Choosing a shower screen: frameless, semi-frameless or framed

Short answer: a shower screen comes in three styles, framed, semi-frameless and frameless, that trade price against look and ease of cleaning. Whichever you pick, the thing that decides whether it seals and lasts is that it was measured on site after the tiling and cut from 10mm toughened glass to AS 1288, not made from a plan or a kit.

The three styles, and what they trade

The choice between frameless, semi-frameless and framed is mostly a choice about how much metal you want around the glass, and that one decision drives the look, the price and how much you will clean.

Framed

A metal frame runs around every edge of the glass. It is the most economical screen and the most forgiving of an out-of-square wall, because the frame hides small gaps. The trade-off is the look, which is busier, and the cleaning, because every frame edge and seal is somewhere mould and soap scum collect.

Semi-frameless

A slimmer frame is kept on some edges, usually where the glass meets the wall, while the door and exposed edges are left clean. It is the middle ground: more open than framed, kinder on the budget than frameless, and less to clean than a fully framed screen. For many bathrooms it is the sensible sweet spot.

Frameless

No top or side frame at all. The glass is thicker, 10mm toughened, held by minimal hinges and clamps fixed into the tiles. It gives the cleanest, most open look, makes a small bathroom feel larger, and is the easiest to wipe down because there is almost no frame for scum to hide in. It costs the most and demands the most accurate measuring, because there is no frame to hide behind.

Look, price and cleaning, side by side

If you weigh the three on the things that actually matter day to day, the pattern is clear. More frame means a lower price and an easier fit, but a busier look and more cleaning. Less frame means a cleaner look and less cleaning, but a higher price and a screen that has to be measured precisely.

Why on-site measuring after tiling matters

This is the part that separates a screen that seals for years from one that leaks within a season. No bathroom wall is perfectly plumb or square, and the tiles themselves change every dimension. A screen measured from a builder's plan, or measured before the tiling went on, is measuring a bathroom that does not exist yet. The glass comes back to the wrong size, gets packed out with silicone to fake a seal, and the leaks start.

A few millimetres of out-of-square is the difference between a screen that seals and one that weeps onto the floor. The only way to catch it is to measure the finished bathroom, not the plan of it.

Done properly, the glazier measures on site after the tiling is finished, reads the fall of the floor and the lean of the walls, and cuts the toughened glass to that exact measure. The screen then seats cleanly, the seal is a thin neat line, and the door swings true. Made-to-measure is not a luxury here, it is the whole job.

10mm toughened glass to AS 1288

A shower is a wet area, which means the Standard requires Grade A safety glass without exception. A frameless screen is made from 10mm toughened glass for two reasons: the thickness gives it the rigidity to stand with minimal hardware, and the toughening means that in the rare event it breaks, it shatters into small blunt pebbles rather than long blades, in a place where you are barefoot and wet. If you want the detail on where the Standard requires safety glass and why, our guide to safety glass and AS 1288 covers it.

What to check before you order

A shower screen is made to order, so the time to get it right is before the glass is cut, not after. Run through this short list with the glazier.

What to do next

Pick the style that matches your bathroom and budget, then get one glazier to measure on site after the tiling and put a fixed price on the made-to-measure glass. Our guide to what glass replacement costs sets the wider price context, and glazing warranty and aftercare covers how to keep the screen clear for years. When you are ready, the shower screens and frameless glass service measures on site and fixes the price in writing, and if the bathroom upgrade includes a mirror, mirrors and wardrobe doors are cut to the same exact measure.