How to Replace a Shower-Door Sweep

If your floor gets a shower when you take one, chances are your shower-door sweep--the rubberlike strip that lines the bottom of the door--needs to be replaced. A worn strip lets water seep beneath the door and onto your floor. Left unchecked, that leaky little strip could leave you drowning in some serious water damage.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• New Shower-door Sweep
• Petroleum Jelly
• Petroleum Jelly
• Scissors
• Scissors
• Screwdriver

1. Open the shower door from the outside.

2. 

   Grab the edge of the sweep and pull it toward the outside of the door until the strip is removed from its track (see A). In some cases, you may need to unscrew the sweep from the track.

3. Bring the old shower-door sweep to a hardware or home supply store to purchase a new one that matches its height. Sizes vary slightly.

4. 

   Using the old sweep as a pattern, cut the new sweep to the same length with scissors (see B).

5. Install the new shower sweep. If a sweep that's supposed to fit in a track sticks going in, lightly coat the edge of the sweep with petroleum jelly.

6. If the new sweep doesn't stop the leak, consider recaulking around the shower door area (see How to Fix a Shower Door) or checking the grout around the shower.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep a bathmat in front of the shower entrance to protect the floor from excess moisture and to reduce the chances of someone slipping after a shower.