When renovating or designing your bathroom, choosing the right shower screen is one of the most significant decisions you can make. Swan Valley Glass, one of Perth’s leading suppliers and installers of custom-made shower screens, understands the importance of this choice. Here we aim to educate you on the differences between frameless, semi-frameless, and framed shower screens, helping you decide on your bathroom.
Frameless Shower Screens
Definition and Features:
A frameless screen, as the name suggests, lacks any visible framing. It’s a contemporary design, typically made of thicker toughened glass (10mm) and held in place by substantial metal hardware.
Benefits
- Luxurious Look: The absence of frames offers a minimalist appeal with clean lines, providing a very modern and luxurious look to your bathroom.
- Ease of Cleaning: With fewer nooks and crannies, cleaning becomes a breeze.
- Customization: They can be tailored with glass type and hardware styles, offering flexibility in design.
- Safety: The thicker glass ensures durability and safety.
- Versatility: Matches with various tapware finishes, allowing for subtle continuity of design and colour scheme.
Examples
Semi-Frameless Shower Screens
Definition and Features:
Semi-frameless screens strike a balance between traditional framed screens and the contemporary frameless style. They typically use 6mm glass and have a perimeter frame securing them to the walls, but some edges remain frameless, such as the frameless pivoting or sliding door.
Benefits
- Economical Elegance: Achieve the frameless look without the associated higher cost of fully frameless.
- Variety: A broader range of glass options to choose from with wider selections of patterned and obscure glass types.
- Installation: Faster installation times as opposed to fully framed assembly/installation times.
- Sealing: Superior sealing on tiled floors and walls, reducing water leakage.
- Flexibility: Ideal for uneven walls or angled installations, like sloping roof areas or compact bathrooms.
Examples
Framed Shower Screens
Definition and Features:
Framed screens have glass panels that are entirely encased in frames. They typically use 5mm or 6mm thick glass and are known for their durability and traditional appearance. An alternative fully framed option is the framed panel which can be installed as single or multi-panel layouts (see images below). These options don’t offer the same level of water retention but are a modern take on the framed screen design.
Benefits
- Water Retention: The most effective screen for keeping the majority of the shower water spray inside the shower enclosure due to the ‘all-round’ framework minimizing gaps between glass panels.
- Durability: The frames provide added strength, making them a long-lasting option.
- Variety: A good selection of frame colors and glass types, including patterned/obscure glass, to match your bathroom decor. For some customers, the all-encompassing frame can be too much, for others this can be a statement with strong continuity of colour within the overall design of the bathroom.
Examples
Conclusion
Choosing the right shower screen is not just about the look, it’s about functionality, durability, and ease of maintenance. Whether you prefer the opulant look of a frameless screen, the balanced appeal of a semi-frameless, or the traditional and effective framed screen, we have the expertise to guide you. Remember, the right choice will not only elevate the look of your bathroom but also enhance its utility.
If you require further assistance with your choice of screen get in touch today and let our expertise and experience guide you.