Choosing The Right Shower Cubicle

Following on from our announcement of our new Shower Cubicle Partners I am going to explain a bit about enclosure and what to look out for when considering a purchase.

Branded shower enclosures are always of higher quality than unbranded. Using either Lakes or Meryln will give you piece of mind, especially with the after service. Lakes and Merlyn enclosures also use a higher quality glass and a chrome finish.  Lakes and Merlyn use higher quality rollers/hinges and usually have stay clean glass, which reduces the cleaning time and reduce the need for harsh chemicals which can harm the chrome finish as well as the environment.

The glass is a minimum 6mm toughened safety glass (we don not recommend anything less than 6mm) all the way up to 10mm.

The glass must have an BS EN Number. BS EN 12150. 

The glass may not be marked BUT the whole shower enclosure MUST comply with BS EN 14428, the unit must have a visible, permanent marking stating this to be of quality.

As human beings we are all growing taller and bigger. Therefor the height of the unit is becoming more critical. Lakes and Meryln have cubicles at 1900mm and 2000mm high.

Some of the terminology you may comes across will be "Framed" "Semi - Framed" " Frameless" " Fully Framed"

Fully Framed And Framed: As well as having the side channel that a door will fit into, the glass sits in a metal frame , usually chrome.

Frameless: The door will be fitted into a metal channel to the wall BUT the glass will have no other metal frame.

Semi - Framed: The glass will fit into the side channel, that fixes to the wall, which usually is chrome as well as fitting into  a bottom and top channel, again chrome. The door itself does not sit within a metal frame, ie frameless. Hence only part of the cubicle is framed " Semi -Framed".

The types of enclosures will be  Pivot Door, Bi - Fold,Sliding, Corner Entry,Pentagon,Hinged, Quadrant.

Quadrant: Quadrant enclosures are suited to “corner installations” and have two straight edges and a curved front. Quadrants can have equal sides or be offset ie with one side longer than another.  The doors are sliding but can be either single or double doors depending on the size of the quadrant.

Hinged: A hinged shower door is a glass panel that opens by swinging open on pivoting hinges, that are attached to the side frame of the cubicle, into your room. You will need room in your bathroom to be able to use this system. Hinged doors tend to have a larger opening to make it easier to get in and out of the cubicle.The door hinge can be attached to a stationary glass panel or the wall.

Pentagon: Pentagon's tend to be used where space might prevent using a conventional corner unit. Lakes units come with either a Bi-Fold Door or Pivot. These then attach to he two side panels to complete the pentagon.

Corner Entry: Corner entry doors are used when space either side of the cubicle is limited. The shower doors slide back from the corner on rollers contained inside the frame. They tend to be square units and limited in size. Some are available as offset, but again they are limited.

Sliding: A sliding door runs on rollers within a channel to allow access to the cubicle. These can be either single or double sliding door. In the single door option they can open either left or right. This is a popular type of door as it can be fitted into a bathroom with limited space because the door does not need to protrude out from the enclosure. They can be fitted in a reccess or with side panels. They tend not to offer a large door opening, so be careful before buying.

Bi-Fold: A bi-fold shower door has the luxury of being able to work with shower enclosures that are both recessed and fully enclosed with panels. A bifold shower folds in on itself to make space for users to enter and exit the shower with ease. They are a good option in smaller bathrooms.They tend not to offer large door openings, so be careful before buying.

Pivot Doors: It pivots on two pins that are located at the top and bottom of the frame which allows the door to open and close. The pins tend to be slightly along the frame thus making the door opening smaller than the hinged option. 

If you have any questions please call.