How do I fit a shower screen to a bath?

A bath screen looks like a simple bracket job, and mechanically it is. The two things that separate a good fit from a leaking one are a plumb channel and knowing which joints to seal and which to leave open.

Safety

What you'll need

• A pipe and cable detector
• A tile bit and a drill without hammer action
• A spirit level, plugs and screws
• Sanitary silicone and masking tape

Step by step

1. Check the bath is level first.Put a level along the rim. If the bath itself falls away from the wall, the screen will sit out of plumb however carefully you fix it, and the gap at the bottom will be uneven.
2. Scan the wall before marking.Use a detector along the whole line of the channel. A tap on the other side of the wall means pipes, and drilling into one behind tile is a genuinely expensive mistake.
3. Hold the channel up and plumb it.Use a spirit level on the channel itself, not on the tile grout lines — walls and tiling are rarely plumb. Mark through the fixing holes with a fine pen.
4. Drill tile without hammer action.Stick masking tape over the mark to stop the bit wandering, use a tile or diamond bit, keep the speed low and let it cut. Hammer action cracks glazed tile every time.
5. Switch to masonry mode only past the tile.Once through the tile and adhesive you can change to a masonry bit and hammer if the wall behind is brick. On plasterboard, use proper cavity fixings, not plastic plugs.
6. Bed the channel in silicone as you fix it.A thin bead on the back of the channel before screwing it up stops water tracking behind it. Do not rely on the sealant you apply afterwards to do that job.
7. Hang the screen and check the swing.With the glass in the channel, check it swings freely and sits square to the bath rim, with an even gap at the bottom.
8. Seal the outside only.Seal the vertical joint on the outside face and the bottom of the channel outside the bath. Leaving the inside face unsealed lets water that runs down the glass return into the bath instead of being trapped.
9. Fit the bottom seal strip.Most screens take a clear plastic seal along the bottom edge that closes the gap to the bath rim. Cut it to length with a sharp knife and push it fully home.
10. Let the silicone cure before showering.Sanitary silicone needs at least 24 hours before it is exposed to water. Use the bath, not the shower, until then.

Tips

• Plumb the channel to a level, never to the tile joints. Almost no tiled wall is truly plumb.
• Buy a screen with a hinge that lifts as it opens if the bath rim is close to a radiator or door.
• Keep the drill on the slowest speed with steady, light pressure — pushing hard is what cracks tiles.

Common mistakes

• Sealing the inside face of the screen — Water running down the inside of the glass then has nowhere to go and sits in the joint, eventually finding its way behind the channel. The inside stays open deliberately.
• Drilling tile with hammer action — The glaze shatters before the bit bites, and a cracked tile in a shower wall means a water path into the substrate as well as an eyesore.

If it doesn't work

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