Last Updated on 4 years by Christopher G Mendla
How to replace a door on an outside shower with rusted out hinges.
Overview – A 60 year old outside shower
Many summer homes on the Jersey Shore have outside showers. This particular shower was built in 1956. The environment is harsh with salt water flooding.
The shower is on the north side of the house and is more susceptible to mold and mildew.
When opening the house in the spring, I noticed that one of the hinges was completely rusted out. The other hinges were in poor condition as well.
The posts are 4×4’s. Most likely they were pressure treated. The 4×4’s are embedded in the concrete. The door was rebuilt a couple of years ago using fiberboard and cellular PVC for the frame.
Plan of attack
The objective was to make sure that the door didn’t fail during the summer. Eventually, the whole shower will have to be rebuilt as the 4×4’s posts are showing signs of deterioration at the ground level and where the hinges were attached.
The hinges had to be completely replaced. The selection at the local hardware store was a little longer than the original but that was acceptable.
Water intrusion over the years have caused rot where the hinges were attached to the 4×4. That meant that simply screwing the new hinges on would result in a weak point. Filling the wood with epoxy resin and a repair product called Marine Tex. Marine Tex can be drilled and tapped.
In addition, enlarging the screw holes in the hinges allowed for the use of lag bolts.
Note – You could use a wet epoxy to set the lag bolts. However that would make it pretty much impossible to remove them in the future. On the other hand, this was meant to be a ‘kick the can down the road a little’ fix.
Once the door was installed, the hinges were ready to be painted
I had to remove some of the PVC and re-attach it. The screws were countersunk a bit. I filled those countersunk screw holes with silicone caulk. Again, I don’t anticipate repairing this shower again but rather replacing the whole thing.
Summary
It took almost a full day to complete this job. That included several trips to the local hardware store which is a four block walk.
In this particular situation, it was worth the time, cost and effort. The cost was less than $40. The door held up for the summer and it looks like we can get 2021 out of it at the very least. A pre-made shower enclosure would have cost about $600 to $3000 dollars.
For another door repair, see our repairing shed doors article.