Kartell K-VIT Krittal Straight Bath Screen 1400 x 780mm – Matt Black (KRI-SS)

Kartell K-VIT Krittal Straight Bath Screen 1400 x 780mm – Matt Black (KRI-SS)

The Krittal is the industrial-style bath screen in Kartell's range – a single hinged panel in 6mm toughened glass, 1400mm tall and 780mm wide, with a matt black frame and a grid of black bars dividing the glass into panes. It takes its look from Crittall steel windows, and it is the one screen here that is meant to be noticed rather than to disappear.

What you are paying the extra for

The Krittal costs more than Kartell's plain screens, and the difference is entirely the grid. Structurally it is the same 6mm glass, the same hinged panel and the same lifetime guarantee as the Nero, which is also matt black. What you get for the difference is the framed look – so it is worth choosing deliberately rather than assuming the higher price buys a heavier screen.

It suits a bathroom with other industrial notes: black brassware, dark grout, exposed brick or metal-framed furniture. In a soft, traditional room the grid can look out of place.

Specification

Before you order

• The grid needs cleaning. The bars give limescale and soap residue more edges to collect on than a plain sheet of glass. Not a reason to avoid it, but it is more work to keep looking sharp.
• Check what is behind the tiles. The screen fixes to the wall and needs something solid to fix into – worth planning before the tiling goes on rather than after.
• Leave room for it to swing. The panel opens out into the room, so check nothing is in its arc.
• It is a screen, not an enclosure. At 780mm it covers the showering end of the bath rather than its full length, so expect some splash beyond it.

Fitting tips

Fit the bath and let the silicone seal along the walls cure fully before hanging the screen, so the bath cannot settle afterwards and break the seal. Get it truly vertical – on a screen with horizontal bars, any lean is obvious in a way it would not be on plain glass. Seal along the bottom where the screen meets the bath rim, and leave the vertical wall joint until last so any water that does get behind can find its way back into the bath.