At Wards Wardrobes & Showerscreens we make shower screens in our own workshop in Batemans Bay, and the question we hear most when we come out to measure is "which type should I get?" There's no single right answer, so here's an honest look at the three main styles we make, fully framed, semi-frameless and frameless, plus sliders, and what each one is like to live with.
Fully framed shower screens
A fully framed screen has an aluminium frame on every edge, with the glass held in on all sides. Because the frame does a lot of the work, the glass can be thinner than in a frameless screen. Framed screens are sturdy, they seal well, and they suit a lot of family bathrooms, rentals and ensuites where a hard-working screen matters more than the look.
The trade-off is cleaning. Frames have corners and channels where water sits and soap scum builds up, so they need a regular wipe to stay looking fresh. Frame colours have come a long way too: a black frame looks very different from the heavy white frames many of us grew up with.
Semi-frameless shower screens
A semi-frameless screen keeps a light frame around the outside but leaves the door edges free of framing. It sits between the other two: more open and modern than fully framed, with a bit more structure than frameless. It's a popular choice when you'd like a cleaner look but the opening or the budget points away from full frameless. Fewer frame edges also means fewer places for grime to gather.
Frameless shower screens
Frameless screens are glass to glass, with very little hardware: wall channels or brackets, and hinges if there's a door. Because there's no frame holding the panels, the glass has to be thicker and stiffer to stand on its own. We use 10 mm toughened glass for our frameless screens.
Frameless is the cleanest look and the easiest to wipe down, since there are no frames to trap water. It makes a small bathroom feel bigger, and it lets good tiles show. It does ask more of the opening: walls and floors need to be true enough for the glass to sit right, which is one more reason I measure on site after the tiling's in.
Sliders and over-bath screens
Sliding screens work well where there's no room for a door to swing, and over-bath screens turn a bath into a shower without closing the room in. We make both, along with odd shapes and angled openings.
Which screen suits a coastal home?
Plenty of homes around the Bay, from Long Beach to Broulee, see salt air, sandy feet and a lot of daily showers. In those bathrooms, what matters most is how easy the screen is to keep clean and how well the hardware stands up to the conditions. Frameless and semi-frameless screens have fewer places for salt and soap to settle. A well-made framed screen is still a good, durable choice, especially in a busy family bathroom.
Whatever you pick, the glass in a shower screen has to be safety glass under the Australian Standard, AS 1288, and in practice that means toughened safety glass. Every screen we make is made to your exact opening rather than an off-the-shelf kit squeezed into place, and it comes with a two-year warranty.
And if the style you have your eye on isn't one we show, let us know. Give us the time and we might be able to get it in.
What affects the cost?
We don't publish prices, because every screen is made for one opening. The style is a big part of it, along with the size of the opening, the glass, the hardware and finish, and whether it's a shower base, a bath or an awkward shape. The measure and quote are free, and you'll have your quote before anything is ordered.