FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Useful Knowledge
WHAT IS FLUTED / REEDED GLASS?
This trend was first picked up on "The Block - Australia" in 2020 and aired in South Africa in 2021. The bathroom was competed by Luke and Jasmin. Fluted glass was popular in the 1920s throughout the Art Deco era, and it was frequently used in interior design with wall sconces and pendants. Recently, internal windows with fluted glass are making a strong comeback and has been very popular across the world.
But what is fluted glass and can it be used for showers?
Fluted Glass is also known as Reeded Glass, Ribbed Glass, Slendervue Glass and even Textured Glass. Fluted glass is identifiable by its vertical grooves and has a concave pattern across it, the texture provides privacy while still letting light in.
Fluted glass typically breaks during the toughening process and the sheet sizes of this glass is limited in size. Due to these reasons it is extremely difficult to get Toughened Safety Glass that is fluted in South Africa.
Well, what are our options then?
The option that we prefer to use and that we recommend to our clients is to do a standard 8mm (or thickness required) Toughened Safety Glass with a Reeded Clear Glass Vinyl installed onto the glass. This looks amazing and in a couple of years time, when this look is not on trend anymore, one can remove the glass vinyl and have a clear shower. This will inevitably not date the bathroom and increase the sale value of a home.
WHAT ARE THE STANDARD SIZES FOR SHOWER DOORS?
The standard shower door size in South Africa is 900mm wide X 2000mm height. The most common standard shower enclosure size is 900mm X 900mm X 1880mm height. All showers can be custom designed to fit your size requirements. The height of the showers is normally 1800mm or 2000mm and this depends on whether the shower will be sitting on a plinth or directly onto the floor.
CAN SHOWER DOORS BE CUSTOM MADE?
Yes shower doors can be custom made, and you can choose between a frameless shower or a framed shower. You can also choose the type of glass, the colour finish on your hardware and if you want optional extras such as a towel rail on the door. Showers designed and installed by The Shower Company are custom made for each job.
HOW OFTEN SHOULD I CLEAN MY SHOWER?
It is recommended that you dry your glass after each shower with a squeegee or a specific glass microfiber cloth. Alternatively you can protect your glass by apply ClearShield or a similar product.
HOW CAN I PROTECT MY GLASS IN THE SHOWER?
We recommend treating your glass with ClearShield at the factory before installation. ClearShield creates a "non-stick" barrier to glass and makes glass resistant to mold, limescale and soap scum. To learn more, contact us.
WHAT IS THE PROCESS WHEN ORDERING MY SHOWER / GLASS BALUSTRADE?
It is an easy process to order your custom glass enclosure. Once a quote is accepted, our team comes through to do final measurements and orders the glass. Current lead time for glass manufacturing is 10-12 working days. Once the glass has been manufactured, we come through and install the product.
WHAT IS SAFETY TOUGHENED GLASS?
Safety Toughened Glass is the process of using heat or chemical treatments to increase the strength of the glass compared to normal glass. The glass sheets are cut to size based on the custom design needed using a water jet, the glass then goes into a furnace. Tempering the glass creates balanced internal stresses and this causes the glass to crumble into smaller chunks of similar size and shape instead of splintering into random sharp jagged shards of glass when broken. Due to the safety and strength of this glass it is used for showers, balustrades, architectural glass and doors, tables, passenger vehicles, bullet proof glass and more.
WHAT THICKNESS IS TOUGHENED SAFETY GLASS?
Toughened Safety Glass comes in a range of thicknesses including 4mm, 5mm, 6mm, 8mm, 10mm, 12mm, 15mm and 19mm. For our showers we generally use 8mm toughened safety glass and for our Balustrades we generally use 15mm Toughened Safety Glass, however different designs may require different thickness of glass to conform to SAGGA and AAAMSA Regulations.