There are a few reasons why the modern shower screen is gradually replacing traditional shower doors. Already popular in the U.K., France and Germany shower screens are making inroads into the United States, frequently seen in five-star hotels and interior design magazines. Part of the appeal is functional, and part of it is aesthetic.
Variations aside, the essence of a shower screen is a sheet of glass perched on or slightly above the ledge of a shower or bathtub. Instead of spanning the full length of the shower or tub, it only extends more or less halfway. While they’re sometimes fixed on hinges that pivot, they’re often stationary, making them fundamentally different than swinging or sliding shower doors. Their partial spanning lets the user simply walk through the open half without having to swing or slid open anything.
Shower screens are available in frameless and semi-frameless versions. Both types have no support fixtures on at least two sides (usually the left and top edges). Frameless shower screens get their support entirely from one side, using two hinges screwed into the wall. Since the tempered glass screens can be quite heavy (up to 72 lbs.), frameless versions are more appropriate for custom shower enclosures, since a contractor may have to insert a stud behind the wall where the hinges are to be mounted.
A frameless shower screen also gets support from a pair of hinges in the wall, but a stud may not be necessary, since the screen gets additional support from a hinge that runs along the bottom edge. In some cases, it may be mounted with an aquarium corner instead of a hinge. While frameless screens float a half-inch above the shower ledge, and are thus often considered more aesthetically appealing, semi-frameless screens, having contact with the ledge via the hinge, are offer better water containment.
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