u/Impressive-Stable-20

Our shower glass spontaneously shattered after 1-1.5 years of buying a new-build. We are currently dealing with a frustrating situation with the builder and their contractors.

The shower panel was partially framed on 3 sides with tempered glass. This was an upgrade we chose, provided by the builder.

When it shattered, nobody was using the shower, nobody touched the glass, nothing slammed into it, and there weren't any temperature changes. I even checked for earthquakes in the area... zero seismic activity.

At the time it shattered, I heard a massive pop/bang, and found the entire panel shattered into thousands of pieces.

The builder and contractor came out for an inspection. After 5 minutes of looking at it, the contractor stated that the glass could only have broken immidietally after being hit. Based on that conclusion, the contractor stated that they would refuse to cover a replacement pane, but as a favor to the builder, would clean the area and install a new pane -- covered by the builder.

Sounds great, right? No, I outright refused:

I know with absolute certainty that nothing hit or damaged this glass. The implication is essentially that I'm lying.
I am not comfortable having replacement glass installed by a contractor who isn't willing to stand behind their installation or material. For safetly reasons, especially with a toddler running around the house, again I outright refused.

Instead we proposed a much simpler resolution:

remove remaining hardware/frame
clean the tile
fill/repair the mounting holes

The builder initially agreed this was probably the better route, however about 3 weeks later we were told that the tile company, "doesn't want the liability". Now the builder is refusing this route.

At this point, we paid extra for the master bathroom shower upgrade that catastrophically failed after about a year. We are left with a partially unusable shower, and we're being expected to either pay our of pock ourselves or accept another installtion from a contractor I do not and will not ever trust.

I'm trying to understand:

what would other homeowners do in this situation?
is this worth pursuing further?
anyone else go this this specific instance?
should i escalate further with the builder, licensing board, insurance, etc?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

*Edit* image of of broken glass added in the comments

Heard a massive bang from the bathroom and found our shower glass shattered into thousands of pieces.

Nobody was using it.
Nothing hit it.
No doors slammed.
No major temperature changes.

The shower is only about 1–1.5 years old.

Builder and contractor came out, looked at it for less than 5 minutes, and immediately said it “had to have been hit,” even though I was the only one home and know for a fact nothing touched it.

Then they refused to cover replacement because they believe it was caused externally. They originally agreed to at least remove the remaining hardware and repair the tile so we could just use a shower curtain instead, but later backed out of that too.

We paid extra for this shower upgrade, and now we’re left with this mess unless we pay even more money ourselves.

Honestly just glad nobody was in the shower when it happened.

Photos attached.

Tempered show glass spontaneuosly explodes after 1-1.5 years -- contractor and builder refusing responsibility

My shower glass spontaneously exploded after only 1 year