Most of what surrounds an old enclosure is not replaceable. The tile was set once, decades ago, by someone working to a pattern you will not find on a shelf now. So the interesting part of a replacement is not the new glass, which we build to fit. It is getting the old unit off the wall without taking anything with it. That is what gets planned first, and it is what decides how the day goes.
An old enclosure is held by three things: fasteners into the tile, silicone at every joint, and time. Fasteners get backed out rather than pulled. Silicone gets cut with a blade run flat along the surface so the bead releases instead of tearing glaze away with it. Where a frame has sat for thirty years the wall behind it has not been washed for thirty years either, so there is a shadow line and a ridge of old sealant underneath. That gets cleaned back to sound tile before anything new is set against it, because a new enclosure seals to what is there, not to what used to be.
Fastener holes are the thing people ask about. They are small, they land under the new hardware more often than not, and any that sit out in the open get filled and sealed rather than left. What we will not do is promise that tile already cracked around a screw comes out unchanged, or that a panel bedded in adhesive lets go without bringing the surface with it. Anything past the glass itself, plaster, tile repair, paint, belongs to somebody else. You hear which is which before we start, not afterward.
Nothing else in the room has to move for this to look like a different bathroom. The tile stays, the fixtures stay, the layout stays. What changes is the part your eye goes to first and the part your hand touches every day. Mill-finish aluminum framing, a short door, a bottom track and glass that has hazed over: those four things are most of what makes a bathroom read dated, and all four leave together. What goes back is heavy tempered glass with as little metal as the opening allows, in a finish somebody actually chose.
There is a second layer people do not expect, which is clarity. Low-iron glass drops the green tint that standard glass carries at its edges, and in a light bath the difference is obvious the moment the two sit side by side. There is a protective coating as well, which keeps the surface easier to wipe down after a shower. Take a short framed door up to a full-height panel and the room gains a foot of visual height with no construction at all. That is the entire upgrade, and it is only three decisions: glass, metal, height.
New enclosures set into openings that already had one, photographed in bathrooms around Tenafly and across the Northern Valley. Click any photo to see how new glass meets older tile at the edges.
More custom glass in Tenafly: frameless shower doors, sliding & bypass shower doors, semi-frameless shower doors, custom mirrors, custom glass shower enclosures, steam shower enclosures, bathtub shower doors, glass railings, commercial glass. See everything on our Tenafly, NJ page. Shower Door Replacement nearby: Paramus, Ridgewood, Hackensack, Fort Lee, Lodi, Midland Park, Englewood, Teaneck, Fair Lawn, Mahwah, Wyckoff, Franklin Lakes, Ramsey. Learn more about our shower door replacement statewide, or read the How much do shower doors cost in NJ? and How to clean & maintain glass shower doors guides.
By looking at where it is failing. Sweeps, magnets, silicone joints and hinge adjustment are wear items, and they behave differently than glass that is cracked, delaminating at an edge or hazed past cleaning. A door that has dropped, drags on the curb or will not stay shut is usually telling you about its hardware. Water at one end often points at pitch or a failed seal. Send photos and we will tell you what we see.
No, and it is among the first things worth changing. Older units were commonly built short, which is part of why they look dated and part of why water gets over the top on a hot shower. Height is limited by what sits above the opening: a soffit, a sloped ceiling, a window casing, the shower arm. We measure that during the visit and cut the panels to the tallest height the room will take.
Often, yes. Handedness is set by the hinge side and by what the door clears as it swings, so the vanity, the toilet, the towel bar and the room door all get looked at. Plumbing does not usually decide it, but the wall behind the hinge does, since that side carries the weight. If the current setup has always been awkward to step into, say so while we are measuring. This is the moment it can change.
Almost never. We fasten into the finished wall using anchors suited to whatever is behind the tile, and part of the visit is working out what that is: studs, blocking, backer board or masonry. Heavier glass asks more of that wall than a light framed unit does, which is one reason the build is chosen after the measure and not before. If the wall cannot carry what you want, we show you what it can.
In most cases, yes. The opening is templated with the old enclosure still in place, so nothing comes out until the new glass has been made and our crew is standing there with it. Removal, installation and sealing then happen in one visit. The exception is an enclosure that is already broken or unsafe, where the old glass comes out first and the opening waits for its replacement.
We come to you, and it costs nothing. Tenafly runs about sixteen minutes from the main Lodi showroom on Industrial Rd, so getting a visit booked is straightforward. If you would rather see enclosures standing up first, Lodi is open until 5 on weekdays and until 4 on Saturday with no appointment needed. Midland Park takes appointments, roughly twenty-five minutes out. We have no showroom in Tenafly.
It changes how the old enclosure comes off the wall, and it changes what we are willing to promise about the surface underneath. Tell us on the phone and the crew brings the right approach to the free measure in Tenafly. Lodi is about sixteen minutes out. Call or text (201) 460-1313.
It changes how the old enclosure comes off the wall, and it changes what we are willing to promise about the surface underneath. Tell us on the phone and the crew brings the right approach to the free measure in Tenafly. Lodi is about sixteen minutes out. Call or text (201) 460-1313.
Text Jessica directly and she'll get right back to you. To speed things up, include:
