Marla’s Shower Door Dilemma in Jasper County, Iowa
There’s no such thing as an “average” job in Jasper County—and that’s something we’ve learned over and over again. Especially when we met Marla.
Marla is a retired librarian living just outside Newton, Iowa. She’s sharp, opinionated, and drinks her coffee black with a splash of “don’t mess with me.” The first time she called us; she didn’t start with hello. Instead, she said: “I’ve got a situation. This shower door of mine is a hazard. It squeaks, it sticks, and I think it bit me this morning.”
Naturally, we had to see it.
We showed up to Marla’s charming mid-century ranch on a Monday morning, welcomed by the smell of cinnamon rolls and a suspiciously watchful cat. Her bathroom, though clean and lovingly maintained, was showing its age. The shower doors were the old sliding kind—with crusty metal tracks that had long given up their will to glide.
She gave us the rundown like a seasoned general: “That track? Full of calcium. I’ve soaked it, scrubbed it, begged it—nothing. I’ve got rust spots, mystery clunks, and more than one pinched finger. I just want a door that opens when I need it and stays put when I don’t.”
We discussed options: framed, semi-frameless, sliding, pivot, barn-style—you name it. Marla vetoed most of them with dramatic flair.
“Sliding doors? Not unless you want me to practice sumo wrestling each morning.”
“Framed? Honey, I’m not putting window dressing on this mess.”
“Barn-style? This isn’t a livestock show.”
Eventually, we landed on a frameless pivot door—sleek, easy to clean, no bottom track. It would open outward, allow full entry, and bring a modern edge to her classic space.
Installation day brought classic Iowa chaos—a thunderstorm rolled through, and our installer Sam forgot his raincoat. As we wiped down tools between lightning bolts, Marla offered hot coffee and an unsolicited weather update: “This is what we call spring. It doesn’t like to be ignored.”
By early afternoon, the new door was in. Crystal clear glass, soft-swing hinges, and not a screech in sight.
Marla walked into the bathroom dramatically, bathrobe and all. She gently pulled the new handle and the door opened silently. Her face lit up like the Jasper County Fair on fireworks night.
“No squeak?” she asked.
“None.”
“No pinch?”
“Smooth as butter.”
“And I don’t need a tetanus shot?”
“Only if you miss us and want an excuse to call.”
She cackled. “You boys did good. Tell everyone in Jasper County the librarian’s got the fanciest shower door in the county.”
We don’t measure success in dollars or square footage—we measure it in moments like that. Helping folks like Marla enjoy their homes again. Even if it’s just one squeak-free shower door at a time.
And trust us, nothing swings quite like a shower door in Newton when it’s built to last and blessed by a storm.
