Choosing a Shower Screen and your bathroom renovation
The shower screen is usually the last product to be measured in a bathroom renovation. This is due to the fact that the wall and floor tiles need to first be laid to be able to get an accurate measurement for the screen, especially when it comes to frameless shower screens. Frameless shower screens have very little tolerance and therefore measurements need to be spot on.
When designing your bathroom renovation there are three major things to consider:
1. A polymarble or acrylic pre formed shower base
2. A walk in step less shower base
3. A shower over a bath.
The style of shower you decide on will help with the choice of shower screen you will require, or vice versa.
Which Works Best?
A fully framed shower screen is best suited for a pre formed shower base. Generally it has a bigger bottom sill which can tend to look unattractive on a tiled base.
A semi frameless shower screen can be used on both a pre formed shower base or a step less shower base. Most manufactures will supply a water seal at the bottom of the door which helps to retain the water in the shower recess.
A frameless shower screen would be best suited to a stepless shower base, as there is no step you get a nice clean look. A frameless shower screen is not water tight, so using this screen in a stepless shower helps any excess water that gets through the door to run back down to the drain.
There are frameless shower screens available that you can buy in a pre-made kit. They are a lot cheaper to buy than a custom made shower screen. Of course the age old rule of you get what you pay for comes into play. These screens are generally made from chinese toughened glass, and with chinese hinges. These are not as high quality as what you would get with a custom made screen, as glass is toughened in Australia to a higher standard.
The other problem with a pre made kit is there is very little tolerance for movement. You are also working in reverse in that you have to make your shower base and set up your tiling to match the shower screen. If the walls are not plumbed, the floor is even slightly out of level or the room is out of square, this will impact on the finished look of the fitted shower screen.
These kits are also limited in the variety of sizes they come in.
A fully framed or semi frameless shower screen on the other hand will tend to have 10-20mm of tolerance in the wall channels depending on the model and manufacturer, which allows for a great fit.
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