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OK can we just talk about sliding shower doors for a second? WHY do they have to be so disgusting? I’m sure they’re great when they are brand new, but they are absolutely impossible to keep clean after that. I’m convinced they should have never been invented…or at least someone should have come up with something a little less awful.
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When we moved into our home, one of the first things I wanted to do was GET RID OF that awful, awful door. I think I used the shower about twice before I got so sick of it and decided to enlist the help of my parents and just rip it out one night (I was about 8.5 months pregnant at the time and Brandon was busy sanding Henry’s bedroom floors – I was pretty much useless. So I basically supervised). We wanted to completely tear out that awful thing and replace it with something more sightly, like what you might see from Tile Redi . I figured I would share the steps we took to take it out in case any one else is living with one of these creatures. Trust me…you want to take it out. It is VERY easy, and you’ll feel so much better when you do.
Step 1: Take out the doors. Just lift up to pull them from the track at the bottom, and remove.
Step 2: Pull off the bar at the top. It should just pop right off, but you might need to use a hammer or something for a little extra force.
Step 3: Unscrew side bars.
Step 4: Pry side bars off. We used a knife to scrape off the caulk and break the seal – this made it easier to pull the bar off of the wall. Warning: gross pictures ahead.
Step 5: Remove bottom bar. This one was, by far, the most disgusting. Years of soap, shampoo, water, etc. had settled under this bar and it.was.nasty.
Step 6: CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN! I can’t tell you how good it feels to know that all of that crud is no longer hiding under a shower door.
We scraped the caulk off first and then used “krud kutter” to help get the rest of the gunk off.
Step 7: Scrape extra caulk off of the walls and seal the holes left in the wall/tiles by those little anchors.
Note: We used “Goof Off” to get these poor little fishies off, too.
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I hope you enjoyed this How to Remove Sliding Shower Doors blog post! If you did, please consider leaving a comment! OR feel free to ask any questions – I love to hear from you guys!
Thanks for sharing! I am so going to do this!
Hi! Stopping by from Mom Bloggers Club. Great blog!
Have a nice day!
Hi Veronica! Thanks so much – glad you found it useful. It makes such a huge difference! Have a great day! :)
What did you fill in/seal the holes with?
Charlotte – you can use fiberglass patch (get it from Home Dept, Lowe’s, any hardware store, etc.). Are you removing your own shower doors?! Let me know how it goes….it makes such a drastic difference! :)
Thanks, and yes I’m doing it myself while husband does his fantasy football drafts. Got the doors down, now to clean up!
Let me know how it went Charlotte! Hopefully this post was helpful. If so, I’m glad I could help someone else get those yucky doors off – it’s a life changer!! ;) ;)
I am fixing to remove these same doors but the porcelain on this bath looks to be previously scratched up pretty good so I am not sure how to cover that mess…I cannot wait to get if off of there…ty for sharing this
Hi there, I’m glad you found it useful! Let me know if you encounter any issues! :)
Hi, We moved into a 1966 time capsule, and at some point (1980s?) the owners decided to install a 3 panel sliding glass door.
I can’t get the doors out by simply lifting them out, as that still does not allow enough room.
In one of your photos it appears that you can partially lifted the top rail to accomplish removing the doors. Is this accurate?
I just want to ensure I don’t end up breaking it and causing a mess.
If you could be so kind as to let me know, I would be eternally grateful.
What did you use to fill holes in tile? My husband is worried that the holes will look bad. I’m thinking they are so small, no biggie.
Hey Jen – we actually STILL have not even filled in the holes. I’m not exactly sure what you’d use – there may be something to fill it in…or you could replace the individual tiles.
I JUST did this in less than 10 minutes following your steps! So simple, I don’t know why I didn’t tackle this project sooner… Now the fun part, scraping and cleaning! Thanks again
Awesome! So glad it worked for you Amy! It makes such a difference, doesn’t it?!
Just removed a door that looks just like this and little fishies off the tile walls lol This is the third door in our house that I have taken out, however this one has the most caulking to remove. Feel like I have been scraping for two days and still not getting it all off. What tool did you use?
Hi Andie! We used a couple of different tools – a plastic “refinishing” tool as well as a “knife.”
I live in an apartment and I absolutely hate cleaning the tub/shower. It’s also a pain in the butt trying to bathe my toddler with those doors in the way. I’m going to ask my landlord if they can be taken out ?
It’s such a pain, I feel you!! They’re super easy to take out – hopefully your landlord will let you!