Getting a new shower screen — framed or frameless, and how do I stop it leaking?
Our shower screen is tired — the seals are gone and it leaks onto the bathroom floor — so I'm replacing it. I'm torn between a cheaper framed one and a smarter frameless glass panel, and I want to get it right this time.
Questions:
- What glass is a shower screen made of, and is it safe?
- Framed vs frameless — does frameless leak more, or is that a myth?
- How is it fixed and sealed so water stays in the shower and doesn't end up on the floor (which is what's happening now)?
- What should a good supply-and-fit actually include?
The leaking is my main worry — I don't want a beautiful frameless screen that dumps water on the floor. How do you get one that looks good *and* keeps the water in?
3 answers
Short answer: shower screens are toughened safety glass, frameless doesn't inherently leak more than framed — leaks come from the fixing, the seals and the floor falls, not the frame — and a good supply-and-fit is measured to your specific opening, not a standard panel forced to fit.
Glass: always toughened/tempered safety glass (typically 8–10mm), so if it ever breaks it crumbles into blunt pebbles rather than shards. Never accept ordinary glass for a screen.
Framed vs frameless: - Framed — an aluminium frame all round with a built-in seal channel; cheaper, very forgiving on out-of-square walls, and the frame itself helps contain water. Easiest to keep watertight. - Frameless — minimal hardware, premium look; relies on precise fixings, quality seals/strips and a correctly-set door gap. Done well it's just as watertight; done cheaply it's where leaks start.
How leaks are actually stopped (this is the real answer to your problem): 1. Fixing to solid, plumb walls — brackets anchored properly, not into loose tile. 2. Correct seals — the clear PVC strips/sweeps along the door and base that guide water back in; these are what perish and cause your current leak. 3. A proper wet-side and threshold — and crucially the floor falls to the drain inside the screen (screed falls again) so water runs to the waste, not toward the door. 4. Sealed to the tray/floor and wall with the right sanitary silicone, on the correct side.
A good supply-and-fit includes: site measure of your exact opening, toughened glass cut to size, proper brackets/hinges, all seals, and neat silicone — plus checking the falls so it isn't fighting a floor that drains the wrong way. Your current floor leak may partly be wrong falls or failed floor sealing, not just the screen, so a good fitter checks that too — same principle as a bathroom leaking to the flat below. Get an aluminium and glass specialist who measures and fits rather than fitting a boxed standard screen. Frameless or framed — what's kept people's floors dry?
The bit people miss: your leak might not be the screen at all. If the bathroom floor doesn't fall toward the drain, water pools and creeps under any screen, framed or frameless — a new screen on a badly-sloped floor still leaks. Before you spend on a lovely frameless panel, get whoever fits it to check the floor falls and the seal where the screen meets the tray/floor. Fix the falls and the sealing and even a modest screen stays dry; ignore them and the best screen won't save you.
Went frameless after years of a grubby framed one and don't regret it — but the fitter mattered more than the glass. The first quote was a cheap boxed frameless kit "made to fit"; the one I went with measured the actual opening and set the door gap and seals properly, and it's been bone dry. So my tip: pay for the measure-and-fit, not the flat-pack. The framed ones are genuinely fine and more forgiving too if budget's tight — less to go wrong on a wonky wall.
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