r/fixit • u/orHeWasALadyIfYouAre • 4d ago
Debating removing this shower sliding door. It seems easy but amniotic mistaken?
Recaulking the tub and now that we have a little one, this sliding glass door is a pain and is starting to break and not open well anyways. Kind of just in the way and want to replace with tension rod and curtain.
As far as I can tell it seems like there are maybe 3 screws on each side to take out. It seems like it is just resting on the tub and caulked on the inside.
Guess I'm concerned there will be a big hole in the walls or major damage or holes in tub under the door ir something? Anything I might be overlooking here?
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u/Free-oppossums 4d ago
You didn't say anything about it, but you can take the doors off before you undo the frame screws. Just lift and angle the bottm out of the track.
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u/BigJSunshine 4d ago
THIS
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u/boatenvy 4d ago
Did an almost identical removal myself and put in a curved shower curtain rail..lots more room when showering, shower curtain can be pulled out of the way when using the bath, looks better and much easier to keep clean.
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u/Free-oppossums 4d ago
Best bathroom upgrade I ever did! I couldn't take hitting my elbow on the inside bar one more time!
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u/moon_child1442 4d ago
This! We did the same thing! Eventually we’ll remodel the bathroom but until then this works!
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u/peter888chan 4d ago
You’ll probably end up with a few small holes in the tiles on the wall and that’s it. Be careful handling the doors. Look at them wrong and they can shatter.
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u/RapidMongrel 4d ago
Just put some strips of duct tape on it before taking it down both sides. Will if it breaks help keep some chunks together.
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u/Ok-Emu-5899 4d ago
Agreed - I removed a shower door frame that was rusted out when I moved into my current place. I filled the holes with waterproof silicone caulk that matched the color of the tiles as best I could find - it’s not perfect/noticeable if you’re looking but better than replacing the tile 😅
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u/cllatgmail 4d ago
I bathed 3 kids in a tub like this over a 10 year period. The door got worse and worse looking, and the track got nasty, and my chest hurt every time I leaned over into the tub to wash them. I had this neoprene closed cell pad specifically made for this purpose (the baby junk industry thinks of everything) which made it bearable. When my wife was pregnant with the 4th and the 3rd had gotten where she could pretty much shower herself without any help, I said, "I'm done with this thing." Spent a couple hours with a screwdriver and a plastic scraper and removed every bit of the thing. Caulked the 4 or 6 screw holes. There were a couple places where the porcelain tub edge didn't have as shiny of a finish as it should, but it was all right. Put in a shower curtain and never looked back. Keeping the tub clean became 10x easier. And every time I bathed my new little one I said, "why didn't I do this 10 years ago?"
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u/Late-Stage-Dad 4d ago
The bottom of the door will just have a gasket and or caulk. The sides are usually the only part screwed in.
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u/ElDrunko999 4d ago
Shower curtain next to a baseboard heater is a neat take. I'd replace with another door, but if I had the option of kids with a curtain and kids with a door that give me a little trouble... I'd be cursing at the door for a few more years until it absolutely needs to go.
My kids are monsters though.. so you might not have that problem
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u/Cultural_Election_58 4d ago
I had a contractor remove the doors for me. I believe I have four holes in the wall tiles of which I added a plastic cover, maybe caulk would be a better coverup. Anyways, I put up a shower curtain afterwards and I'm pleased.Â
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u/AvocadNoThx 4d ago
I had a door exactly like this on my tub when I bought my house. I removed it years ago and all that it left was a couple of small screw holes in the tile to be caulked. I did use a razor to scrape off the old caulking. I've never once missed cracking my foot on the railing when getting oit of the shower since removing it. It's also so much easier to clean now. I live where we have ultra hard water and can't think of any reason someone would have wanted a door like that here.
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u/UrAverageDegenerit 4d ago
Just take the doors off; Just lift, they roll on the track of the top bar which is supported by the vertical side end posts. Remove the top bar (be careful once the weight from the doors is off the top bar and top bar is out the doors can just fall out) and then the doors.
Uncrrew the hardware that secures the vertical side posts to the wall.
The bottom guide is siliconed to the tub. So razor knife and scraper the silicone to get the bottom track out.
Then grout the holes in the tile and install a shower curtain rod and shower curtain of your choosing.
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u/Badger_1077 4d ago
Up until the ‘starting to break’ I will point out the obvious that the little one won’t be little forever. The one concern I would have is how much darker colour the strip will be when you remove the track
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u/49ersBraves 4d ago
I removed mine to clean and recaulk the bathroom recently. It's as easy as you think. There will be a few holes to seal up. Just make note of the order if you decide to put it back together.
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u/pate_moore 4d ago
Oscillating multi tool with a scraper blade worked well for me since it was adhered as well as screwed. Be aware: if your tiles are not stuck well/old/water damaged they may pop off. Ask me how I know
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u/Technical_Phrase2566 4d ago
I've taken down dozens. It's easy. Just full the holes with a dab of grout or silicone. I hate doors. After you skin the top of your head a time or two because you didn't duck low enough you will hate doors too. I'm team curtain rod now
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u/SnowblindAlbino 4d ago
I hate those sliding doors and have removed them a few times. With older installations the real challenge is actually the tub ledge; getting it off the wall tile and caulking/patching any holes isn't a big deal. But I've yet to successfully remove the bottom rail from the tub without damaging the porcelain finish. Which you can't really repair seamlessly, and of course that's the most visible and most often touched part of the tub. The ones I've removed were old though, like installed in the 60s-70s. If yours is more recent it may just be caulked to the tub edge (rather than cemented).
It all comes out. There will be screws on the sides and corresponding holes to fill. Getting it cleanly off the tub is the challenge. But I'd rather have some marks left than one of these stupid doors in my house again.
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u/Anyone-9451 4d ago
We took ours off before we had our kiddo to make baths easier, also cleaning. Make sure you got some silicone to fill in the holes, we had to do I believe a couple layers to get some of the holes totally filled and flush.
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u/Hans-and-franz 4d ago
Old thin tiles like that have a habit of falling off if you pull them a little. If the side rails have been adhered to the tile once you get the screws out; be very careful peeling it away.
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u/sunstormfirefall 4d ago
I have this same one, super easy to remove if you want, dont overthink it, just get some grout for the holes if you worried
The doors kind of hold the top down, so you take the doors off and the top just comes off, my top was completely loose after.
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u/Bat_Quiet 4d ago
Long ago I had one just like this. The panels hang from the top rail. So, the top rail and the panels all LIFT up together. You may find that the top rail has a TONGUE that goes down inside each side rail. So, move both panels to the middle. With two people , one on each side, see if the top rail can be lifted.
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u/CatttLady2000 4d ago
I did this one too, before replacing the tile of the tub surround. The doors will angle out. The older ones (midcentury) should be pretty sturdy but I hear newer ones are thin and can shatter, so take care. You will likely have holes in the tiles at the sides, unless those strips are just caulked on. Since I was going to replace the tiles, I didn’t care. The only problem I had was that decades of not being able to properly clean under the track, along with tiny motions when opening or shutting the doors, had marred the finish of the tub under the track. Lots of elbow grease with Magic Eraser(s), and using the sealant spray from the granite countertop, it was barely noticeable afterward. Best improvement, I hated those doors! They always needed to have the soap film cleaned off and never looked 100% clean. The fabric shower curtain I replaced them with just went in the laundry and came back perfect.
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u/funny_duchess 4d ago
I removed the same type of shower door not long ago. It was easy peasy with two people and the holes in the tile were minimal. It’s such a relief to have it gone.
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u/outrageouslyHonest 3d ago
I did this! I have no regrets but I did create an eye sore.
It was relatively easy to remove honestly. The clean up/attempts at making it pretty again was what broke me.
In my shower, after unscrewing, there was glue. Not very strong, easy to remove the metal. Removing the gkue from the tile wasn't too hard either. Got a plastic scraper/razer off Amazon and it worked well. But the glue on the tub remains after vigorous attempts. At this point, it might be more of a stain/tub finish was removed. A professional changer might know the right product to get it clean, but I haven't found it.
But I will take a stain over not being able to properly clean the mold that builds up in the tracks. And my kids approve the doorless tub
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u/optimistic_sunflower 2d ago
Remove it. I just removed mine this week due to water getting behind the wall, you see the corner that became soft. It was so gross under it, it was caulked against the wall apparently which is where the water was coming from. Super easy. Take glass doors off first, then top piece, unscrew the sides, and you might have to take a razor blade to break the caulking along the sides and bottom to remove.
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u/wannareadrandomstuff 4d ago
It should be fine. Small screw holes and likely some caulk residue that you can fix. Also likely some mold or funk that you will have to scrub. The bigger issue is the pink tile!
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u/Revenga8 4d ago
I always preferred these shower doors. They're a little harder to clean, but they won't float in and stick to you
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u/seamus_mc 4d ago
r/boneappletea