New Construction Shower Doors In Clinton Township, MI
Glass is one of the last trades through the door on a new build. Fortune Shower Doors measures off finished tile, fabricates in our own Sterling Heights shop, and installs so the bathroom closes out clean.
Glass Goes In Last, So Plan For It First
On a house going up, the shower enclosure is the last thing anybody thinks about and one of the last things installed. Frame, waterproof, set the pan, tile, grout. Only then is there a finished opening a piece of glass can be cut to. That order never changes, which is why the glass conversation belongs on your schedule early even though the glass itself arrives late. The two decisions that matter most both land well before anyone shows up with a tape.
The first of those is blocking, and it has to beat the drywall crew. Hinges, clips and header brackets need something solid to land in. If an opening is getting frameless shower doors, put backing behind the hinge wall and along the header line while the studs are still open. Glass type, finish and panel layout can all wait until somebody is picking. Backing cannot. Adding it after the tile is on means cutting into finished work that another trade already got paid for.
The second is who decides. On a spec house the builder specifies the enclosure like any other finish. On a presold house the buyer picks, and that selection has to reach us before fabrication starts. Give us one name and one number for the job. When a build stalls at the glass stage it is almost never the glass. It is a selection sitting with somebody who did not know it was theirs. New construction runs out of the same Sterling Heights showroom as every other job for shower doors in Clinton Township.
What A Builder Needs From The Glass Trade
Backing Before Drywall
The only glass decision that has to happen while walls are open is structural. Tell the framer where the hinge wall and the header line fall and have solid backing in both. It costs nothing at framing, and it is the difference between anchoring into wood and improvising behind finished tile on install day.
One Measure, Off Finished Walls
We measure the opening you actually built, not the one on the plan. Tile complete, grouted and clean, curb set, pan finished. Numbers taken off studs do not survive contact with tile and mud, and a punch list is a bad place to discover a door that almost fits.
One Spec Across Every Bath
A house with more than one shower reads better when the glass and the metal match through all of it. Settle both once, with real samples in hand, and every opening in the job gets built to that line instead of being decided bathroom by bathroom as the schedule pushes.
Where New Builds Lose Time At The Glass Stage
Almost every delay we see on a new build traces back to a decision another trade made weeks earlier. Tile set out of plumb across a tall wall and nobody flags it. A curb pitched flat, so water runs at the track instead of into the pan. A niche or bench that moved after the layout was drawn, which moves the panel line with it. A door swing that clears on the plan and hits the vanity in the room. None of those are glass problems, and every one of them surfaces the day the glass shows up.
Sequencing is the other half. Book the glass shower door installation after tile and before the final clean, and keep the flooring and paint crews out of that bathroom while a panel is going in. If the spec calls for something lighter and more forgiving in a secondary bath, semi-frameless shower doors handle those openings without breaking the look of the house. Tell us at the measure which openings are which and the whole job gets fabricated together.
- Solid backing behind hinge and header lines
- Tile finished, grouted and clean at the measure
- Curb pitched into the pan, not out of it
- Door swing checked against vanity and toilet clearance
- One name approving selections for the job
- Glass set after final tile, before final clean
Common questions.
The house is only framed. Is it too early to call?
No. Framing is the right time, for one reason: backing behind the hinge wall and the header line has to go in while the studs are open. Call, tell us the openings and roughly what each is getting, and we will tell the framer where to put wood. The measure still waits for finished tile.
Can you measure off the framing so glass is ready the day tile is done?
No. Glass is cut to the finished opening, and board, mud, tile and grout all move the numbers. Measuring against studs or bare backer is how a new build ends up with a gap at one jamb and a door that will not sit square. We measure once, off finished walls, and fabricate from that.
What has to be ready in the bathroom on measure day?
Tile complete and grouted, the pan or curb finished, the opening clear of tools and material, and light in the room. Plumbing trim in is better still. Whoever controls site access should know we are coming. It is a short visit, but it only works if the walls we measure are the walls that stay.
Do you handle the pan, the waterproofing or the tile?
No. Framing, waterproofing, the pan and the tile are other trades' work and all come before us. Our scope starts at the finished opening: measure, fabricate the glass in our own shop, remove anything that has to come out, and install. Settling that split up front keeps it off the punch list.
There are several bathrooms in the house. Can they all match?
Yes. Pick the glass and the hardware finish once, from real samples, and every opening gets built to that spec. It is cleaner for whoever walks the house at the end. Openings that need a different enclosure type can still carry the same finish, so the house still reads consistent front to back.
Do you take direction from the builder or from the homeowner?
Whichever you tell us. On a spec house the builder usually specifies and signs off. On a presold house the buyer often picks the glass and the finish. Both work fine. What does not work is two people picking separately after fabrication has started, so name one approver at the measure and route changes through them.
Get The Glass On Your Schedule
Call (586) 315-8900, tell us where the house sits in the build, and we will tell you what has to be ready before we measure. The measure is free and the quote comes with no pressure.