New Construction Shower Doors In Troy, MI
Glass is one of the last trades into a Troy build, which makes it one of the easiest to get wrong. We field measure the finished opening, build in our own shop, and set the enclosure once the room is actually ready for it.
Glass Goes In Last, So Plan For It First
By the time we walk your Troy jobsite, the framing is closed, the pan is set, the tile is done, and the room is waiting on one thing. That is the normal order and it is the right order. What it means for you is that glass is installed late but decided early. The size of the opening, where the hinge wall lands, whether there is solid backing behind that tile, and which way the door has to swing are all settled months before anyone hands us a tape measure.
We do not build from plan dimensions. Every enclosure comes off a field measure of the finished opening, because tile thickness, mortar, a curb that grew a quarter inch and a wall that leans a hair all move the number. Ask for glass cut off a drawing and you get glass that fits the drawing. On a build that usually means a call from your tile setter and a delay nobody budgeted for. Send us in after the tile is grouted and the numbers are real.
Most new Troy primaries land on frameless shower doors, and when a layout stops being a rectangle we handle it as a custom glass shower enclosure instead of squeezing the room into a stock size. Whichever you spec, the glass shower door installation is done by the same family that took the measure, so no part of it gets handed to an installer who never saw the room.
What A Builder Needs From Us, And When
Blocking Before The Board Goes Up
The heaviest decision happens at framing. If a wide hinged panel is going on a stud wall, say so before the board goes up, so there is solid backing exactly where the hardware will hang. Once tile is on, adding backing means opening a finished wall. A short conversation at framing avoids that entirely.
One Measure, Every Bath
A house with three baths does not need three separate trips. When the tile schedule is set, we measure the whole house on one visit and build those openings together, so the glass and the hardware read as one house instead of arriving from orders placed weeks apart.
A Spec That Survives The Punch List
Builders lose more glass on the punch list than on install day. At the measure we note what the enclosure needs from the other trades, a curb pitched back into the pan, a level threshold, a niche that clears the panel, and flag it then rather than at the walkthrough with the owner standing there.
The Order That Keeps A Build Moving
The sequence that works looks like this. Framing and blocking go in with the glass layout already decided. Waterproofing, pan and tile are other trades' work and they finish completely, grout and curb included, before we measure. We take the field measure, confirm the swing, the finish and who is approving both, and fabricate. Then we come back when the room is clear, the floor is protected, and nobody else is working over the top of us.
What stalls a job is almost never the glass. It is an unanswered question. Who picks the finish, you or the buyer. Is the tile finished, or finished except for the bench. Is the site unlocked on install day and is there power in the room. Answer those before the measure and the enclosure becomes the quiet part of your schedule. In secondary baths where a slim frame keeps a hard-used door square, semi-frameless shower doors spec well in that role.
- Blocking set at framing, not after tile
- Field measure only, never plan dimensions
- Tile, grout and curb complete before we measure
- One trip for a whole house of baths
- Swing, finish and approver confirmed up front
- Room clear and floor protected on install day
Common questions.
When should I bring you into a new build?
Twice. Once at framing, so backing lands where heavy hardware will hang and the layout is buildable as drawn. Then again once the tile is grouted and the curb is set, for the field measure the glass is actually cut from. The first visit is a conversation. The second is the one that produces numbers.
Can you quote off the prints?
We can read the prints and tell you what the layout will need. We will not cut glass from them. Tile thickness, mortar and a wall that is out of plumb move the opening enough to matter, and a fabricated panel has nowhere to go once it is wrong. The quote gets firm at the field measure, in the finished room.
The tile went in out of plumb. Now what?
It happens on nearly every job and it is not a crisis. We measure the wall as built and account for the lean when we cut, which is exactly why we measure after tile instead of before. If the lean is past what glass and hardware can absorb, you hear it from us at the measure, while there is still time to do something about it.
Who signs off, the builder or the homeowner?
Whoever you tell us. On a spec house the builder normally picks the glass and the finish. On a pre-sold house the buyer often wants a say, which is fine as long as one name owns the decision. What causes trouble is two people approving different things after the glass has been cut.
Do you handle the pan, the tile or the plumbing?
No. Waterproofing, the shower pan, tile and plumbing are other trades' work, and all of it should be complete before we measure. We build and install the enclosure. Telling us who has the tile and when they expect to be off the job is usually the only coordination a build needs from our end.
Building In Troy? Get Us On The Schedule
Call (586) 315-8900 or text (586) 800-9481 with your tile date and we will set the field measure. Free measure, no pressure, one family from tape to install.