Framed, semi-frameless or frameless shower screens: an honest guide

“Frameless shower screens” is one of the most searched phrases in bathroom renovation, and we understand why. The photos look terrific. But frameless isn’t automatically the right choice for every bathroom, and the price gap between the three styles is real money. We’ve been making aluminium windows, doors and screens at our factory at 5-9 Hogan Street, Ballina since 1971, and we supply shower screens to renovators, builders and owner-builders across the Northern Rivers. This is the advice we’d give you over the counter: what each style actually is, what it honestly costs relative to the others, and which bathrooms suit which.

What the three styles actually are

A framed screen has an aluminium frame around every edge of every panel, including the door. The frame does the structural work, so the glass can be thinner, usually 5mm toughened safety glass. It’s the traditional style, and it’s still the most common screen we make.

A semi-frameless screen keeps an aluminium frame around the outer perimeter, but the door and inner panel edges are exposed glass, typically 6mm toughened. You get a cleaner look through the middle of the screen where your eye actually lands, while the frame still ties everything together at the walls and floor.

A frameless screen has no frame at all. Panels of 10mm toughened glass are held by hinges, clamps and slim channels fixed to the wall and floor. The glass itself is the structure, which is why it has to be that much thicker.

The honest pros and cons

Cost first, because it drives most decisions. Framed is the cheapest, semi-frameless sits in the middle, and frameless costs the most. The jump to frameless is bigger than people expect: you’re paying for 10mm glass, quality hinges and clamps, and more careful measuring and fitting. As a very rough market guide, a frameless screen can run two to three times the price of a basic framed screen of the same size, though layout, glass treatment and hardware all move that number around.

Cleaning is where frameless earns some of its keep. With no frame, there are fewer edges and no bottom track for soap and grime to collect in, so a squeegee after each shower keeps it looking new. Framed screens have more corners and a track to wipe out. That said, all shower glass shows water spots in our hard-ish coastal water, so no style is truly maintenance free.

On sturdiness, framed screens are the most forgiving. The frame carries the load, protects the glass edges, and shrugs off the knocks of a busy family bathroom. Frameless screens are strong (10mm toughened glass is serious material) but they depend on their hardware. Hinges can need adjusting over the years, and the wall fixings have to be right the first time.

The look is personal. Frameless disappears and lets your tiles do the talking. Semi-frameless gets you most of that openness at a friendlier price. And framed, especially in a powder-coated colour, can be a deliberate design feature rather than a compromise. Black-framed screens have come back in a big way.

Which bathrooms suit which style

For a small family bathroom that cops daily use from kids, we’ll usually steer you toward framed or semi-frameless with a sliding door. Sliders don’t need swing clearance, the frame handles the punishment, and the money you save can go into tiles or tapware. Semi-frameless is the sweet spot for a lot of Northern Rivers family homes: tidier looking than full framed, tougher priced than frameless.

For an ensuite or a renovation where the bathroom is the showpiece, frameless is hard to beat. A walk-in frameless panel or a pivot door in 10mm glass makes even a modest ensuite feel bigger, because there’s simply less to look at. If you’ve spent good money on floor-to-ceiling tiles, frameless is the style that shows them off.

Matching frames to tapware and trims

Here’s something a lot of renovators don’t realise: shower screen frames don’t have to be silver or white. We powder-coat to match, with popular colours including Pearl White, Stone Beige, Apo Grey, Dune and Black, plus plenty more on request. If you’re running black tapware, a black semi-frameless screen ties the room together for a fraction of the frameless price. And because we also make mirrors and wardrobe doors, you can carry the same frame colour through the ensuite and bedroom so nothing looks like an afterthought.

Pivotech options

We supply Pivotech shower screens, an Australian brand we’ve worked with for years because the hardware holds up in coastal conditions. Their range covers all three styles, with pivot doors that suit tight bathrooms where a slider won’t fit the opening, sliding doors for family bathrooms, and frameless panels and doors for the showpiece jobs. The pivot mechanism is worth a look in person at our showroom; it opens wide, seals well and doesn’t hog floor space.

Measuring for older Northern Rivers homes

Plenty of the homes we work on around Ballina, Lismore, Alstonville and Bangalow are older timber places, and their walls are rarely plumb or square. A shower recess can easily be 15mm wider at the top than the bottom. An off-the-shelf screen from a big-box store assumes square walls; ours don’t. We custom measure after tiling is finished and make each screen to suit the actual opening, tapered where it needs to be. That’s the difference between a screen that seals properly and one with a wandering silicone gap. If your renovation also involves older glass elsewhere in the house, our guide to glass replacement in the Northern Rivers covers what’s involved.

We offer professional installation for residential and commercial projects, along with supply-only options for homeowners, builders and capable owner-builders. Either way the screen is made here in Ballina, and because we stock spare parts like rollers, seals and handles, it can be serviced years down the track.

What to bring to the showroom

You don’t need much to get a useful conversation started. Bring rough measurements of the recess (width, depth and height), a couple of photos on your phone, and if you have them, a tile sample and your tapware finish so we can talk colour matching on the spot. Renovation plans are handy if it’s a bigger job. From there we can walk you through the Pivotech range, show you framed, semi-frameless and frameless side by side, and give you a written quote.

The showroom is at our factory, 5-9 Hogan Street, Ballina, and we’re open from 6am weekdays, so tradies and early risers can call in before work. Or phone us on (02) 6686 3160 and we’ll sort out a free, no-obligation quote. You can also get in touch online and we’ll come back to you with straight answers, not a sales pitch.