A week ago we had this shower door delivered and installed in the master bath.
When the installer was almost finished, my wife observed that there was no threshold at the bottom of the shower door. When we were shower door shopping, we saw doors without thresholds and ruled them out. We wanted a threshold along at the bottom of the shower entrance to keep shower water from run under the shower door. So we showed the installer the manufacturer's spec sheet and installation instructions from the internet that included at threshold. The installer claimed that the company does not normally ship the doors with thresholds and that they (his company) installs the doors without thresholds.
The door has a plastic sweep along the bottom of the door. The installer said he thought the sweep would keep the door from leaking. I told him that we want the threshold. In addition, the color of the handle on the door does not match the the rest of the metal around the door.
They guy said they would order a threshold and try to get a door handle that matches the rest of the shower door. I don't know if I believe the installer's story about the threshold. He partially put together the shower door at the store and brought it to our house without the packaging. It would not surprise me if the threshold did come with the door but he accidentally left the threshold at the store and tried to install the door without it so he wouldn't have to make a second trip. The installer could be telling the truth but I'd give a 50% chance that he's may be trying to cover his tracks.
We later tested the door by taking a couple showers and the water leaks under the door significantly. We have hardwood flooring in the master closet beside the shower and can't have water puddling up outside the shower door.
In addition, the door was installed cock-eyed. When closed, the door is not parallel to the tile "curb" that is below the door. One side of the door is 1/4" off. There is a grout line right below the door so it is extremely obvious that the door is installed askew. A 1/4" offset over 2 1/2 feet is very noticeable.
We suspect that in order to install the threshold, the door frame will have to be raised. I so, that means the door will have to be completely uninstalled, the holes that were drilled through the tile will need to be filled, the clear silicone caulk will have to be somehow removed, and then the door will have to be installed again from scratch.
The installation of the shower door should have been a simple matter. I cannot imagine how we could have done anything to avoid this problem. The good thing is we haven't paid anything for the shower door or installation so the shower door company will have to rectify things to get paid.
During the building process, we learned that we need to inspect the work closely before making the final payment. The subcontractors almost always ask to be paid the moment they finish the work. Toward the latter part of our house construction, my wife started telling the subs that I needed to inspect the work before the final payment would be paid and that it might take 24 hours before I could inspect the work. That policy has saved us some trouble. Often, you won't notice things the first time you look at the work, especially if the subcontractor is right there putting pressure on you to do a quick inspection. Having at least a full day to inspect the work helps you to find issues you might not notice at first glance. In fact, there have been many problems we did not notice during the first look.
Pretty sad when you think about it. What ever happened to American integrity?
