How to install bathroom doors: step-by-step instructions for self-installation

The installation of doors to a bathroom or toilet follows a similar principle as for another room, but there are a number of nuances. A gap is left between the floor covering and the canvas to ensure air exchange - ventilation. Be sure to install a threshold that protects the apartment from accidental flooding. If the corridor is very narrow, install the doors to the bathroom and toilet yourself so that the door opens into the bathroom.

Choosing bathroom doors

When choosing a door for rooms with high humidity levels, it is advisable to pay attention to products made on the basis of the following materials:

doors made of tempered and heavy-duty frosted or stained glass, sprayed or fusing glass;
a lightweight and reliable plastic product, characterized by durability and a price quite affordable for the average consumer;
doors with PVC coating, characterized by a lack of tendency to deform, as well as exceptional practicality and ease of maintenance;
laminated doors, practically indistinguishable in appearance from natural wood textures, resistant to adverse factors, including high humidity;
wear-resistant products based on eco-veneer, which have high aesthetic characteristics and sufficient moisture resistance.

A modern veneered door, which is covered with a thin layer of valuable wood, contrary to popular misconception, is very reliable and practical, which is due to a special high-tech impregnation and varnish coating.

Which material to choose

Material is the most important aspect when choosing; bathroom thresholds are made from:

metal,
wood,
plastic,
concrete.

Most often, wooden doors are installed, along with wooden thresholds, so that they look beautiful together. However, this is a big mistake; wood is, of course, a strong, durable and natural material, but not intended for constant contact with water. Humidity will gradually affect the structure, the wood will begin to crack, become moldy, if not rot at all. Water-repellent varnishes can protect for a while, but you will have to carefully monitor this, then this will really help save the situation.

Wooden threshold

Speaking of metal, we note the advantages in the form of strength, but it is very unstable against the onslaught of water; the metal may soon become covered with rust. If there are small children in the house, they may trip and hitting a metal threshold can cause serious injury. Doors are often made of plastic; it would seem that the material is very resistant to influences, especially to water. Doors made of plastic are really stable, but the same cannot be said about the threshold. It bears quite a heavy load, but this material cannot boast of strength; the plastic will quickly begin to crack and collapse. The best option is concrete; it really is not afraid of time, water, or load. It is distinguished by its strength and durability under any external influence. Finishing with concrete will not be difficult; it is possible to use the same materials as when creating the floor in the bathroom so that the threshold matches the interior.

Concrete threshold

How to install a door to a bathroom (toilet) with your own hands?

Installing a door in a bathroom or toilet yourself does not cause any difficulties, even if you do not have sufficient experience in such work.

However, it is necessary to prepare all the required materials and tools, as well as strictly follow the installation technology at all stages of installation.

Installed door

Required tools and materials

Proper installation of a door with your own hands involves the use of materials and standard tools presented:

screwdriver;
self-tapping screws;
nails for platbands;
miter box;
wood hacksaw;
hammer drill;
chisel;
mounting knife;
building level;
feather drill;
polyurethane foam;
wooden or plastic backing;
silicone sealants.

The standard thickness of walls in a bathroom, as a rule, does not exceed 50 mm, so the door frame must be thicker, only one and a half centimeters. Otherwise, it will be necessary to carry out additional work to thicken the walls or remove extra centimeters from the purchased product.

In some cases, a standard set of working tools may well be supplemented if necessary, which is explained by the characteristics of the material and the thickness of the walls in the plumbing room, as well as the main characteristics of the door being installed.

Preparation of a new opening and installation of the canvas

First you need to prepare the opening itself. To do this, the old canvas along with the opening is dismantled. The platbands and canvas are removed. All metal fasteners are removed, after which the old opening is removed using a crowbar - first the side parts, and then the top. If you can’t do this right away, you can use a hacksaw. To do this, cut the blade in cross section, and then proceed with dismantling again.

When this is finished, you can move on to updating the opening. To do this, clean the old layers of plaster with a brush and spatula, after which a new layer of gypsum mortar is applied. When the solution is completely dry, you need to check it with a plumb line and level and, if necessary, correct any inconsistencies. At the end everything needs to be sanded with sandpaper.

Now you need to install the box. For this, screws, anchors and mounting foam are used. But first, the parts of the box are installed one by one, temporarily fixed with wedges to avoid deformation. After this, the evenness is checked by level and plumb, and then fastening with anchors and screws occurs. When the side and top parts of the boxes are ready, you need to seal the cracks with polyurethane foam. After drying, the remaining foam is removed, and these places are sealed with plaster and painted over.

Next, you need to mark the places for attaching the door hinges on the frames, and then cut out the recesses for them using a chisel. After this, everything is checked carefully again, since it will be difficult to correct the shortcomings. Then you can safely attach the hinges to the box using screws.

Preparatory work

Before you begin installing a bathroom door, you must carefully prepare the doorway. If the opening is too large, standard extensions are used, and if it is very small, it is expanded to the optimal size using a hammer drill and chisel.

At the next stage, the frame and door leaf are carefully prepared. Initially, the box is assembled using self-tapping screws, which are screwed into holes pre-drilled using an electric drill.

Calculation of the doorway in the bathroom

The drill used for this purpose should be a couple of sizes smaller than the diameter of the fasteners, which will help prevent cracking of the surface during the process of tightening the screws.

If necessary, at the preparatory stage, work is carried out to dismantle the old door and door frame, but the walls should receive minimal damage.

Universal solution

Flood protection sensor

A threshold is not the only means of avoiding flooding. There are special sensors installed on the floor (usually installation is done in several places of your choice for precise control). The sensors completely shut off the water when the detector indicates that a certain amount has been spilled on the floor. This is one of the most convenient and effective ways to prevent flooding while you are away from home, when you are sleeping, in general, whenever a person cannot do it. Of course, you will have to spend a certain amount of money, then it’s up to you to decide whether you are ready. With some thought, you can easily come up with ways to disguise it so that it looks beautiful and is not conspicuous. It's another matter when you constantly trip over it, and it really starts to irritate. It is worth mentioning the disadvantages, depending on the installation location, the sensor may respond later than the water has time to flood the floor by at least a couple of millimeters, in which case the threshold or lowered floor level will play into the hands.

Which way does the bathroom door open: inward or outward?

The process of inserting door hinges and locking elements yourself directly depends on where the door is supposed to be opened. In any case, it will be much more difficult to embed a lock on an already assembled structure.

Tapping technology:

Using a chisel, cut grooves for installing hinges flush with the frame and the surface of the canvas;
screw in the self-tapping screws in a trial manner, which will allow you to mark the places where they are screwed in after the frame is installed in the doorway;
on the end part of the door leaf, mark a place for the location of the lock;
protect the frame base of the canvas from cracking with a clamp.

Bathroom doors should open outwards

A locking mechanism is placed in the cavity cut out according to the markings, and only after checking its functionality is the handle installed and screwed to the blade.

Inserting a lock yourself will be successful only if during the work process the entire sequence of actions specified in the instructions supplied by the manufacturer is strictly followed.

Installation of sliding doors

A sliding mechanism is a great way to save space. If you have a cramped bathroom, such designs are definitely worth a closer look. As a rule, the product itself includes all the necessary parts: guides, rollers, fittings, fasteners. If you need a lock - it is ordered additionally - this is another wooden stand into which the canvas will go and snap into place. Hanging a coupe structure is no more difficult than working with a classic mechanism. Follow the sequence of actions.

Step-by-step instruction

Rollers are installed on top of the canvas and secured with screws.
A small cut is made along the bottom edge, 1.5 centimeters deep and 3 millimeters wide.
Measure the height of the door, plan the gap between it and the floor, and take into account the presence and size of the rollers on top.
A guide is attached at the resulting distance from the floor. You can pre-install a wooden block and secure it to it, or use corner brackets.
On the side, the rollers are placed on the guide and the product is hung.
Finally, stabilizing stops are installed. To correctly calculate the distance, the product is expanded to its maximum width and a stop is inserted into the groove on the left, securing it with self-tapping screws. After all work, you should measure the vertical level again.

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Installing a bathroom door

The door can be installed either with or without a threshold. The first method has some disadvantages and certain advantages, so the installation option is performed individually in each specific case.

Installation with threshold

The threshold is designed to perform several functional tasks:

creating an obstacle to water leaks and flooding of other premises as a result of an emergency;
preventing the spread of any unpleasant odors and moist air throughout residential premises.

Door with threshold

The practice of self-improvement involves installing a threshold based on materials that are similar to the door leaf, so plastic doors are supplemented with plastic thresholds, metal doors with metal thresholds, and wooden doors with wooden blocks.

Due to the identity of the materials used when decorating thresholds in the bathroom, it is possible to maintain the design of the sanitary room in a single style, but wood is short-lived, and therefore requires mandatory treatment with special compounds.

Installation without threshold

Installing a door without a threshold is not the most rational solution, so in practice such installation options are very rare.

However, in order to prevent an increase in humidity in the plumbing room, if there is a standard threshold under the door leaf, it is necessary to install an electric fan in the ventilation duct or leave a standard gap of approximately 4-5 mm between the bottom end of the door and the threshold.

Flat threshold for the bathroom

The lack of proper floor slope when installing a structure in a bathroom without a threshold often causes the door to cling to the surface of the floor finish during the opening process.

Care Tips

Due to the fact that there is high humidity in the bathroom and constant contact of surfaces with water, the operating rules differ from the usual ones. First of all, this concerns cleaning. The surface often gets dirty from the inside - the dirt needs to be washed off with a soft material soaked in ordinary water. Do not use products with abrasives to avoid damaging the material.
If you have a plastic product, prepare a solution for cleaning with alcohol or vinegar at the rate of 1/9 (1 part vinegar and 9 parts water).
Lacquered doors cannot be cleaned using solvents.
Veneer products are cleaned with wax polish or a spray with a similar composition.
The wood is wiped with water and then impregnated with a protective agent.
The glass will shine if you wipe it with vinegar water or window spray.
It is better to rub the fittings with a dry soft cloth without chemicals.

Installing a bathroom door without trim

Platband is a decorative element represented by rounded, curly or straight strips. The final stage of installing a door in a bathroom is framing the installed structure with platbands, which will mask unaesthetic cracks filled with polyurethane foam.

Door trim

Recently, door blocks without platbands or special door leaves with a hidden frame have been actively used. In this case, the canvas is mounted on secret or hidden hinges, which makes it possible to obtain a lightweight and elegant design. The door frame in this design is fixed without external jumpers.

Door foaming technology: step-by-step instructions

To improve thermal insulation and better fixation in the passage, it is necessary to foam the empty space between the box and the entrance. The composition is applied as follows:

Before applying foam, you need to moisten the work surface. In this way, better bonding of the two materials can be achieved.
Before opening the container and applying foam, you need to shake the container.
After filling the free spaces, you need to wait for the polyurethane foam to dry. Wait 3-4 hours.

Advice! Builders recommend leaving the foam to dry for 24 hours before further work.

Installation cost

The average cost of installing a door in a bathroom is quite affordable, and qualified workers will complete the installation quickly and with guaranteed quality.
Standard door installation including:

assembly and installation of the door frame;
hanging canvas;
insertion of hinges and locking element;
cladding with platband.

It will cost approximately 2500-3000 rubles. Additionally, there is a fee for dismantling the old door leaf and frame, as well as widening the opening and some other work.

It is important to remember that, regardless of heat resistance and water resistance, even the most expensive doors can quickly become unusable if the plumbing room ventilation regime is not followed.