A frameless shower door is a type of shower door that is made from tempered glass, which is strong and durable. It is necessary for the glass used in this type of door to be particularly strong because the door must support itself without the stability of a metal frame. Any type of glass shower door can be made without a frame, and common frameless shower doors include in-line doors, bi-fold doors and sliding doors.
One common type of frameless shower door is an in-line door. This type of door is used in showers that are recessed into a wall. The glass is attached to the wall on either side of the shower and can open with a hinged or sliding door.
Showers that are not pushed back into a recess require other types doors. A right or neo-angle frameless shower door is an option for shower areas that are located in the corner of a bathroom. Right-angle shower doors are comprised of two sections of frameless glass that are attached to the wall and to each other to form a right angle. A neo-angle door is most often designed to form three sides of a pentagon, with the other two sides formed out of the corner of the wall.
A custom-angle frameless shower door is another possible choice. These types of doors can be built in a variety of shapes, and can incorporate angles or curved pieces of glass. They are often built for showers that are not situated in a corner of the room.
Bi-fold and bypass shower doors, while most often made with framed glass, can also be made with frameless panels of glass. These types of doors have two tracks, one above and one below the door. The doors slide along the tracks on wheels. Bypass doors slide along the length of the shower and bi-fold doors open accordion-fashion into the shower.
All frameless shower doors are made out of tempered glass. The glass used is thicker and stronger than the glass in a framed shower door because the glass needs to stand without the support of a frame. The tempered glass does not break easily, though when it does, it is designed to break into small pieces to help prevent serious injury. The glass can be frosted, tinted or textured but is most often clear because one of the appeals of the frameless shower door is that it is practically invisible.