What hardware is most commonly used on glass shower doors?

Glass tends to be front and center on shower doors and enclosures, but metal is its necessary partner. The precise type of hardware will be determined by customer preference, shower design, door type, bathroom structure, and so forth. To give you a general idea of the metal components to be thinking about, here’s an overview of hardware commonly used on glass showers.

Handles: You’ll find at least one handle on most enclosures that include a door panel. (Some enclosures have an open entryway and thus no door or handle.)

Hinges: Showers with swinging doors have wall mounted or pivot hinges. Wall mounted hinges are affixed to the door and to the wall beside it. Pivot hinges are attached to the door panel and to the surfaces above and below it, forming a point from which the door can pivot open or shut.

Framing: Semi-frameless and framed shower enclosures also include aluminum framing on some or all glass edges.

Clips: Small metal clips are used to attach glass to glass and to other surfaces on frameless enclosures.

Header: A header is a bar (usually metal) that spans the top of an enclosure. These are installed for a few different reasons. Sometimes a header is needed for structural integrity or because an upper surface is needed for pivot hinges. Additionally, headers are used on rolling “barn style” shower doors systems because the door panel hangs from and rolls along the header.

Rollers: Round metal rollers are used for door operation on the “barn style” enclosures mentioned above.