Bathroom is finally done

The bathroom is finished.   I completed the shower last Thursday night, and once the caulking dried, we were able to use the shower starting Saturday.

I had custom ordered a shower door from Holcam through Lowes.  Shipping time was suppose to be 14 days but the shower doors did not arrive until 18 days passed.

The reason I ordered a custom door is due to the size.  Standard doors go up to 72 inches tall but I wanted a taller door.

My shower is 59.5 inches wide.  The height I wanted was 76 inches tall.  The height is because the shower head is mounted high.  I am tired of having to bend down to get my head under most shower heads so I made sure to put this shower head high - well over six feet high..  Therefore I needed a taller shower door to keep the water in.

I got a price estimate for 74 inches tall.  Then I had Lowes call and ask for an estimate for 76 inches tall and was told 76 inches would be the same price.  I went home to remeasure and double check the height.  I decided that 77 inches would be ideal.  But when I went back to Lowes to check the price I was told it would be over $130 more.  For one inch?  Then the Lowes guy and I were told the previous 76 inch quote was wrong but Holcom would honor it.  Sold.


I got a frameless (on the doors) Euro style shower door.  The handle is mounted in the glass.  I went with a clear glass after considering obscure, rain and other styles.  Most of the other glass styles cost more dollars.  I was already spending more on the larger size and the brushed nickel (Tammy's requirement) finish.  Still, a major reason I went with clear glass is that I didn't want to hide the tiles in the shower.  They look too good to hide.

The difference between model EF-3 and EF-4 was in glass thickness: 3/16" vs. 1/4".   Surprisingly the thicker glass was cheaper.  I'm not sure why.  Perhaps it is because the thicker glass is easier to work with?  Especially since the holes for the glass handles are drilled through the glass.  My shower glass is 1/4" thick.

Shower door specs: http://www.holcam.com/model-ef46-ef49.php

Shower door installation instructions: http://www.holcam.com/documents/installationDocs/Sliding_Door_Units/MODEL_EF-4.pdf


I installed the shower door unit myself.  I found the directions to be "old fashioned", that is, correct and terse but not the easiest to follow. Also I would have liked a "why" in some cases.  Take for example, step 1.

"Measure wall to wall on sill of tub. Cut track to a length of 5/8" less than wall to wall dimension."

5/8"?  That's a lot.  Especially when Step 3 says to "Cut header to a length 1/16" less than a wall to wall dimension."

I looked for a youtube video showing how to install the shower door.  I found videos from Holcam's competitors but none from Holcam itself.  The competitors had people cut the bottom track an eight of an inch or so shorter than the wall to wall dimension.

So I was uneasy about cutting my track 5/8" shorter.  I called Holcam the next day to ask if it was 5/8" or if it was a misprint.  They answered their phone right away and I got the feeling I spoke with someone who worked at the company.  The size was indeed 5/8".  The reason was due to the wall jams as seen in the photo below.  The indentation on the left side of the wall jam added to the indentation for the other wall jam add up to 5/8" as the bottom track fits inside the wall jams (right side in the photo).   The top track fits over the wall jams so that is why it is only 1/16" shorter than the wall to wall dimension.

The youtube videos for the competitors showed latex caulk applied to their bottom track before it is set on the shower's threshold.  When I spoke with the Holcam lady she told me not to caulk the bottom of the track.  Just set it on the threshold.  The track will be held in place by the wall jams and the caulk that is placed around the shower frame on the outside when construction is complete.  If I applied caulk to the bottom of the track I could trap water under the track.  The bottom of the track is actually two "legs", or rails.  The chamber between the rails is where water could possibly be trapped if the rails are sealed.

The top and bottom shower frame tracks sent were 60" long.  The mark is where I cut the top rail.   The wall jams were shipped cut to the correct height.

The second photo shows the top of the top rail.    I don't know why it is indented as I imagine it could catch and hold water.  The "stains" are part of the material and I could not clean them off.  Fortunately they are on the top and no one will see them.

The shower doors are mounted on their top.  Since the doors are frameless, a strip of metal comes out of the glass.  In this strip are two holes, one on each side, where you install the rollers.  The holes are diagonally made.  Where you position the rollers affects the door height.  The rollers are mounted in the top rail.

You can see the tracks for the rollers in the previous silver/black photo of the top rail.


I like that the rollers are on top and not on the bottom of the door.  Less on the bottom of the doors means less for the water and dirt to collect.


Shower restrictors. One for each end of the rail and the third for the middle. These help hold the doors on the rail as they keep the rollers from jumping the tracks.

The wall jams had three holes in them where one fastens the jams to the wall.  Naturally the holes did not align with the tile's grout lines.  So I had to drill through my tile.  Ya.  Easier said than done.  I borrowed a concrete drill bit from my neighbor Bob.  It took a long time to drill one hole through the tile.  At the start of the second hole either the bit or I were tired as the drilling was barely happening.  I quit for the night.

The next morning I bought a carbon tipped tile bit from Lowes.  It cost $7.48.

This bit drilled better and quicker.  However... once the hole was deep enough to hold the tip it broke off.  What?!   I had been placing water on the hole and bit to lubricate it as I drilled.

Between the concrete bit and the remainder of the tile bit I was able to drill two more holes.  When Tammy got home from work we stopped by Lowes when we ran errands and I returned this defective bit and got another one.

When I used the second tile bit I really went slow and often put water in the hole and on the bit to cool it down.  I got one hole drilled.  Once the bit arrow was completely in the second hole it broke off.  Again... what?!

At least I finally got all six holes drilled.

Everything came together well.  The only thing missing from the parts were the four lock washers for the rollers for the doors.  I had some lock washers so this was not a problem.

When I was done the shower frame height came to 75 and 3/4 inches.  I guess like almost everything else with house construction, a size is always a little less.  I.e., a 2" by 4" inch board is really 1.75" by 3.5".


When all was said and done I had a problem.  (What's new with this bathroom remodel? )   Actually I realized this problem when I prepared to install the shower frame.  I had built the shower narrow enough so I can completely open the bathroom door.  However, I didn't figure in the shower door handle.  Yup.  The handle sticks out from the door.  Duh! 

The photos below show the most I can close the door.  I needed a half inch more room for the shower handle.

One can completely open the bathroom door if one closes (mostly) the shower door second.

Oh well... another feature of my bathroom.    Good thing I don't need to completely open the bathroom door.


My new shower is great!  I have so much more room than the 32" by 34" shower insert I had been using.  And the new shower has so much more light than the old shower, which didn't have much light.  Tammy likes the shower too.


After I took my first shower I noticed I had a problem.  I had a little bit of water on the floor outside the inside shower door - the door closest to the shower head.  A test showed that the water came from underneath the shower door glass.  The water bounced up under the door and over the outside taller rail on the bottom track.  I had hung the doors all the way to their lowest point.  There was still a small gap between the door and the bottom rail.

I called Holcam again.  They were very nice and helpful.  They said they had this problem a few times with other customers.  Their guess was that high water pressure may cause the problem.  Nope.  Not in my case.  My well's water pressure has a maximum pressure of 58 to 60 lbs.  I think my problem may be a combination of hard tile floor, narrow shower enclosure and a high faucet head.  Holcam said they would sent me a "T-strip" to place along the track next to the shower door with the problem.

I also had to adjust the shower handle's hot/cold settings.  The handle only went from very hot to warm.  No cold.  Tammy said she didn't want any cold water in the shower but I want cool water for a hot summer day shower.  Another reason to ensure cool water is an option is that since the shower handle unit was installed upside down the handle goes from hot to cold (cool) instead of the marked and typical cold to hot.  Since the handle unit is upside down I had to remember to make the adjustment clockwise and not counter-clockwise.  No need to make the water any hotter.

Of course the bathroom being difficult all along one last thing occurred before I could pronounce "completion".  Just before I finished installing the shower doors Tammy cleaned around the sink's faucet and told me it was loose.   I checked and found the plastic nut holding the hot water handle pipe in place was broken.    Another trip to Lowes...

How the bathroom looked near the start of the project...

Here is how the bathroom and shower looks now that it is done.

I started in May and finished in November.   Nah... that didn't take too long.