible leak. Anything that fails the test gets adjusted on the spot. The door is ready to use immediately on framed and semi-frameless installs; frameless installs wait 24 hours for the perimeter silicone to fully cure before regular use.
Insured, background-checked, 30-day workmanship guarantee
Every Handis tech carries liability insurance and has cleared a background screening before the first job. The 30-day workmanship guarantee covers the install — a hinge that loosens, a sweep that pulls, a strike seal that comes off, a door that drops out of plumb — we come back and fix it at no extra charge. The guarantee does not cover broken glass from impact or aggressive cleaning chemicals that degrade the seals.
Estimate
Tell us the opening width and height, whether it is a tub alcove or a walk-in shower, the door style you want (framed, semi-frameless, or frameless glass), and the hardware finish you prefer (chrome, brushed nickel, matte black, oil-rubbed bronze). We measure plumb and level on the first visit before any glass is ordered, and you get a quote with the lead time called out clearly.
Customer Reviews
Recent shower door install reviews from real Handis customers.
Frameless glass on a walk-in shower in our Capitol Hill condo. The tech measured plumb-and-level on the first visit and told us the back wall was 3/16 inch out — recommended we have the tile leveled before he ordered the glass. We did, then the panel arrived three weeks later and fit perfectly. No gaps, no water on the floor.
Tub alcove framed door in our 1962 split-level in Bellevue. The old plastic-folding door had been sticking for years. Handis measured, brought the door three days later, installed in two hours. Aluminum frame absorbed the tile being slightly off-plumb. Magnetic strike seals cleanly every time.
Semi-frameless on our master walk-in. We wanted the modern look without the custom-glass lead time of true frameless. Tech got the door installed in about 3.5 hours, no off-the-shelf hardware compromises. The partial framing along the top reads as intentional, not as a budget shortcut.
Three-panel frameless enclosure on a new walk-in shower in our Mercer Island remodel. Custom-measured, 1/2 inch glass on a 60-inch door panel that weighs 100+ pounds. Tech used CRL hinges and U-clamps, anchored into the backing the tile setter had pre-installed, and tested every seal before leaving. Solid install.
Replaced an awful sliding bypass door on our hall bath tub alcove. The track had been mildew-ed for years and we never used the second panel. Handis put up a single semi-frameless pivot door instead — same opening, way cleaner look, $800 less than the bypass quote we got elsewhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Handis shower door installation — pricing, glass types, opening tolerances, lead times, and hardware.