Sincraft
Member
Case anyone looks here for the average home owner diy plumber/contractor's advice, here is mine regarding Sterling shower doors.
I purchased the 5300 series door to fit their tub. Looking at the instructions, I notice I have a 5400 set of instructions. However, things just don't look right so I call in.
They inform me that I have the wrong instructions. Ok, so I print out the new ones they send to me, bizarre now they have all the different languages on each page instead of in seperate sections. Total waste of paper but hey no big deal just a little annoyance.
ok so then comes the real bad stuff. Missing a seal for teh bottom of the doors, and also I have a piece that shouldn't be in the entire kit.
Great. So I call in, they are going to send the gasket that goes with it, but alas I forgot to read the directions entirely (stupid yea I know) to ensure that all the other parts are there. Now I am missing two end caps.
Mind you, this box was completely sealed and stapled. Fresh and new direct from Sterling to distro then to me.
Ok so next, the CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP towel racks / door handles must be problematic for them as they were both two different sizes. Not problem though, they drilled the holes through the glass 1/2" and the bushing that fits through is 1/4". So what ends up happening is, when a wet towel eventually pushes this thing down, there will JUST be enough hole exposed to allow a trickle of water through. No big deal, as long as you don't expect to keep the outside of the glass actually clean.
Ok - so next. The instructions must be written by someone that has NEVER installed these units. They tell you a few tips, but there are certain things they REALLY need to stress. Like the fact that these side jambs sit on the deck because the top sits on those, therefore all the weight will be on the deck and not on the screws. I would have ensure this to be totally flush, and I'm pretty safe there but I can imagine that most people will have a few variations, especially because they will have to shape the corners themselves to fit the corners of the tubs, and if these side jambs do not sit perfectly against the deck, I can't imagine the assembly will be good for much very long.
Next, there are variations in my floor therefore the tub sits about 1/2" higher at one point. Well you can imagine that this played havoc with the shower walls and ESPECIALLY the doors. A simple - measure the sides and trim accordingly to allow the top piece to be level - would have allowed my glass to need no adjustment.
BUT it really doesn't matter, because they TINY cushions they give you , could NEVER stop the round head screw and the large oversight in the metal work toward the bottom of the door, which causes the screw to bash into the sidewall jambs instead of the cushion. Even aligning my doors, doesn't help it.
I THEN NOTICED THAT THEY SCREW UP BOTH DOORS! They cut the aluminum too long and left big gaps at the ends. They needed to trim another 1/8" off of these things, posisbly more! That causes the doors' bottom trim piece screws to hit the wall jambs.
At any rate, just very frustrated and I'm going to have a Kohler rep at my house this week and hopefully he will get me a seperate set of doors, handles and possibly the entire assembly complete - otherwise, I'm packing this up and throwing it out of my truck and buying something not made in america.
I should have bought some foreign junk, at least the parts would have been measured correctly...and I don't expect cheap thin garbage and plastic from American stuff, yet we are putting it out more and more. We aren't going to compete unless we kill the unions trying to get their people to make $40 / hr while wondering why we can't compete with overseas stuff. Then the quality is less? What's the purpose then? Personally, I think we all need to start taking pride in our work, regardless of what we make.
I purchased the 5300 series door to fit their tub. Looking at the instructions, I notice I have a 5400 set of instructions. However, things just don't look right so I call in.
They inform me that I have the wrong instructions. Ok, so I print out the new ones they send to me, bizarre now they have all the different languages on each page instead of in seperate sections. Total waste of paper but hey no big deal just a little annoyance.
ok so then comes the real bad stuff. Missing a seal for teh bottom of the doors, and also I have a piece that shouldn't be in the entire kit.
Great. So I call in, they are going to send the gasket that goes with it, but alas I forgot to read the directions entirely (stupid yea I know) to ensure that all the other parts are there. Now I am missing two end caps.
Mind you, this box was completely sealed and stapled. Fresh and new direct from Sterling to distro then to me.
Ok so next, the CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP towel racks / door handles must be problematic for them as they were both two different sizes. Not problem though, they drilled the holes through the glass 1/2" and the bushing that fits through is 1/4". So what ends up happening is, when a wet towel eventually pushes this thing down, there will JUST be enough hole exposed to allow a trickle of water through. No big deal, as long as you don't expect to keep the outside of the glass actually clean.
Ok - so next. The instructions must be written by someone that has NEVER installed these units. They tell you a few tips, but there are certain things they REALLY need to stress. Like the fact that these side jambs sit on the deck because the top sits on those, therefore all the weight will be on the deck and not on the screws. I would have ensure this to be totally flush, and I'm pretty safe there but I can imagine that most people will have a few variations, especially because they will have to shape the corners themselves to fit the corners of the tubs, and if these side jambs do not sit perfectly against the deck, I can't imagine the assembly will be good for much very long.
Next, there are variations in my floor therefore the tub sits about 1/2" higher at one point. Well you can imagine that this played havoc with the shower walls and ESPECIALLY the doors. A simple - measure the sides and trim accordingly to allow the top piece to be level - would have allowed my glass to need no adjustment.
BUT it really doesn't matter, because they TINY cushions they give you , could NEVER stop the round head screw and the large oversight in the metal work toward the bottom of the door, which causes the screw to bash into the sidewall jambs instead of the cushion. Even aligning my doors, doesn't help it.
I THEN NOTICED THAT THEY SCREW UP BOTH DOORS! They cut the aluminum too long and left big gaps at the ends. They needed to trim another 1/8" off of these things, posisbly more! That causes the doors' bottom trim piece screws to hit the wall jambs.
At any rate, just very frustrated and I'm going to have a Kohler rep at my house this week and hopefully he will get me a seperate set of doors, handles and possibly the entire assembly complete - otherwise, I'm packing this up and throwing it out of my truck and buying something not made in america.
I should have bought some foreign junk, at least the parts would have been measured correctly...and I don't expect cheap thin garbage and plastic from American stuff, yet we are putting it out more and more. We aren't going to compete unless we kill the unions trying to get their people to make $40 / hr while wondering why we can't compete with overseas stuff. Then the quality is less? What's the purpose then? Personally, I think we all need to start taking pride in our work, regardless of what we make.
