Glass shower doors: why choose this material?

Toughened glass, PVC, fabric screens, acrylic: each option has a different purchase price, lifespan and level of safety. Glass dominates the Belgian shower market by a wide margin, and this is no mere passing fad. Here’s what really sets it apart from other materials, along with the standards in force in Belgium and price guides from Facq.

Glass, PVC, curtains, acrylic: what really sets these materials apart

On paper, there are four options for enclosing a shower area. In practice, the choice narrows quickly once you consider the actual lifespan.

A fabric or PVC shower curtain remains the cheapest option to buy. It goes mouldy within a few months if the ventilation in the bathroom is not ideal, so it needs replacing regularly, and looks unsightly after six months of daily use. Acrylic (sometimes sold as Plexiglas) mimics the appearance of glass at a lower price and is lighter, making it easier to install. However, it scratches quite easily with an abrasive sponge or a ring, and yellows under the combined effect of hot water, light and cleaning products. Its useful life is around five to eight years with daily domestic use.

Toughened glass, on the other hand, does not scratch under normal use, does not yellow and retains its original appearance for decades. This explains why it is used in almost all the doors and partitions sold in Belgium today, at Facq as elsewhere.

There remains one question, separate from that of the material: the opening mechanism. Once you have chosen the glass, you still need to decide between a pivot, sliding or folding door, depending on the space available in front of the shower – a topic we cover in detail in our guide pivot, sliding and folding shower doors.

Toughened glass: the safety standard applicable in Belgium

The term ‘toughened glass’ refers to glass heated to approximately 620 °C and then rapidly cooled using compressed air. This tempering process creates internal stresses that make it four to five times stronger than ordinary glass of the same thickness. In the event of a violent impact, it does not shatter into sharp shards like conventional glass: it breaks into small, blunt pieces.

This property is not left to the manufacturer’s discretion. The European standard EN 12150 sets out the requirements for thermally toughened safety glass, and its Belgian equivalent, NBN EN 12150-2, is listed by Buildwise, the leading body for construction standards in Belgium. For shower screens specifically, the EN 14448 standard imposes a precise fragmentation criterion: a 50 x 50 mm sample must produce at least 40 fragments if broken, and no fragment may exceed 100 mm in length. Compliant toughened glass also bears an engraved mark in one corner, featuring the manufacturer’s logo and a reference to the standard: this is a legal requirement in Belgium, as it is throughout the rest of the European Union, and not merely a marketing ploy.

This regulatory framework explains why glass remains the required material in domestic settings, where there are children or elderly people: the risk of serious cuts should the glass shatter against a wall is objectively lower than with non-tempered glass.

What thickness of glass should be used for a shower screen or door?

The thickness of the glass depends on two factors: the type of installation (sliding door or fixed panel) and the height of the panel.

For hinged, sliding or pivot doors, 6 mm remains the standard thickness in Belgium: it provides the necessary strength without adding unnecessary weight to the hinges or tracks. This is, for example, the thickness used for Huppe’s Design Pure hinged door, made from transparent safety glass, with a height of 200 cm.

For a fixed, frameless shower screen, the principle is different: without a upright to support it, the panel must be thicker to remain rigid. Up to a height of 2 metres, 8 mm is the standard. Above that, 10 to 12 mm is required to prevent any flexing. The Viva shower enclosure from Duscholux, for example, uses 8 mm glass and is available in heights of up to 2,500 mm.

For a walk-in shower with a large fixed panel, this choice of thickness should, in fact, be decided at the same time as the choice of access mechanism: we discuss this in our guide to the pivot door for walk-in showers.

Hygiene and maintenance: the real test is Belgian water

No material is immune to limescale. The question is which one copes best, and Belgian water is no pushover: hardness exceeds 20 °fH in most provinces, with peaks of 25–35 °fH depending on the region. On a curtain, this limescale becomes embedded in the fibres and causes irreversible damage within a few weeks. On acrylic, it settles into the micro-scratches that the material accumulates over time, making cleaning increasingly difficult year after year.

Glass is also a non-porous material that does not harbour bacteria, which is a significant consideration in a damp room where air circulation is poor for much of the year in Belgium. Another useful, yet often overlooked, tip is to air the bathroom after every shower, which helps to prevent mould from growing on the grouting, regardless of the material used for the walls.

In small spaces, where sliding doors are often chosen to avoid taking up space when opened, particular attention should be paid to the maintenance of the track: we cover this in detail in our guide to  sliding doors for small spaces.

Toughened glass, laminated glass, safety glass: are they the same thing?

The terminology can be confusing. ‘Securit’ was originally a registered trademark but has, through common usage, become a common synonym for toughened glass: in a bathroom, the two terms refer to the same thing.

Laminated glass, on the other hand, is a different material. It consists of two layers of glass bonded together with a PVB (polyvinyl butyral) interlayer. If it breaks, it does not shatter: the fragments remain stuck to the film, and the pane retains its shape. This property makes it suitable for very large fixed panels, where it is preferable to avoid an entire pane of glass collapsing all at once; however, its higher cost and greater weight make it a niche option for shower enclosures, reserved for bespoke projects involving large dimensions. For the majority of doors and panels sold in Belgium, standard toughened glass remains the best choice.

This technical distinction is particularly relevant for large spaces or unusual layouts. For a small bathroom, where the dimensions are relatively compact, our comprehensive guide to shower doors for small spaces covers the most common sizing issues.

An investment that pays off in the long run

At Facq, the price of a glass shower door depends mainly on the design, the frame and the finishing options, rather than on the thickness itself.

One final point to bear in mind when selling a property: a well-maintained tempered glass screen, still clean and scratch-free after fifteen years, reassures a potential buyer far more than a yellowed acrylic screen or a sagging shower curtain. It’s a detail that doesn’t appear on any technical specifications, but which makes a difference during a viewing.