Replacing an Old Sliding or Framed Shower Screen With Frameless

This is the most common reason people come to us. The old aluminium-framed or sliding screen is tired, the tracks are grubby, and they want "something more modern and easier to clean," as one homeowner put it.

Good news: a screen swap is one of the most satisfying bathroom upgrades you can do yourself. Here's how it goes.

Step 1: Look at what you've got

Before you remove anything, note:

• Your floor: hob, hobless or shower base? See hob, hobless or shower base.
• Your layout: is the old screen across the front only (inline), or front and side (corner)?
• Where the frame fixes: framed screens usually screw into the walls through a vertical aluminium channel.

Step 2: Remove the old screen carefully

• Take off sliding doors first. Most lift up and out of the top track.
• Cut through the old silicone with a sharp blade, working along the frame, the hob and the walls.
• Unscrew the wall channels.
• Lift the frame out with a helper. Old framed screens often use thinner glass, so treat them with care too.

Tip: photograph the old screw holes. You'll want to know exactly where they are.

Step 3: Check what's underneath

This is the step people skip, and it's the important one.

• Silicone residue: scrape and clean it all off. New silicone won't bond to old silicone.
• Mould: clean it back to bare tile and grout. If mould has got into the grout, now's the time to regrout.
• Old screw holes: your new brackets may not line up with them. Fill old holes with neutral-cure silicone so water can't get in behind the tiles.
• Signs of leaking: loose tiles, stained grout outside the shower, or a musty smell mean water may already be getting past the waterproofing. Fix that before you fit new glass. Waterproofing is licensed work in NSW for jobs over $5,000.

Step 4: Measure and check your walls

Your old framed screen may have been hiding walls that aren't plumb. The aluminium channels can absorb a lean that frameless glass can't.

• Measure your opening, tile face to tile face, taken from the shower threshold (top of the step, bottom of the step, or top of the hob). Our measuring guide shows you where.
• Check each wall with a spirit level. More than 5mm out over the panel height is a problem. See my walls aren't square.

Step 5: Choose your layout

Swapping to a walk-in fixed panel is popular, but check the splash risk first. A panel of 900mm or wider and a shower head aimed at the glass make a big difference. See do frameless screens leak?

Then use the configurator. Enter your opening, pick your layout and finish, and it recommends stocked panel sizes and shows the price.

Step 6: Fit the new screen

Fit brackets, set the glass on packers, check it's plumb, tighten and silicone. Our article on how to install a fixed panel walks through it, and our drilling guide covers the tile holes.

Still unsure?

Take a photo of your current screen and floor and send it through the Five-Minute Fit Check. We'll tell you which frameless layout suits your shower before you pull anything out.