Shower Screens & Walls: specifications, types

— Shower partition. The simplest devices are in the form of a glass plane, installed motionlessly and not requiring any folding. Partitions are used, in particular, for arranging shower enclosures and shower screens in the corner of the bathroom - with one side open. Such fencing is often called “walk-in”.

— Partition with a door. Shower partitions consisting of a fixed piece of glass and a hinged door (less commonly, a sliding door). The door hinges are placed on the side of the “blind” glass.

— Shower doors. Doors installed in a niche as a separate product for access to the shower area. According to the method of opening, doors are most often hinged and sliding; the former are simpler and cheaper, the latter do not protrude beyond the dimensions of the cabin and are better suited for cramped conditions.

— Curtains. Curtains are glass partitions that are permanently placed on the side of the bathtub. As a rule, such devices are made of tempered transparent glass. Moreover, this can be either a single sheet of glass, which is fixedly attached to the wall, or several glass doors with the ability to open and fold. A glass curtain reliably protects the bathroom space from shower splashes and does not optically reduce the dimensions of the room due to its transparency. In addition, a glass screen is often a decorative element in a fashionable b...athroom interior.

The design and method of opening doors. To date, the most common options are:

- Sliding. A door in which one or more sections can slide sideways to open and close. The advantage of this design is that nothing protrudes from it, regardless of whether the door / curtain is open or closed. On the other hand, such doors take up a lot of space in width. This is due to the fact that the width of the sliding part (and the opening opening) is usually half the total width - in other words, to obtain a standard opening, the total width must be twice the typical width. The situation can be partially corrected by using two sliding sections, however, this arrangement complicates and increases the cost of the design.

- Swing. Doors, less often - curtains (see "Type"), which, when opened, turn on a vertical axis outward or inward. The advantages of such products include simplicity of design, reliability and convenience. On the other hand, swing doors are poorly suited for cramped conditions: it is necessary that there is enough free space in front of the shower or bath, otherwise the door simply cannot open normally. Another not very pleasant moment - water can drain from the open curtain / door onto the floor. However, these points are taken into account by many manufacturers and the design of the doors often provides special grooves from below to drain water.

- Folding (door-book). The original design combining elements of a sliding and oar door. It consists of two halves, fastened with a rotary axis: when opened, such a door moves to the side and at the same time folds like a book cover. Design features allow you to easily open the "books" inward, which makes partitions with them suitable even in tight spaces where there is no room for a classic swing door.

How to install partitions and walls. The most widely used options are:

- Corner. Walls for shower areas placed in the corner of the bathroom. The vast majority of them consist of a single sheet that separates the shower area from the rest of the room. Such a canvas is fastened with one side to the wall, in addition it is fixed with a bracket. Note that the bracket often serves to adjust the width of the entrance to the shower area. Corner products are installed both in the left corner and in the right.

- Detached. Free-standing partitions are made in the form of stationary structures that separate the shower area from the bathroom space. Fences of this kind are used to close the frontal area of the shower, while the side parts remain open. Glass is fastened in free-standing structures to the floor and along the upper edge using two brackets.

- In a niche. Shower doors fall into this category. The most popular option is a glass door, which is attached to the wall with a profile. As a rule, the door opening mechanism involves the use of double-sided or hinged hinges (with opening inward or outward of the shower area).

First of all, the convenience of using the shower area depends on the width of the entrance opening. This indicator can vary in a fairly large range of values - from about 35 cm to 120 cm and more. Of course, with an increase in the width of the entrance, the dimensions and weight of the door will increase, which entails an increase in the cost of the product.

The length of the bracket in millimeters, with which the shower screens are fixed to the wall or at the junction with each other (in corner installation models). In most cases, the length of the bracket can be adjusted to suit the specific partition wall placement.

For glass, the distinguishing factors are its structure and thickness. The thicker the glass, the stronger it is and the less likely it is to damage the product as a result of unpleasant accidents, in the manner of a collision with solid objects. On the other hand, a large wall thickness leads to an increase in the weight and cost of the product. The minimum glass thickness for modern shower areas is 3 mm, and the maximum can be up to 10 mm.

As for the type of glass, it happens: - Transparent. Classic transparent glass that allows you to see through the product. By itself, such a material looks quite nice, but it should be borne in mind that in order to maintain its appearance, it needs to be monitored quite carefully: from drying water, stains that spoil the appearance are formed on the surface, which must be regularly cleaned. However, many manufacturers apply special protective coatings to the glass surface to prevent such problems.

- Matte. Frosted glass is opaque; the maximum that can be seen behind him is a vague silhouette of a man. In some situations, opacity is an advantage - for example, if the bathroom is shared and other family members may have things to do inside while someone is taking a shower. Another practical advantage of such surfaces is that they are slightly noticeable plaque from dried water. And although you still need to clean frosted glass from time to time, yo...u have to do this much less often than in the case of transparent glasses.

- Darkened. A kind of transparent glass with tinting (dimming). Tinted glass can be attributed to design solutions. It gives the shower enclosure a stylish and interesting appearance, and may also be the best choice for some interiors. And in terms of practical properties, tinted glasses come close to frosted ones - it is much more difficult to see a person taking a shower through them. However, in reality it all depends on the level of dimming of the glass.

- With a pattern. Partitions and walls with a pattern on glass. In this case, the glass itself can be transparent, frosted or tinted (see the relevant paragraphs), however, if a pattern is applied to the glass, it belongs only to this category and is not included in other paragraphs. The image on such glasses most often looks like an abstract pattern, but there are other options - for example, floral motifs, stripes in the middle, geometric shapes that cover certain areas of the human body on the other side of the glass. Be that as it may, the drawing plays, first of all, a practical meaning: a pattern on a transparent surface can skillfully “mask” the person inside, not allowing him to be seen completely or hiding the intimate areas of the body. Note that such decor significantly affects the cost.

Also often there are combined glass options. For example, transparent / matte, matte / tinted, etc.

By type, profiles are divided into the following:

— frame. Frame type profile is placed along the perimeter of the glass of shower partitions, thereby emphasizing the contours of the entire structure. Often this edging is applied with paint.

— Factory. This type consists of a profile along the perimeter of the partition glass and characteristic "squares" on the glass surface as decorative elements for the design of the shower area. Note that usually the “square pattern” is applied with paint on glass, and the edging around the perimeter is either also painted, or it is assembled from a metal profile.

Also in this paragraph, the colors available for the profile are indicated - the metal base that connects the shower walls and partitions. The most popular in our time are chrome, silver, gold, white and black.

The choice for this indicator depends on the design of the bathroom in general and the shower area in particular. Individual profile colors have some practical features, here they are:

— Chrome. Profile with a characteristic metallic coating. Most often, the chrome surface is made glossy (shiny): it is inexpensive and catchy looks, however, with regular use, the shower quickly becomes stained and may require thorough cleaning. Be that as it may, c...hromium is used not only for aesthetic purposes, but also to protect profile elements from corrosion - it is very effective in this role. This is partly the reason for its popularity. Another reason for the widespread use of chrome profiles is that this material goes well with the vast majority of faucets, shower systems and other plumbing fixtures that also use chrome.

- Silver. The silver profile can be made from either unpainted metal (such as corrosion-resistant aluminium alloy) or a coated material of the appropriate color (such as painted plastic). Some manufacturers refer to this shade as the matte variety of chrome plating described above. Accordingly, the practical properties of such a profile may vary; here, first of all, it is worth focusing on the price category of the product.

- Golden. Profiles of golden color are very rare - interiors for which this color is optimal are relatively rare. In addition, an overpayment for "gold" can significantly affect the thickness of the wallet - the difference between the same profiles in chrome and gold often reaches tens or even hundreds of evergreen American dollars.

- White. This option usually involves the use of a metal profile coated with white paint - it protects the profile from corrosion and gives it an aesthetic appearance. However, the paint is not as resistant to damage as, for example, chrome plating. Therefore, this option is rarely seen as the only one - most often it is one of the available options, in addition to other profile colors.

- Black. One of the characteristic features of the black profile is that it contrasts strongly with glass (which is most often done transparent or light), and also stands out noticeably against the background of most walls in bathrooms (with the exception of walls that are also made black or very dark - and these variants are quite rare). All this allows you to visually highlight the contours of the shower cabin, which is important in some specific situations (for example, in low light or if the shower user has vision problems).

The possibility of a slight deviation in the length of one of the walls: within the range of 10 - 20 mm, and in the case of shower doors - up to 20 cm. Thanks to the profile adjustment option, the product can harmoniously fit into the interior of a bathroom with uneven walls.

The presence in the design of the shower wall or partition of its own hanger for towels. The most common handle-holder and hooks mounted on the upper edge of the glass. The towel holder is usually placed on the outside - so that the spray from the shower does not fall on the towel, and at the same time it could be easily reached without leaving the shower area.

Many users find certain countries more attractive than others. However, in our time, these stereotypes have practically no good reason. Firstly, the country of origin of the brand is often only the headquarters of the company, and its production lines can be located in a completely different corner of the globe. Secondly, origin from a particular country is by no means a guarantee of quality: in practice, everything depends on how carefully a particular manufacturer controls its products. To assess the quality, it is worth focusing not on nationality, but, first of all, on the reputation of a particular brand and the price category of the product.

The warranty period during which the manufacturer guarantees the quality of the product. The larger it is, the more reliable the product is and the higher the quality of its manufacture. However, shower screens and walls with a long warranty period tend to be more expensive than their counterparts.