Choosing the Right Material for Your Shower Enclosure

Shower enclosures can be built from a wide range of materials and choosing one that not only suits the decor of your bathroom but also boasts quality and longevity can be tough. The aim of this article is to guide your eventual choice; we will do this by examining the different materials that are used to build shower enclosures and highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each.

To have a quick look at all the different materials you can use, it is important to get an idea of what shapes and styles are achievable before making your decision. The aesthetics of whatever shower style you desire may not be possible with a certain material, so it is important to look at a host of designs; check out BathEmpire for a wide range of styles in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Most buyers will be looking at investing in tempered glass for their new shower enclosure. Ensure that anything you buy is at least 5mm in thickness and includes edge protection to prevent chipping or damage. To ensure safety, try to find out the results to any break tests performed on the glass; a standard door should break into at least 45 pieces, but the higher that number, the better.

To ensure the lasting lifetime of your chosen glass, invest in a sturdy aluminium frame to hold the enclosure together; be watchful of companies using plastic with an aluminium or chromed finish as these do not always prevent water damage and often feel much cheaper.

To get the most for your money, check out the thickness of the aluminium used, something above one millimetre will provide you with many years of service, but a higher number will usually boast more quality.

When it comes to the shower tray, the best material to use is pure acrylic. Most companies will offer acrylic trays, but this doesn't always ensure that they are 100 per cent all the way through. Some businesses offer polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) sheets on the outside and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) in the inner of the tray; a design manufactured like this is a much less sturdy solution to a purely acrylic version.

To know exactly when this is the case, you can often find the material on the underside of any unit, though failing that the biggest clue is often in the cost and the colour. A bright white finish is often a tell tale sign of a lower quality tray. The highest quality acrylics are always flame retardant and boast a creamier colour that is usually much more in keeping with standard bathroom decor.

Furthermore, assessing the price can often the quickest way to judge on quality. Some low quality acrylics may be very affordable, but investing in such a product may encourage further costs much sooner than you might think. If you are visiting a large supplier, ask how much their acrylic costs per tonne; if that cost is in excess of £1,500, it is likely to be of a higher quality.

Finally, on the rear of most acrylic trays is a strip of fibreglass for strengthening. Ensure that there isn't an abundance of resin as this is often used to bulk out the material and is not as effective as fibreglass.

29 March 2011

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