New Construction Shower Doors In Rochester, MI
Glass is one of the last trades through the door. We measure the finished opening after tile, build the enclosure in our own shop, and set it before your walk-through. Free measure for Rochester builders, GCs and owners.
Glass Goes In Last, So Plan For It First
On a house going up, the shower door is less a product decision than a scheduling decision. We cannot measure off a plan set and we cannot measure off bare studs, because the opening the glass has to fit does not exist yet. Tile adds thickness to the jambs and across the curb, and every one of those surfaces moves the number. A builder who calls at drywall gets on our calendar early and loses nothing by it. A builder who calls the week of the walk-through is ordering custom glass against a deadline nobody controls.
The order that works is plain enough. Frame it, waterproof it, set the pan, tile it, grout it, then call us to measure. Framing, waterproofing, the pan, tile and plumbing are your other trades' scope and we are not trying to take any of it. What we want is a finished, dry opening with the valve trim and the shower head already set, so we can see where water will hit the door and whether a handle will crowd the hardware. From there we cut glass to your walls as built, out of plumb included, and hang it.
Most new baths here settle into a pattern: frameless shower doors in the primary bath, something simpler in the secondary baths, and a custom glass shower enclosure wherever the opening stops being a plain rectangle. If your scope is glass supply and hanging only, with selections already locked by the plan, that is glass shower door installation and the conversation is a short one.
What We Need From The Job Site
Blocking Before The Rock
Heavy glass hangs off hinges and clips anchored into the wall, so your framer needs to know roughly where the door and the fixed panel land before drywall goes on. Solid blocking is cheap at framing and close to impossible afterward without opening tile. If the layout is not settled, call the showroom while the walls are still open.
A Finished Opening To Measure
We measure the room you are going to hand over: tile set, grout in, curb built, walls final. Studs and cement board do not produce a usable dimension, and a panel cut to a rough opening is wrong by the thickness of your tile at every edge. The measure is free and it is the only number we will build to.
One Spec Across The House
A house with three baths is three chances to make the same decision three different ways. Pick the glass and the hardware finish once, at the showroom, against the fixture finish you already specified. After that every additional opening is a measurement rather than another meeting, and the punch list has one less thing on it.
Where Glass Falls In Your Schedule
Glass arrives at the end, which makes it feel like a punch-list item, but it is not one you can handle in an afternoon. Every panel is cut and prepared for one opening in one house, so the clock does not start until we have real dimensions. That is the whole argument for calling at drywall. Once we have measured we will tell you what to hold on the schedule, and we would rather hand a superintendent a date he can build around than the date he was hoping to hear.
The other thing worth settling early is who decides. On a spec build the superintendent usually sets one glass and hardware spec and carries it through the house. Once a buyer is under contract, that buyer generally wants a say, and someone has to own that conversation before the opening is ready rather than after. Tell us at the first call who approves selections and who we call when tile is done. If the plan has a secondary bath running a lighter spec than the primary, semi-frameless shower doors are usually where that lands.
- Call at drywall, measure after grout
- Blocking located before the drywall goes on
- Valve trim and shower head set before we measure
- Curb built level, with slope back into the pan
- One glass and hardware spec for the whole house
- Clear access and a protected path on install day
Common questions.
When should I call you on a new build?
Twice. Once around drywall, to get the job on our calendar and to flag anything that has to happen while the walls are open. Then again the day tile and grout are finished, for the measure. The early call costs nothing and holds nothing up. The late call does not speed anything up, because your panels are cut after we have real dimensions.
Can you measure from the plans or from the framing?
No. The finished opening is the only one that matters, and it does not exist until tile and grout are done. Tile adds thickness at every jamb and across the curb, and a wall that read plumb at framing rarely stays that way once it is floated and tiled. We measure what is built, then cut glass to it.
What does my framer need to leave for the glass?
Three things, all cheap now and expensive later. Solid blocking where hinges and clips will anchor. A curb built level with the slope running back into the pan. Enough clearance that the door can swing without catching the vanity, the toilet or a linen door. Call and describe the layout if you want those confirmed before drywall.
Who picks the glass on a spec house versus a sold house?
On a spec house the builder usually sets the spec and carries it through every bath. Once a buyer is under contract they generally want a voice in the glass and the hardware finish. Tell us which situation the house is in at the first call, so we bring the right samples and talk to the person who can actually approve them.
Can every bathroom in the house match?
Yes, and that is the easiest way to run a build. One glass selection and one hardware finish covers the house, while different openings can still take different door configurations underneath that spec. A tub opening and a large primary shower can share the same metal and the same glass without sharing a layout.
Do you handle the tile, the pan or the plumbing?
No. Framing, waterproofing, the shower pan, tile and plumbing all belong to your other trades. We come in behind them, measure the finished opening, fabricate the enclosure in our own shop in Sterling Heights and install it ourselves. No part of the glass is subcontracted out, so the person who measured is the person who hangs it.
Get The Glass On Your Schedule
Call (586) 315-8900 or text (586) 800-9481 with the address and the stage the job is at. The measure is free and comes with no obligation.