How do you install framed sliding shower doors step by step?

Installing a framed sliding shower door comes down to three jobs: measuring the opening the right way, assembling the frame in the order the door maker gives, and sealing every joint and fastener so water stays inside the enclosure. Ella's framed sliding doors go together from the top rail down, with the sliding panel hung after the rollers are mounted and the handle and silicone added last. Which doors suit an Ella stall and how big the opening is are covered in Does the Ella Shower Stall Come With a Door, and What Size Door Fits the Opening?, and this page walks through the installation itself.

Measure the Opening in Three Places

Walls are rarely perfectly parallel, so measure the width of your opening at the top, in the middle and at the bottom, and use the smallest of the three numbers. Each framed sliding door fits a specific opening range, and the door's adjustment has to bracket your smallest measurement, not the nominal size of the stall or alcove.

On Ella stalls the inside openings are known figures, but you should still confirm them on your own unit after it is assembled and sealed, because the exact width at the door line can shift slightly with how the walls are seated:

• The larger Ella stall has an inside opening of 55 3/4 inches. The Ella Duo sliding door, offered as S5570C in chrome, S5570BN in brushed nickel and S5570B in black, is made for this opening and is fitted after the stall is assembled and sealed.
• The smaller Ella stall has an inside opening of 44 3/4 inches, which door makers treat as a 45-inch opening. Ella does not offer a door for it, so you shop for a third-party door sized for a 45-inch opening.
• The Liberty three-piece shower measures 55.75 inches wide and 73 inches high from the threshold to the top of the opening, and the specification drawing confirms both figures. Choosing a Shower Door for the Ella Liberty Three-Piece Shower explains how to read a door maker's range against that opening.

If a door's published minimum width is a fraction of an inch larger than your opening, do not assume it can be shortened. Ask the door maker whether that model can be trimmed by the difference, and if it cannot, choose a door whose range already includes your measurement.

Know Which Door You Have Before You Open the Manual

Ella's framed sliding doors are true framed doors with a bottom track that the panels ride in, and that track forms a lip at the sill that helps hold water inside. The Primo 8mm frameless door is different: it has no bottom rail at all, only a flexible water retainer gasket along the bottom edge that expands about 3/8 of an inch. Does the Ella Shower Door Have a Bottom Track or Is It Trackless? shows how to tell the two apart by looking at the bottom edge of the glass.

The steps below are for the framed doors. Find the part-number prefix printed in your manual, which will be 8HD, 6HD, 2ES or 6FD, and follow the manual for that prefix, because the hardware differs between the lines. Before anything goes on the wall, check the box against the packing list. Some parts ship attached to the glass rather than loose in a bag, so a piece that seems missing may still be on the door. A part that is damaged or missing when you unpack should be reported within 48 hours of receipt at ellasbubbles.com/support, with all packaging kept, because shipping damage is handled as a freight claim.

The Assembly Sequence, Step by Step

Ella's installation video for its framed sliding doors builds the door in this order, and the order matters because each piece locates the next:

1. Start with the top rail. It sets the line for everything below it, so check it against your opening before fixing it.
2. Insert the blade seal.
3. Attach the bottom rail and the sliding glide. On a framed door this bottom rail is the track the lower edge of the panel rides in.
4. Mount the upper rollers together with the magnetic strips and seals.
5. Hang the sliding panel on the rollers.
6. Place the top cover.
7. Attach the handle.
8. Seal all joints with silicone.

Handle the top track carefully. If it arrives bent or pinched, the rollers cannot travel, and a track that has been damaged can scuff the wheels. If the panel does not roll smoothly once it is hung, the support team sends the roller wheels and bearings rather than the whole bracket, because the bracket is fixed to the door and is hard to remove without risking the glass. A short video of the door rolling is what they will ask for. Missing or Broken Shower Door Hardware lists the rollers, tracks, knobs and frame pieces that can be sent.

Fastening the Frame to an Ella Stall

Ella stall side walls have wood built into the fiberglass, so the door frame can be screwed straight into the stall without hunting for a stud behind it. Use the anchors the door maker specifies and apply sealant at every fastener. The low threshold on the Liberty has square corners rather than a radius, which is what lets a framed or frameless door seal down into the corner.

One rule stands over the rest: never drill into the shower base threshold, because that voids the warranty. Plan where the bottom track will sit and how it will be held with your installer before the first hole is drilled, and follow the door maker's instructions for the sill.

Sealing is where most leaks are decided. The door maker's instructions call for sealant between the wall and the mounting profile, between any fixed glass and its profile, and along the bottom edge where the glass meets the shower floor. Skipping any one of those lets water find the gap at the corner. Let the sealant cure for the time the sealant maker specifies before the first shower.

Living with a Framed Sliding Door

A framed door's bottom track is a raised channel, so it collects water and soap film and benefits from regular wiping. Roller wheels and bearings are universal within a model, so if a wheel wears out later, the replacement fits any top rail for that door. If your sliding door was bought through a home improvement retailer and that line has since been discontinued, the team still checks the warehouse for small parts such as clips and bracket extensions, as Replacement Parts for Discontinued Ella Sliding Shower Doors explains.

Installation is work for your installer or a local licensed contractor, and Ella does not send technicians. If a step in the manual is unclear, open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support with the door model or SKU and photos, or call (800) 480-6850, and the team will answer the question.

Related Guides

• How do I clean and maintain framed sliding shower door tracks and glass?
• Installing Framed Sliding Shower Doors and the Tidy Two-Panel Bath Screen

Common Questions