Frameless shower door loose at top


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Old 02-22-21, 04:24 AM
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Frameless shower door loose at top

See picture attached. I have to tackle this ASAP and was hoping for any suggestion. As you can see in the picture, the tile is loose and when the door moves the top anchor is moving slightly as well. The screws appear to be secure. I have not got a chance to remove the screws yet and pull off the door and look at the wall. I"m hoping for a solution that doesn't require a remodel. Just want to secure the door. My guess just from what its doing is that whatever its screwed into, I"m guessing 2x4 is loose behind the wall? Otherwise I'm at a loss to how the screws are tight and the hinge can still flex.

 
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Old 02-22-21, 05:26 AM
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The thinset behind the tile has let go. You will need to remove the door, remove that single tile, and grind the thinset off the back of the tile and off the wall, then butter it up with new thinset (do not use premixed thinset) and set the tile. It will need to be completely dry before you reattach the door and you can't rush it or it may fail again. Once its set you will need to grout the edges of that tile.

What is worrisome is that this may indicate that there is no framing behind the screws for them to bite into. You would want to investigate that with a nail once the tile is off.
 
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Old 02-22-21, 05:34 AM
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Yes, I understand I need to replace the thinset and glue the tile to the wall, but what I"m most concerned about is if I hold the hinge itself, I can wobble it back and forth . Its still attached to something and the screws are tight, but its like whatever its screwed into behind the wall is loose. Is there some type of anchor that will work? I really don't want to pull the wall apart as its not my strongest skillset and its not in the budget for someone else to do it.
 
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Old 02-22-21, 05:41 AM
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If the screw is not going into wood, that is probably the whole reason it came loose in the first place. So unless that is fixed is likely to just happen again. You likely already have an anchor in the tile. The type of anchor used is not the problem or the solution, since the existing anchor used was strong enough to yank the tile off.

If there is no wood and you repair it as is, it may get you by for a while, but it will likely happen again someday.
 
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Old 02-22-21, 05:44 AM
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okay, so I guess I need to pull the door off first and see what is is screwed into. I did back one screw out so I'm guessing a few days ago and based on how that was coming out, I do think its going into wood, but I'll check and come back.
 
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Old 02-22-21, 08:42 AM
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Yes, getting the door and tile off is the first step. Then you can look and probe into the hole and see what the hinge was mounted to. You might find something simple like they used a screw that is too short. Or, worst case you may need to cut a hole in the sheetrock to install blocking for the hinge to mount into then repair the sheetrock
 
 

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