Self-Cleaning RV Shower Door Upgrade | Removing Glass + Installing Retractable RecPro Vs Nautilus

Our favorite RV bathroom upgrade! In this video I show how to easily remove an existing sliding glass RV shower door and track and install a new lightweight, self-cleaning retractable shower door. I also cover why we chose the RecPro door over the Nautilus version by Stoett.

RecPro vs Nautilus by Stoett

I’d been wanting to replace our heavy and hard to clean shower doors with a lightweight retractable door for a while now, but I wasn’t really excited about the look of the Nautilus version by Stoett. Their frosted clear screens with white lines didn’t match our interior, and in all honesty, it looked to me like something from my grandparents’ 1970s bathroom.

But I was browsing around on RecPro.com one day and randomly discovered they offer their own retractable shower door. And one of the color options is black. When I saw it, I knew I had to have it.

What Size?

The first step though was determining what size door I needed in order to fit our particular shower.

In our 2020 Grand Design Momentum 397TH, the shower entrance measures about 45” across and 65” tall, so I had two options.

I could either custom order that exact height and width and receive our new door in 8-10 weeks OR I could order the largest pre-made size RecPro offers, which is 48” x 67”, and then trim the width down myself. If I did that, I’d only have to wait a few days.

So that’s the option I chose.

After placing my order, the shower door arrived in 5 days via FedEx.

It was packaged securely and included basic instructions, two screws and a decal for the handle.

How To Remove Old Glass Door

Now that the new door was here, the first step for us was to remove our old shower door.

To do this was pretty simple.

I had to remove one screw from each side of the upper track, which is what secures it to each of the side rails.

With those screws removed, the only thing holding the track in place was some silicone. I gently twisted it on each side to break it loose from the sealant and then I was able to lift the track and shower door together as one unit and carefully take them outside.

I made sure to lift everything with the track itself because the glass panels weigh close to 60 pounds and I was afraid squeezing them together with a tight grip might make everything shatter in my face.

Which brings up another point. I understand glass doors LOOK good and they make an RV feel a lot more residential, but at the same time, are the looks really worth all of the headache?

The bottom tracks are almost impossible to keep clean. The panels are essentially experiencing an hours-long earthquake every travel day. And then if the glass does happen to break, it shatters into a million razor sharp pieces.

Doesn’t make a lot of sense to be in an RV to me, but, that’s why we’re replacing them.

So next up were the side rails. I removed a screw at the top and then a screw halfway down and then tried to gently twist and pry the rail from the wall, but it was securely attached with a long bead of sealant. I was worried I’d damage the shower wall if I applied too much force, so I decided to carefully cut the silicone along the wall with a razor blade. I was then able to easily remove the rail.

The process was the same for the other side rail and the bottom track. I simply removed all the screws, cut the sealant and then pulled everything away.

Once all of the old hardware was removed, I used a fresh blade to remove the old sealant and a powerful solvent to scrub away any remaining gunk.

How To Install New Retractable Door

With the shower walls and base now empty and clean, I began to prep the new door for installation. We put the unit together, laid it out on the floor and then I took measurements of the width.

For us, the 48” unit measured in at exactly 49” wide at the top and the bottom.

I then measured the width of our shower walls again and got exactly 44 3/4″ at the top and 44 5/8″ at the bottom.

Next up was to trim the top and bottom rails of the new shower door to fit perfectly within this space.

The top of the new door was 49” wide, but it needed to be 44 3/4″. So 49 minus 44.75 equals 4.25 inches. This is how much rail I needed to remove from the top.

I did the same calculation for the bottom. 49 minus the bottom measurement of 44.625 equals 4.375 inches that need to be removed from the bottom rail.

I marked these measurements on each rail.

I then wrapped some painter’s tape around the edge of these measurements to use as a guideline for cutting.

I carefully cut straight down through the rails with a hacksaw, which was pretty easy to do because the metal is thin and the rails are mostly hollow.

Next I began to test fit the door canister and mark exactly where it should be mounted. The unit is reversible and can be installed to open left or right. Either way, you just want to make sure the handle is facing to the outside of the shower.

It was at this point in the process I realized something that I hadn’t considered before. Because I ordered a premade unit that was 2” taller than our shower walls, I was going to be unable to utilize the top mounting notch.

I wasn’t thrilled about drilling even more holes in the walls anyway, so I decided to skip the mounting brackets for now and just rely on the adhesive strip on the back of the canister and a nice, heavy application of silicone sealant.

Having just experienced how difficult it was to remove the old siderails from the silicone, even after removing all the screws, I felt pretty confident the sealant would hold. If not, I could later add a spacer to secure the top screw.

Now that the position of the canister had been marked, I used a blade to remove the excess adhesive that would have ended up above the shower wall and then I removed the paper backing from the entire adhesive strip.

I carefully lined the canister up with the marks and gently pressed the top and the bottom of the canister into place. Once I was satisfied with the position, I firmly pressed the adhesive against the wall with my body weight, working from the bottom of the canister to the top.

Now that the canister was firmly in place, it was time to attach the other side of the frame to the wall. I began here as well by test fitting and marking where the frame should go, making sure the lip for the handle latch was facing to the inside of the shower.

I then cut off the excess adhesive and removed the paper backing from the entire adhesive strip.

Before I could attach this frame to the wall though, I needed to install the bottom rail. I started out by sliding the rail onto the bottom wheels of the door and then into the end cap of the canister.

Once the rail felt securely inserted into the end cap of the canister, I then inserted the other end into the opposing frame. This took a bit of finessing because there isn’t a ton of wiggle room here and I had to be careful to only let the adhesive stick once the frame was in the correct position.

I firmly pressed the adhesive against the wall with my body weight, working again from top to bottom.

With both sides of the frame now secured it was then time to install the top rail. Just like with the bottom one, I slid the rail onto the top wheels of the door and then into the end cap of the canister.

Once the rail felt securely inserted into the end cap, I was then able to snap the other end down firmly into the slot on the opposing frame.

I then hopped in the shower and gave it a test run. Even without the mounting screws or silicone sealant, everything held securely, and the door easily extended, latched and retracted.

Next up was the sealant. I accidentally purchased a siliconIZED sealant instead of 100% silicone, which I didn’t realize until after I started applying it. But it actually worked out really well and ended still being rubbery and flexible. As you can see this particular sealant goes on white, but it becomes clear after about a week or so. It’s also ready to be exposed to water after 4 hours.

I was very liberal with the application and used almost two tubes to seal the entire inside perimeter of the new door. There were some deep crevices between the wall and the canister and I applied beads over these multiple times pressing the sealant deep into the cracks with my finger to ensure there were no air pockets and that there would be plenty of adhesion.

How To Dispose Of Old Glass Doors

Now that the new door was installed, and the sealant was curing, it was time to get rid of the old glass panels.

I seperated each of the glass panels, placed them in two large garbage bags and shattered the glass with a quick blow from a steel hammer.

I was then able to easily place all three bags of shattered glass into a tote.

My Custom Modification

I dropped the tote and most of the old frame off at a dump down the road, but I had an idea to keep the upper track and use it as trim across the top of the new door.

Since we ordered a premade unit that was 2” taller than our shower walls, I thought the tops of the frames looked a bit unpolished. But the old upper track fits perfectly over the new door and creates a very nice shape and finish.

To secure it in place I simply slid it over and let it rest directly on the upper rail, then I made sure it was centered and level. Once I was satisfied with the position, I then applied a thick, even bead of clear sealant all around the edges, connecting it to the wall. Once it dried it was securely locked in place.

Thoughts After 2 Months + 2k Miles

We’ve been using this shower door for 2 months now and it’s been fantastic. Obviously, it’s much easier to keep clean as we’ve eliminated the entire lower track which used to hold water and was a breeding ground for soap scum and mold.

Cleaning at the bottom of the door now simply takes a quick wipe with a rag or sponge and it’s done!

The door material is a non-porous and anti-microbial vinyl that dries very quickly and the canister also has a built-in self-cleaning wiper blade. So far the system seems to be working great and there’s been no scum build up on the door. It looks just as good as the day we installed it.

And then one other unexpected benefit is that there’s actually more room in the shower now because we’ve gone from three layers of thick glass to one layer of super thin vinyl.

We’ve also traveled over 2,000 miles since the installation and everything looks to be holding perfectly. The entire frame, including the original upper track from our old door, is all still locked in place by the sealant.

Pricing + Discounts

Another big benefit of the RecPro door over the Nautilus is pricing.

Obviously, the prices will differ depending on the size you need, but as an example in our case, the price of a 48 x 67 inch Nautilus door is around $312 shipped.

Whereas with RecPro, if you use code AROUNDTHESUN at checkout, you can get the same size door in either black or platinum for right at $190 shipped.

That’s over $120 cheaper than a Nautilus, which is a pretty big deal regardless of which style you prefer.

Share With Friends

And make sure to share this video and discount code with any of your RV friends who might also benefit from swapping out their shower door for something lighter, safer and easier to clean.