Guide to Shower Door Opening Sizes

When you are building a new shower for your bathroom, one of the last steps is to install the shower door. If everything has been perfectly built prior to this, the shower door will swing or slide open freely, close perfectly, and keep all of the water in the shower enclosure. But if you get that measurement wrong, it is very difficult to reverse previous work. Learning about common rough-in door sizes will make the installation go smoothly and clean.

Pivot or Swinging Shower Door Sizes

Most pivot or swinging shower door units are 48 inches wide with the actual walk-in door opening being 26 1/2 inches wide.

Sliding Shower Door Sizes

Most sliding shower door units are 60 inches wide with the actual walk-in door opening being around 22 inches wide to 25-3/8 inches wide.

Bypass Door Sizes

Sliding shower doors range from 45 inches to 47 inches. Wider sliding shower doors will be 57 inches to 59 inches wide. Most shower doors are 79 inches high.

Alcove shower/bathtubs commonly are 60 inches wide and their bypass or sliding doors are usually about 58 inches. When framing the alcove, do not add any extra space to accommodate the shower/tub; it must be exactly 60 inches.

This dimension might be direct-to-stud or between two wall coverings. Direct-to-stud installation refers to a pre-fabricated unit with coordinated surround walls that screw directly to uncovered wall studs. The three walls enclosing the alcove are framed, but no water-resistant wallboard or cement board is installed on top of the studs. With this type of installation, the shower/bathtub itself is slightly less than 60 inches. This gap varies from one manufacturer to another but usually is around 59 7/8 inches. Other alcove installations have wall coverings such as drywall or cement board on the studs.

On the left and right side of the shower door is a metal frame. This frame, plus the need for a slight space on each side of the shower door, reduces the total shower door width in these 60-inch alcove applications to 58 inches.

Frameless Pivot (Swinging) Shower Door Sizes

• 39 1/8-inch to 44-inch
• 27 5/16-inch to 31 1/8-inch
• 43 1/8-inch to 48-inch

Frameless Sliding Shower Door Sizes

• 56 5/8-inch to 59 5/8-inch
• 44 5/8-inch to 47 5/8-inch

Frameless Return Side Panel Sizes

Frameless shower doors often have one or even two glass side pieces called side lights. The hinge-side piece allows the door to pivot open and close while maintaining a waterproof seal against the shower wall.

• 34-inch to 35-inch
• 29-inch to 30-inch
• 31-inch to 32-inch

How to Measure for a Shower Door

Whether measuring a shower or a shower/bathtub combination, measure the width by running a tape measure or a laser measuring device from side to side. Measure in two places: at the top and at the bottom. It is important to take these two measurements because walls and alcove enclosures may distort over time or may have been built slightly out of square in the first place. Go with the largest of the two measurements and round up to the nearest 1/8 of an inch.

For height, measure from the side of the bathtub/shower or from the curb on showers. As with the width, measure twice: once at the left and once at the right. Choose the largest of the two measurements and round up to the nearest 1/8 of an inch.

Upon installation, shower doors and their frames do have a bit of flexibility to account for walls that are slightly out of square. That said, you should still get this measurement as accurate as possible.