Domakihub How to Fit a Shower Enclosure: Step-by-Step Guide
Plan your space, prep your walls, and install a watertight enclosure that lasts.
Reviewed by Domakihub home & decor pros · 2026-06-23 · 5 min read
Fitting a shower enclosure is one of the most impactful bathroom upgrades you can make in a Greek home, holiday rental, or hotel room — but a leaking seal or out-of-plumb frame can turn a weekend project into a costly repair. The video above from Victorian Plumbing walks through the full process visually, while this guide adds the planning, tooling, and pro-referral context you need before you pick up a drill. Work through the steps below and you will know exactly what a competent tradesperson should do — and when the job calls for one.
Choosing the Right Enclosure for Your Space
Shower enclosures come in four main configurations: framed or frameless pivot-door, sliding (bypass) door, bi-fold door, and quadrant (corner) units. Pivot doors need clear swing space in front; sliding doors are ideal where space is tight; bi-folds fold inward and suit very narrow openings; quadrant units tuck neatly into a corner and are the most popular choice for compact Greek bathrooms. Measure the shower tray or tiled area first — manufacturers publish minimum and maximum wall-to-wall sizes, and an enclosure that is even 10 mm too wide will not seal properly.
Glass thickness matters too: 6 mm tempered (ESG) glass is standard for budget enclosures, while 8 mm is noticeably more rigid and easier to keep clean. All glass sold in the EU must carry a CE mark and meet EN 12150; never fit untempered glass in a wet area.
What the Law and Building Code Require in Greece
In Greece, replacing a like-for-like shower enclosure in an existing shower tray requires no building permit (oikodomiki adeia). However, if you are moving the shower to a new position — which involves rerouting the waste drain or relocating water supply pipes inside a wall — you enter plumbing work that should be carried out or signed off by a licensed plumber (ydravlikos). Structural changes (removing a wall, cutting a new floor drain through a concrete slab) require an engineer and a permit. Damp-proofing (waterproofing the wet zone with a tanking membrane) is not legally mandated for enclosures that sit on a tray, but it is best practice for any tiled shower area and is mandatory on shower-wet-room conversions. If your shower shares a wall with a gas pipe chase, do not drill into that wall yourself — call a licensed gas engineer.
How to Fit a Shower Enclosure: 5 Steps
- 1
Prepare and Level the Shower Tray
Before any frame goes up, the tray must be perfectly level — use a spirit level across both axes. Acrylic and stone-resin trays sit on adjustable legs (or a mortar bed for heavier stone-resin); set the height so the waste trap can fit below the floor void. Apply a continuous bead of silicone sealant around the perimeter of the tray where it meets the wall, and let it cure for at least 24 hours before continuing. A tray that rocks or is even 2–3 mm out of level will cause doors to swing open or slam shut by themselves.
- 2
Mark, Drill, and Fix the Wall Profiles
Hold each aluminium wall channel against the wall and use a plumb line or laser level to mark its exact vertical position — do not trust the tray edge or existing tiles as a reference, as walls in older Greek buildings are rarely truly plumb. Mark the fixing holes, then drill with a tile bit at low speed (no hammer action through tiles) before switching to a masonry bit for the substrate. Insert wall plugs rated for the load, and screw the profiles finger-tight first. Check plumb again, then fully tighten. If the wall is hollow board (gypsum/plasterboard) rather than concrete or block, use cavity anchors rated for wet areas.
- 3
Glaze the Panels and Hang the Door
Slide the glass panels into their bottom channels and locate them in the top channel or header rail according to the manufacturer's sequence — this varies between pivot, sliding, and bi-fold designs, so read the instruction sheet for your specific model before starting. Most sliding enclosures require the rollers to be hooked onto the top track before the bottom seal strip is fitted. Do not force glass into channels; if resistance is felt, recheck that profiles are plumb and parallel. Adjust door rollers or hinges until the door hangs square and the gap between door and fixed panel is even top to bottom (typically 4–6 mm).
- 4
Seal Every Joint with Sanitary Silicone
Apply a continuous, unbroken bead of neutral-cure, anti-mould sanitary silicone (never acetoxy/acid-cure silicone on aluminium or natural stone) along every joint: tray-to-wall profile, tray-to-glass seal, and where two wall profiles meet in the corner. Wet your finger or a caulking tool and smooth the bead in one pass — do not go back over it repeatedly or you will pull the bead thin. Mask both sides of each joint with painter's tape before applying silicone for a clean finish; remove tape while the silicone is still wet. Allow a full 24 hours of curing before running water.
- 5
Test for Leaks and Adjust Seals
Run the shower at full pressure for at least five minutes while watching every joint, the door bottom sweep, and the corners of the tray. Dry the enclosure fully, then run it again and check with a torch — water tracks along surfaces before dripping, so look for any damp path not just an obvious drip. Minor leaks at door sweeps are usually fixed by adjusting the height of the bottom seal strip; leaks at wall profiles mean the silicone joint has a gap and needs to be cut back and redone. If water is appearing outside the tray rather than inside the enclosure, the tray seal has failed and must be re-done before the enclosure is used.
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FAQ
- Do I need a plumber to fit a shower enclosure in Greece?
- Not for a straight replacement on an existing tray with existing plumbing. The enclosure itself — frame, glass, and door — is a DIY-capable job if you are comfortable with a drill, silicone, and a spirit level. You do need a licensed plumber (ydravlikos) if any pipe work is involved: moving the waste, adding a new supply valve, or rerouting pipework inside a wall.
- How long does the silicone need to cure before I use the shower?
- Standard sanitary silicone is touch-dry in 30–60 minutes but needs a full 24 hours to cure through before it is exposed to water. In humid Greek summer conditions this is usually fine; in winter or air-conditioned spaces, 48 hours is safer. Never rush this step — a partially cured seal will fail immediately on contact with water.
- My walls are not plumb — will the enclosure still fit?
- Most enclosures tolerate a 5–10 mm out-of-plumb variance because the wall profiles have a small amount of play and the door seals are flexible. Beyond that, you will need to pack out the wall profile with spacers at the fixing points, or have a tiler re-render the wall plumb before fitting. Fitting an enclosure to a badly out-of-plumb wall without correction is the most common reason enclosures leak at the wall joint within months of installation.