Shower Screens And Bathroom Hardware

Bathroom hardware is the part of a fitout that gets used every day and specified last. It is also where a lot of avoidable water damage starts.

Why a shower screen leaks

Almost never through the glass.

The bottom seal. A clear plastic strip along the bottom of the door that directs water back into the shower. It hardens, splits and falls off, and once it is gone water runs straight out onto the floor.

The vertical seals. Along the hinge side and where the door meets the fixed panel. Same failure, same result.

The silicone at the base. Where the screen meets the tiled floor and the walls. This is a wet area joint and it fails with age, particularly where it was applied over a dirty or damp surface.

The floor fall. This is the one nobody wants to hear. If the floor does not fall to the waste, water sits at the screen line and finds a way out. No seal fixes a floor that holds water, and replacing the screen changes nothing.

Working out which of these it is before quoting a new screen is the difference between a fix and a repeat.

Frameless, semi-frameless and framed

Framed screens are the most economical and the easiest to seal, because the frame gives a continuous edge. They also collect grime in the channels.

Semi-frameless balances the two.

Frameless looks the best and depends entirely on the hardware and the installation. There is no frame to catch water, so the fall, the hinges and the silicone are doing all the work. A frameless screen on a badly graded floor is a permanent problem.

For a rental or a high-turnover property, framed or semi-frameless is the practical choice.

The hinges

Frameless screens hang on hinges that carry a heavy glass panel.

Cheap hinges sag, and a sagging door stops closing squarely, which stops it sealing. Corrosion is the other failure, particularly in a bathroom with poor ventilation, and a corroded hinge on a glass panel is a safety issue rather than a cosmetic one.

The hinge quality is where the cost difference between screens actually sits, and it is the part that decides how long the screen lasts.

Glass safety

Shower screens are toughened safety glass. Toughened glass can fail spontaneously, rarely, and when it does it breaks into small pieces rather than shards.

Two practical points. Never use an abrasive on the glass edge, because edge damage is what triggers most failures. And replace any panel with a chipped edge rather than living with it.

The other hardware

Towel rails and grab rails need fixing into something solid. Fixed into plasterboard with plastic plugs, they pull out and take the wall with them. Where a rail may need to bear weight, it needs a noggin behind the sheet, and that is a decision made when the wall is open.

Toilet roll holders, hooks and shelves are the same problem at a smaller scale.

Mirrors and cabinets need the right fixings for a wet area and enough clearance from the basin so water does not run behind them.

Tapware. Cartridges are the wearing part and they are replaceable. A dripping mixer is a cartridge, not a new tap, and replacing the tap because it drips is a common and unnecessary cost.

Ventilation is part of the hardware

Everything in a bathroom lasts longer in a room that dries out.

Corroded hinges, mouldy silicone, failed seals and peeling paint all trace back to moisture that stayed in the room. If the exhaust fan does not work or does not vent outside, the hardware will keep failing regardless of what you specify.

Between tenancies

Reseal, service the tapware, check every fixing, and confirm the fan works. Half a day, and it removes most of the maintenance calls for the following year.

We handle screens, hardware, tapware, sealing and the ventilation behind it across tiling and waterproofing, plumbing and building. Tell us the bathroom.