It is the most common question we are asked in a bathroom consultation: frameless or semi-frameless? The honest answer is that both are legitimate, and the right one depends on the bathroom and the budget — but the difference is real, and worth understanding before you decide.
A frameless shower uses no perimeter framing. The glass is held by hardware alone — hinges, channels, clamps — and it is thick: 10mm or 12mm toughened. The edges are polished. Nothing frames the panel; the glass is the screen.
A semi-frameless shower uses a partial frame — typically the fixed panel and the channel are framed, the door is not — and thinner glass, usually 6mm. It is a genuine middle option, not a compromise hidden under a marketing word.
The first difference is cost. Semi-frameless typically lands 25 to 50 per cent below frameless for a comparable enclosure. Thinner glass is cheaper, lighter, and simpler to install; the partial frame does structural work that frameless asks the glass and hardware to do instead.
The second difference is how it ages. The partial metal frame on a semi-frameless screen is another junction for water to sit in and another surface to clean. Done well it is fine for years. Done cheaply it is where the screen starts to look tired first. Frameless has fewer places for water and soap to collect, and the thicker glass simply feels more solid in daily use.
The third difference is the look. A frameless screen reads as part of the architecture — a clean plane of glass. A semi-frameless screen reads as a shower screen. Neither is wrong; it depends on whether you want the glass to be a feature or a function.
Our rule of thumb: in a primary bathroom or an ensuite where the glass is part of the design intent, frameless earns its cost. In a secondary bathroom, a guest ensuite, or any project where the budget is doing a lot of work elsewhere, semi-frameless is a sound, honest choice — and we will tell you so.
What we will not do is sell you a frameless screen and quietly thin the glass or downgrade the hardware to hit a number. If the budget says semi-frameless, the right move is semi-frameless done properly — not frameless done cheaply.
Written by Jason Ah-Young, Director of Maison Glass. For advice on a specific project, book a consultation.
