How I painted and added grids to my builder grade shower doors

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After

Before

Your first step is you need to remove the shower doors. Then you can remove the track. I did not paint the track in place. The main reason I removed it was because I painted the shower enclosure. The other reason, I would NOT spray paint inside my house. The overspray would create a terrible mess that I would not want to clean up. I realize every shower door is different, but these were NOT hard to remove at all. In fact, I wish I would have done this years ago! All those little areas I fought to get clean would not have been an issue if I had removed them.

Once I removed the doors and the track, I took them outside, and power washed them. If you don’t own a power washer, no problem, you can use your hose and some good old fashion elbow grease. After power washing them, I scrubbed them with TSP and a magic eraser. I rinsed and repeated the process. It’s imperative to get all the soap scum, dirt, and grime off to make sure the paint adheres properly. The other important part is to make sure you remove ALL, yes, ALL silicone caulk. The paint does not stick to silicone caulk. After washing the doors and track pieces with TSP, I then used a putty knife, widget, and sandpaper to remove the caulk. I probably spent almost 2 hours on this part. While it was not fun, it’s very important. Then I washed everything down one more time with TSP and let them dry.

If you are certain ALL silicone caulk has been removed, you can begin priming your track and doors. Be sure to tape off the glass on the doors before priming and painting.

I used Rust-oleum Professional Primer in Gray. Follow the directions on the can. I used two, sometimes three coats of primer. Especially in the areas where the metal had started to deteriorate.

After your primer is dry, which should not take too long, you can begin painting your doors in your color choice. I used Rust-oleum Professional Enamel Paint in Semi-Gloss Black. This was the same paint and primer I used to paint our ugly brass doorknobs and hinges over a year ago. They have held up beautifully, which is why I decided to use this for our shower doors.

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I sprayed the tracks and doors (inside and outside) with three coats of paint, letting them dry according to the directions on the can. Then I let them cure for almost a week. While they were curing, I was finishing painting the shower enclosure.

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Now it was time to reinstall the track. This process could vary depending on how you removed your shower doors. For ours, we put a line of clear silicone caulk on the bottom side of the bottom part of the track and gently pressed it into place. Sorry I did not take photos of this. Once set in place, we taped it with painters tape to be sure it did not move. Then we replaced the side tracks, screwed those back into the shower enclosure, and then replaced the header. I then went back and recaulked the inside and outside of the side tracks, in the same place that I had scored the caulk when I removed them. We also ran a line of caulk at the bottom of each side track where it met with the bottom part for the track. We let all of this dry overnight. The next morning we were able to install the doors.

This is the point the doors really started to transform. We cut 1/4″ x 3/4″ Pine Screen Stock Moulding and began dry fitting it to the doors. We ran two of the moulding strips from the top of the doors to the bottom. All cross bars fit between the two vertical pieces. The length you cut the moulding will be determined by your door.

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Once all the pieces were dry fit, I removed them so I could paint. Both the front AND the back were painted with primer and then black paint. We took the showers doors off and laid them flat on a table in the garage to glue the pieces in place. On our doors, there is a rubber gasket that holds the glass in place. In the corners, this gasket is rounded, keeping the trim from fitting neatly in the corner. I remedied this by shaving a small corner edge with a box knife razor blade off the backside of the vertical moulding. After doing this, the vertical pieces fit snuggly in the corners. The outside frame pieces were glued first directly to the glass using E6000 Glue, my very favorite go-to glue. This stuff will glue anything. Just make sure you get clear as it does come in white and black.

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After the outside frame glue was dry, we carefully measured and glued the inside horizontal pieces in place. Measuring and spacing precisely are very important. If these aren’t almost exactly right, they won’t line up when the doors are rehung. You must also make sure these horizontal pieces are level. Go slow, measure several times, and it will be fine. I promise. The pieces were held in place with masking tape while the glue dried. We let these dry overnight.

Once everything was glued and dry, then I top coated the doors, and the frame with PPG Breakthrough Clear in satin gloss and let dry 24 hours. This is the same clear coat I used on the shower walls. While I have not had issues with my doorknobs, they are not soaked in water two times a day, either. I wanted to be extra sure all that work I just did will last. All that was left was to hang the doors.

After

Before

This entire shower make-over cost just under $300 (this includes painting the surround). I could not be happier with the way this came out. It took me three solid weekends to complete. While this was a lengthy project, I think the time invested and the cost savings was totally worth it. I can’t wait to finish the rest of this bathroom.

Is this something you would consider doing?

Caio for now!