Hi! Replacing framed shower doors with Frameless Glass Shower Doors later on is definitely possible and a common upgrade. It typically won't require redoing your tile, as long as the original install was done cleanly and the tile is in good condition. There may be some minor patching or cleaning where the framed unit was attached, but a professional installer can usually handle that with minimal disruption. Just make sure your tile layout is compatible with a future frameless install when planning your build.
https://www.mcdowellglass.com/frameless-shower-doors

Upgrading from framed to frameless shower doors later is possible, but it can be tricky. Removing framed doors may leave holes or damage the tiles, sometimes requiring tile repair or replacement. Frameless doors also need proper wall support for the heavier glass. If you’re considering the switch down the road, it’s smart to plan ahead. McDowell Glass offers expert help with Frameless Glass Shower Doors to ensure a smooth upgrade.
https://www.mcdowellglass.com/frameless-shower-doors

We paid $2000 to install one in a 6 foot wide shower and about $1200 to install one in a 3 foot wide shower. Work was done in a day and we've never had any issues with the doors or the surrounding tile (these were retrofits).

Anonymous wrote:Our builder only charged $700 more for frames. Well worth it!

Frameless

Our builder only charged $700 more for frames. Well worth it!

My advice....just have the builder put in the frameless shower doors. Relative to the cost of the house, this is a very small upgrade. Just do it right to begin with.

Try Dulles Glass and Mirror.

OP here, thanks everyone for the helpful responses.

It cost about $1,600 to replace our framed shower door to a frameless shower door. We were able to take out the framed door ourselves to save money (and the company took it away for free). It does damage the tiles but we had some extra tile pieces and grout so we were able to replace the tiles ourselves. However, if our builder had offered a frameless shower door, at a reasonable price, I may have picked that option, just to save myself the hassle.

We bought our frameless glass shower enclosure from a small company that then was so frustrating to work with we ended up installing it ourselves, with the help of a YouTube video. It was surprisingly easy and saved us a ton of money.

Call a glass door company and ask them. I suspect an earlier poster has the best idea -- don't have the builder install anything. You could use a shower curtain for a few years if money is really tight.

When I remodeled, the frameless door was only $800 more a framed door, just for another reference point.

We replaced ours last year and the damage to the tiles was much more than we expected. With the cost of redoing the tile and having a frameless door installed, it cost us a total of $5k

Depends on the shape of the shower, but frameless are thousands of dollars. We diyed ours and it was $1100 for a basic door from lowes. Look online at their prices to compare to your shower shape.

Can you just ask them not to put in shower doors and do them yourself? If they screw through the tub or tile it will cost to get those replaced. Make sure to keep a few extra tile for later.

Hello,
Planning on new build here. The cost of the framed shower doors comes with the base price but the frameless is several thousands more. Wondering how difficult and costly is it to replace the framed door with frameless in a few years. Would it damage the tiles so much that the tiles would have to be redone? Thanks!