Wollongong and the Illawarra, Helensburgh to Gerringong. Pick-up from Unanderra.
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Can you install a frameless shower screen yourself?

A straight answer from a builder who fits them: a single fixed panel, yes, with a second person and ordinary tools. A hinged door is harder: it weighs about 30 kg, the hinges have to be set to the millimetre for it to swing true, and the fixed panel must cure before the door goes on. A sliding door sits between the two.

We sell the glass either way: supply only from $248, or supply + install from $743, inc. GST.

Do it yourself if

  • It's a walk-in panel, a bath screen or a semi-frameless screen
  • You have a second person for every lift
  • The walls are within 5 mm of plumb, or you ordered the panel cut to suit
  • You've drilled tiles before, or are happy to practise on an offcut
  • You can leave the shower alone for two days

Get it installed if

  • A hinged door over about 25 kg (a 700 mm door is 35 kg) and no one to lift with
  • Three or more panels: a corner, a cubicle, a diamond
  • A hob, a nib wall or a niche where the glass lands
  • A wall more than 5 mm out and you'd rather not measure it
  • Upstairs, a long carry, or tiles you can't afford to crack
  • You want someone else to own it if it goes wrong

What you need

The steps, wall-to-wall fixed panel and door

What we do on site, in order. Your panels arrive with the hinge cut-outs and bracket holes machined and the gaps already allowed for, so there is nothing to cut.

  1. 1

    Check the glass and dry-fit everything

    Unwrap each panel and look along the edges for chips before you start. Stand the fixed panel in place on packers with a helper holding it and check the fit: the top level, the gaps even, the door width left over as drawn. Nothing is siliconed until this looks right.

  2. 2

    Mark the bracket or channel positions

    With the panel held plumb (use the 2 m level on the glass, not the wall), mark through the bracket holes onto the tiles, or mark the channel line. Take the glass away before you drill.

  3. 3

    Drill the tiles

    A diamond core or tile bit for porcelain, started at an angle or through masking tape so it doesn't wander, slow speed, water to cool it. Then a masonry bit for the wall behind. If the wall is plasterboard, the fixing must reach a stud or noggin; a plug in plasterboard alone will not hold a 10 mm panel upright.

  4. 4

    Fix the panel

    Brackets: fit the wall halves, stand the panel on its packers, clamp the glass halves on and nip them up evenly (never crush the glass). Channel: fix the channel, run a bead inside it, drop the panel in on packers. Re-check plumb and level before the silicone skins.

  5. 5

    Silicone the fixed panel and wait

    Neutral-cure silicone (never acetic, it attacks the hardware finish and some tiles) in a 2–3 mm bead along the wall and base edges, tooled smooth. Then leave it 24 hours. This is the step DIY jobs skip, and why doors sag: hinges loaded onto a wet joint pull the fixed panel out of plumb.

  6. 6

    Hang the door

    Two people. Fit the hinges to the door on the bench, offer the door up on packers to the fixed panel (or wall), clamp the hinges on and set the hinge gap and the gap at the closing edge evenly. Swing it: it should close itself from about 20°, and clear taps, rails and the vanity.

  7. 7

    Seals, handle and water bar

    Push the drip seal onto the bottom of the door and the water seal onto the closing edge, fit the knob or handle through its hole with the washers, and bed the water bar on the tiles under the door if there's no hob.

  8. 8

    Final seal and cure

    Silicone the outside of the wall joints and the base of the fixed panels. Leave the inside bottom corners open or seal them: either is accepted, but a sealed inside joint must be a neat continuous bead. No shower for 24 hours.

The three things that go wrong

  • Hanging the door the same day. The fixed panel moves in wet silicone under the door's weight and the door never closes right again. Wait the 24 hours.
  • Plumbing the glass to the wall instead of the level. If the wall leans, the door leans with it. Plumb the glass; the silicone takes up to 5 mm, and beyond that the panel should have been cut on a rake.
  • Uneven bracket pressure. Toughened glass takes a lot, but not a bracket cranked down on one side with the gasket missing. Even pressure, gaskets in, snug not tight.

DIY questions

Can you install a frameless shower screen yourself?
A single fixed walk-in panel on brackets or in a channel: yes, with a second person to lift and ordinary tools, and it's the cheapest screen we sell at $248 supply only. A screen with a hinged door is a step up: the door weighs about 30 kg, the hinge alignment decides whether it swings true and seals, and the fixed panel must cure before the door is hung. Plenty of handy people manage it; plenty of tradies hand it to us. A sliding door sits between the two.
Do I need a licence to install my own shower screen?
You can do the work in your own home. If you pay someone to do it, check their licence on the NSW Fair Trading register as you would for any building work. Our glass is Grade A toughened safety glass to AS/NZS 2208 and the sizes are worked out for installation to AS 1288; fixing it correctly is the installer's job.
What silicone should I use?
A neutral-cure (non-acetic) silicone made for bathrooms and glass, in clear or a colour matched to your grout. Acetic-cure silicone (the vinegar-smelling kind) can mark hardware finishes and some stone and tiles. One tube does a screen; two for a cubicle.
How long before I can use the shower?
24 hours after the last silicone, or longer if the tube says so.
Can frameless glass fix to plasterboard?
The panel's weight sits on the base in silicone; the wall brackets stop it tipping, but they still see real load every time the door swings or someone leans on the glass. Fixings must go into a stud, a noggin or masonry. If there's nothing behind the plasterboard where the bracket lands, a U-channel spreads the load along the wall and is the safer choice.
My wall is out of plumb. Can I still do it myself?
Up to 5 mm over the panel height sits in the silicone and nobody will see it. Beyond that, order the fixed panel cut on a rake (tell the designer the gap under your level) so the glass follows the wall and the door still hangs square: a made-to-order panel, but a straightforward install. A door hung straight off a leaning wall will never swing true.
What if I break a panel?
It's yours once you've collected it, and a replacement is a full new panel at the made-to-order price. The two moments that break glass are standing a panel on a hard corner without packers and tightening brackets unevenly. If that risk is the deal-breaker, supply + install is $743 for a walk-in panel and $1,465 for a wall-to-wall screen with a door, and the glass is ours until it's on the wall.
Price it supply only Or get it installedHow to measure

Removal of an old screen, if we install, is $120.00. Prices inc. GST.