What is the floor plan layout of the shower? Any other way the door can be hinged? What did your shower door company suggest, sure they have been consulted?

My installers used a special diamond tipped drill bit on the porcelain tile in my shower. A regular drill bit WILL crack the tiles. It has been 2 years and no problems with the door or hinges. A professional company will know what to do.

We need at least some pics of what you are talking about . How elese can you expect to get help Who designed the shower ? Info please,

I am not at the house. It’s being built in another town. I will put up only pictures I have, but they don’t show the cracked tile or shower door.
The shower door installers have been working to drill holes. They bought special bits. They talked to tile installers. They had tile installers come back out and replace cracked tiles then spent hours carefully pre-drilling holes. Tile cracked again when attaching the hinges. Apparently glass tile is notorious for this. Not meant to hold weight of door etc.
but.. I didn’t know this before.
I figure there is someone out there who has figured out a work around or a solution.
I read one person who replaced tile behind hinges with porcelain accent tile. Just not sure what will work or what will look best.

Yeah, that should have been designed with an inset channel for the glass. Why wasn’tbit? Who designed it?

If there also isn’t any blocking in the walls to accept the glass support, there is zero cure for not having the glass crack. It is gonna crack. Especially if its the poor quality stuff from F&D.

Think about a tension rod shower curtain.

I don’t know the answer about inset channel. I went to tile place and they helped me pick tile. I ordered it. I didn’t tell builder it was glass. Didn’t know I needed to. Shower door people didn’t say anything. Tile installers didn’t say anything while installing. Builder didn’t say anything when it was being installed. Here we are.
I get that glass will probably continue to crack. I’m
Looking for solution beyond that. Replace that tile with something else?

I would prefer a curtain on an enclosure like this one too. (This is what ours was supposed to look like--we had to switch a wall to a pony wall mid-construction for a range of reasons so ended up with shower glass as a result.) But if you can't or don't want to change from glass, I like the idea of a porcelain accent tile, if they can replace that row without damaging the rest of the installation or the waterproofing. If you use something small and vertical, you might also be able to set it up so that you have a grout line vs. tile for the hinges to go through. Also be sure they are not planning to put any clips through the curb or you'll have the same issue there. We got one proposal where everything was attached through the curb and another where it was only through the wall.

Is there a picture?

My shower door people are the ones that told me this door. It’s a very small shower and room.

Honestly, I don't know much more about shower glass than what I've learned here and on other tile forums, and there are lots of opinions. We got two quotes (would have gotten three but couldn't find a third company to call me back!) The first place didn't come in person and had me send them the measurements, and then gave us a quote that included most of the things people here say to avoid (everything attached through the curb and pony wall top, shower door mounted to glass instead of wall, couldn't reach controls from door). Second place came to measure themselves and proposed mounting to the wall with a channel attached with silicone to the curb. They said if there's blocking behind the wall for a door (there is) that is always preferred over mounting the door to the glass unless there's a compelling reason not to do it. They did say no to a pivot hinge (that I'd asked about having) because an inward-opening door would block access to the controls and potentially hit the shower head given that our shower is only 32" deep, which I hadn't thought about. So the door will only open out. Honestly, I probably should have tried for a third quote, but given that the second place seemed to know what they were talking about and I am so, so ready to be done with this project, I just went ahead with them. We have porcelain tile so hopefully there will not be issues with drilling through it (though it won't be installed until next month).

Can you ask your GC whether there is blocking behind the tile along the door, and what the waterproofing setup is? That might tell you more about what your next steps can/should be. Is the tile over your vanity glass or porcelain? (Can't tell from the photo.) If porcelain, does it match the shower tile enough that it could be the accent?

Yes. That’s what I’m saying. Trying to figure out where to go from here.

Thanks. A shower curtain is always an option, but I’ve spent 2K on a custom door already - so I’d love it if I didn’t just waste that money. Looking for solutions

Sorry, but you did waste money. Every single option aside from a shower curtain involves spending a lot more money than 2K. To use a shower glass enclosure here, you would need to remove the glass tile, opening the wall to add blocking for the door attachment points, and redo the tiling with an inset channel that the glass wall tile abuts. Then you will need a custom glass installer and a custom glass surround.

That is IF the waterproofing behind the glass tile is not damaged, and the whole waterproofing can be repaired and integrated properly, to keep the water out of your walls. If there is no waterproofing behind the tile? You're going to have to spend the 10K to redo it all anyway acter it leaks. Then you can redo it all correctly for a glass install the second time. Which should have been done the first time.

Who is supposed in charge of this new build? Do you own the land and hired the builder? Or is it some national tract chain?

Something is getting tossed so you just need to decide what hill you want to die on...................................

Wondering the outcome of the glass enclosure as we have a similar concern. Thx!

What did you end up doing?!?! Same exact tile, same exact problem here! ugh!!!’

I have Astoria tile by Sonoma and yes getting pros who can cut and drill this tile has been difficult, especially re installing grab bar and handheld shower support. Many won’t do it. If your shower glass people don’t want to drill through your tile find another one who is comfortable doing it and when you find them they will still warn you that tile could crack especially when they tighten the screws in the hinge. They do that out of caution. It is a risk. But drilling very slowly and using water cooled drill will eliminate most of the risk. Our shower glass will be installed next week….

I hate to bring up another issue but the curb should have a solid piece there, not eight pieces of glass tile.

My shower glass is installed in glass tile and hasn't cracked in about 8 years...

Fori, could you share how it was installed? I would like to use glass tile for a reno of a bath, but this thread makes me think I should not.

I'm sorry Cyn--I just stayed out of the way while some glass guy my GC brought in did it. I do see that our OP had pretty large tile. I suspect that makes it a little harder. Mine is 4x4.

Cyn427 glass tile is beautiful just be forewarned that everything about it is expensive and yes, drilling must be done by a someone experienced in this type of tile…. If a tile breaks and needs to be replaced, they must cut the grout around the tile before trying to remove it. An experienced pro should not cause this, but ….

Just had the shower glass installed on my Sonoma Astoria tiled shower by experienced shower glass installers. Drilling went well. One tile cracked at the door hinge when one of the eight (total for two hinges) screws was tightened. 😢

Darn! You'd think glass people of all people would be the ones that can drill glass!

Fori, drilling went well—it was tightening the screws on the hinge that did it. I think the tiles there were not completely flush with each other, and the hinge crossed over the grout line and when the tried to get a good seat for the hinge….

That's so pretty but wow does it show cracks! What do you do now?

I did notice mine has clear rubber washers between the screws and tile. My tile is pretty irregular so I don't know if it's standard or they had to add them to even it out.

Well, when we get brave we can have the door taken off and have the tile chiseled out and replaced and hope it doesn’t happen again. I was thinking of having that one tile replaced with two puzzle piece tiles, one being the shape of the hinge plate such that the hinge plate would have a grout line around the edge. Then if the tile cracked it would be limited to the little tile under the hinge plate. Hope I was clear communicating what I am thinking…. But we have a wedding coming up in a month and guests coming and we need to have the main shower I. Service starting this weekend. So repairs will have to wait.

I'm in the middle of trying out some creative thinking. Will let y'all know how it goes!

I'm in the middle of trying out something creative. Will let y'all know how it goes!

" I'm in the middle of trying out some creative thinking. "

In regards to what @Diana Gay

Help! I just bought a house with an almost finished shower and its glads tile and has a half wall! must have a shower dpor!

" Help! I just bought a house with an almost finished shower and its glads tile and has a half wall! must have a shower dpor! "

Call a local glass shop, they will measure and install.

I too have the same problem. No one advised me of the potential problem. Our glass door installer recommends the CLR Manufacturer, SDH660 header system. Any comments would be appreciated

Highly recommend you check to see it the tiles on the hinge side are on a true plane. Our tile installer set them often at slightly different depths or incline.not noticeable by sight. After the shower door installers tightened the hinges…cracks. Later I ran my hand across the tiles there and there was quite a bit of difference between the tiles. I don’t think even gaskets would have helped. If they are not properly handled have the tiles were the hinge will be replaced with attention to exactness of smoothness between those tiles.

Looks like I'm in the same boat! I have ceramic 12x3 tiles all around with a 9x3 glass tile accent. My tile guy re-enforced the wall 3x for a shower door before prepping the wall for waterproofing. He had no problems drilling the 4 holes in the glass tile for the shower door brackets. Everything went smoothly until he hung one of the 70 lb glass shower doors. CRACK went the glass tiles at the screw points. Here are my thoughts...

1) Replace the glass accent only at the end with the ceramic tile where the shower door is installed. Tile guy doesn't like this look.

2) Replace the glass tile with 2 pieces so screws are drilled between two tile pieces. Curious if this will eventually crack in the future?

What are some options, suggestions, or solutions you can all provide.

THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!

My tip is to make sure all the glass tiles where the door hinges go are flush with each other and planar. Our problem came because the tiles were not flush and the hinge plate crossed over two to four tiles and then tightening the hinge screws put a lot more stress on one of the tiles.

Your crack is not noticeable and I would leave well enough alone.

Interesting? You don't think there will be issues in the future if I just leave the cracked glass tiles in place? Yes, my tile guy is very meticulous the making sure everything is super level.

His solution is to cut two L shaped glass tiles around shower brackets and installed a ceramic piece behind the shower door brackets!!!

Lyn, I like that too. I considered doing similar only with same shower glass to isolate the point of connection. I have been told that removing a few tiles can start a chain reaction because of shifting stresses. Ours has not changed since installation of the doors. Ours is also well out of the way of any water. I am not an expert but I believe the waterproofing aspects are more closely tied to what is behind the tile. Hoping for the best…..

His solution is to cut to L shaped glass tiles around shower brackets and installed a ceramic piece behind the shower door brackets!!!

I would cut a piece of some kind of plastic--Corian, nylon cutting board, PVC...--the exact footprint of the bracket rather than the ceramic.

He actually had a spare piece of porcelain that he drilled under the bracket. Then placed the 2 L shaped glass tiles around the bracket.