Shower Glass Screens
What you need to know about Shower Glass Screens.
Did you know that in the UK there are over 27.1 million homes (figure 2018 UK TV national home stats) and most if not all have a shower.
An expert from the glass industry has suggested that over 20 million of these are with atleast one Glass Shower Screen with many houses now having multiple screens in the home.
We have provided a quick Glossary/FAQ below.
What is a Shower Screen?
What are Shower Screens made of?
Whats the general thickness of Glass in the UK?
How many variations does a Shower Glass Screen come in?
What is a standard size for a Shower Screen?
What is Shower Glass processing?
Can a Shower Glass screen be cut or drilled?
How strong is a Shower Screen?
Do Shower Glass Screens explode on their own?
What happens to a Shower Glass Screen when it explodes?
What is Heat Soaking?
Are the edges of a Shower Screen safe?
How heavy is a Shower Glass Screen?
How much does shower glass cost?
What is a Shower Screen?
A shower screen is a glass screen that is placed into a position within a bathroom or shower room, usually on a shower tray or tiles to keep water confined to a certain area. Glass is popular as most bathrooms are smaller in the home and a shower glass screen will not make the room feel any smaller or darken the room.
What are Shower Screens made of?
Shower glass screens are made from the same annealed/ float glass that is used for Windows, Glass Balconys, car windscreens etc. In the UK they have to be safety glass and are usually toughened to BS12150.
Whats the general thickness of Glass in the UK?
For off the shelf glass, the thickness varies from 5mm to 8mm in thickness, bespoke products are usually 6 to 12mm in thickness.
How many variations does a Shower Glass Screen come in?
There are the standard Clear colour, low Iron, Tinted, Brown, Tinted Blue, Tinted Green and Tinted Smoked grey. You are also able to get glass that is either sandblasted or in satin (both opaque). There are new techniques of printing on glass with varied colours or patterns also.
What is a standard size for a Shower Screen?
Shower screens sizes are based on the typical users height so anywhere from 1800mm to 1950mm in height and will be a similar size to a shower tray so from 700mm to 1000mm in width. Bespoke showers are exactly that, so they can be created up to a massive 3000mm x 6000mm jumbo size sheet thats available in the UK.
What is Shower Glass processing?
Its the stage before the glass gets to the toughened plant, the glass can be Cut, drilled, polished, shaped and machined
Can a Shower Glass screen be cut or drilled?
No, any instance where the glass has to be altered after the toughening process will most likely fail if attempted to alter, cut or drill.
How strong is a Shower Screen?
Shower screens are approximately 5x stronger than normal un-toughened glass when toughened to BSEN12150 standards
Do Shower Glass Screens explode on their own?
On the rarest of occasions you might of know someone who has a shower screen 'blow up' or seen a snippet of it happening in an news article, but its very unlucky or uncommon for this to happen
What happens to a Shower Glass Screen when it explodes?
If a Shower Glass Screen shatters or spontaneously explodes is will break into small ice cube size pieces and fall to the floor. this can generally be 100% avoided with heat soaking
What is Heat Soaking?
Heat soaking is when toughened glass is placed inside a testing chamber and is heated up to approximately 290 degrees, if there is any unstable nickle sulphide inclusions in the glass the glass generally fails at this point and will break hence not passing the heat soaking test.
Are the edges of a Shower Screen safe?
Most if not all shower screens are processed and left with polished edges, with consideration that the user/users will most probably be in close proximity to the edges of the glass with out clothes or dress
How heavy is a Shower Glass Screen?
- 6mm Glass is 15kgs per sqm
- 8mm Glass is 20kgs per sqm
- 10mm Glass is 25kgs per sqm
- 12mm Glass is 30kgs per sqm
- 15mm Glass is 37.5kgs per sqm
- 19mm Glass is 47.50kgs per sqm
How much does shower glass cost?
Clear toughened glass in its unprocessed state i.e without polished edges, drilled holes or cutouts/ shapes but including Vat
- 6mm - £55.50 per sqm
- 8mm - £73.20 per sqm
- 10mm - £89.30 per sqm
- 12mm - £122.20 per sqm
- 15mm - £249.00 per sqm
- 19mm - £387.80 per sqm