Replacing tired shower screens is one of the jobs we do most around Batemans Bay. We make every screen in our own workshop on Cranbrook Road, and our team fits them in homes from Surfside and Long Beach to Broulee and down to Moruya. If you're wondering whether your old screen has had its day, here's what we look for and how a replacement comes together.
When is it time to replace a shower screen?
Most screens wear out a little at a time. The door starts to drop or catch, so you lift it to close it. Water finds its way past the seals and onto the bathroom floor. The silicone along the base goes black and won't come clean, and the frame has corrosion or white build-up you can't shift.
Sometimes it's the look: pebbled glass in a heavy white frame can make a bathroom feel smaller and older than it is. A chip on the edge of the glass is a different matter: that one's worth a call sooner rather than later, because an edge chip weakens toughened glass.
How long does a shower screen last?
There isn't one fixed number. The glass itself can last a very long time. It's usually the moving and sealing parts that go first: rollers on a slider, hinges on a door, the seals and the silicone. In a coastal home with sand and salt air, those parts work hard. When the parts are worn and the style is dated as well, a new screen made to your opening is usually the better answer.
What the Australian Standard says about shower glass
Glass in a shower has to be safety glass. The Australian Standard for glass in buildings, AS 1288, sets out where safety glass is required, and shower screens and bath enclosures are on that list. In practice, shower screens are made from toughened safety glass. Toughened glass is much stronger than ordinary glass, and in the rare event it does break, it crumbles into small, blunt pieces rather than long sharp shards. You'll usually find a small permanent safety mark etched into one corner of each panel.
What's involved in replacing a shower screen
It starts with a visit: I come out, look at the old screen and measure up on site. We don't work from a standard size, because no two bathroom openings are quite the same once the tiles are on: walls lean a little, floors fall towards the drain, and a few millimetres matters with glass. If you're renovating, I measure after the tiling's in, because that's the only way the glass fits the opening you've actually got.
While I'm there, we'll talk through the options: frameless, semi-frameless, fully framed or a slider, over a shower base or over the bath, and odd shapes too. You'll have your quote before anything is ordered, and the measure and quote are free.
Once you're happy, we make your new screen to order in the workshop. On the day, our team takes the old screen out, prepare the opening, fit the new one, seal it and tidy up before we go. Every shower screen we make comes with a two-year warranty.
What affects the cost of a new shower screen?
We don't publish prices, because every screen is made for one bathroom. The things that shape a quote are the size of the opening, the style of screen, the type of glass, the hardware and finish you choose, and anything unusual about the space, like an angled wall or a screen over a bath. The quickest way to a real number is a free measure and quote.
Shower screens in Moruya and around the Bay
From Surfside and Long Beach just over the bridge to Broulee and down to Moruya, the process is the same: I measure on site, we make it in our workshop, and our team fits it.