How to remove bifold shower doors in order to access tiling work without completely destroying the shower...? - Tile Advice

[EalingBadger]

I need to remove a bifold shower door in order to gain access to attend to some loose tiles (amongst other issues) in a very small triangular shower.

With the door in place - even when pushed fully to the side - there is very limited room to get access to the tiles concerned.

The pictures show a wider shot of the shower unit itself for context (with the doors in their mid-position) together with a number of other shots that show closeups of each corner in the hope that somebody will recognise the particular unit concerned and say 'ah yes, just lever up the cover over widget 'x', remove screw 'y', and it will all miraculously come free.

I have spent the best part of an hour on this now and I simply cannot find a way of non-destructively removing this door and yet I feel there must be one.

I am hoping that the experts hereabouts will recognise the particular model and be able to suggest a technique that does not involve me needing to dismantle the entire shower just to get the doors off.

I am keen to avoid just starting to undo every fastener in sight for fear of ending up with a bucket of bits that can't easily be put back together again. Been there and done that far too often. Also, I generally find that I get the damn thing 90% disassembled only then to discover that in order to access what I needed to I only had to remove one screw - the identity of which the universe declined to reveal to me until the very last moment.

Any ideas please, guys?

 

[EalingBadger]

ps - sorry about the duplicate pictures.

I have tried several times to remove them but clearly my efforts have failed.

 

[mattconway1984]

First off - that sealant job really is something quite special!!!! Who the hell managed that utter mess!?

If I were in your shoes, I'd remove the whole enclosure - the wall on both sides of the enclosure looks to be suffering from major damp issues; the fact you have lifting tiles inside the enclosure also hints at this same issue (they may have been fixed using an in-adequate adhesive, or due to poor wall preparation prior to tiling).

Based on the damage shown in your photos I would assume the tiles have been stuck straight onto the plasterboard wall, this means the only protection your wall has (from your shower) are the tiles, grout and sealant, i.e. completely in-adequate.

What you need to do if you are making a shower enclosure is either: 1. use a cement based tile backer board (i.e. hardiboard), or 2. Use "waterproofed" plasterboard (i.e. use something like the mapei waterproofing kit). That way, any water that leaks through your tiles/grout is unable to soak into the plasterboard behind.

It's highly likely that the water damage behind your shower will have also worked its way downward (thanks to gravity) in which case it's most likely already started to slowly rot your floor joists that support the floor of your bathroom! By the way, that would (more than likely) take a long time to fail seriously (i.e. likely lead to your floor sinking, or - more unlikely - collapse); either way, sounds like a costly repair.


Finally -- If you're unable to dismantle a shower cubicle, I'd advise against DIY fixing your broken tiles!

 

[EalingBadger]

First off - that sealant job really is something quite special!!!! Who the hell managed that utter mess!?

If I were in your shoes, I'd remove the whole enclosure - the wall on both sides of the enclosure looks to be suffering from major damp issues; the fact you have lifting tiles inside the enclosure also hints at this same issue (they may have been fixed using an in-adequate adhesive, or due to poor wall preparation prior to tiling).

Based on the damage shown in your photos I would assume the tiles have been stuck straight onto the plasterboard wall, this means the only protection your wall has (from your shower) are the tiles, grout and sealant, i.e. completely in-adequate.

What you need to do if you are making a shower enclosure is either: 1. use a cement based tile backer board (i.e. hardiboard), or 2. Use "waterproofed" plasterboard (i.e. use something like the mapei waterproofing kit). That way, any water that leaks through your tiles/grout is unable to soak into the plasterboard behind.

It's highly likely that the water damage behind your shower will have also worked its way downward (thanks to gravity) in which case it's most likely already started to slowly rot your floor joists that support the floor of your bathroom! By the way, that would (more than likely) take a long time to fail seriously (i.e. likely lead to your floor sinking, or - more unlikely - collapse); either way, sounds like a costly repair.


Finally -- If you're unable to dismantle a shower cubicle, I'd advise against DIY fixing your broken tiles!

Thanks, and I completely agree with almost** everything that you say there and if I was starting from scratch that is most definitely the way that I would approach things.

I may be a beginner at tiling but I have done quite a bit of research and I do appreciate that your advice is most definitely the correct way of going about it.

Unfortunately, the problem is that I am not, nor do I have the luxury of, starting from scratch here.

This is a rental unit and things didn't start well with the original developer who cut corners in the first place by applying the tiles directly onto the plasterboard. Having said that, this was 16 years ago now so things have held up quite well under the circumstances.

No, the main problem has been so called "handymen" employed by the letting agent down through the years to "renew" the silicone - culminating in the absolute abortion of a job done by the last git that was engaged to do it.

These people appear to have virtually no idea of how to go about getting a silicone job on a shower done correctly as they always block off the natural drainage channels in the shower screen leading directly to the kind of damage displayed on the walls outside the shower. (I have taken now to vetting contractors being considered for shower maintenance work by my letting agents and asking them my "trick" question about how to ensure that this kind of decoration damage is avoided as a result of reapplying silicone. Get the answer wrong and they are not the right man for the job! Unfortunately, this new policy of mine was only put in place recently - too late to guard against this horror.)

My task now is to somehow recover from the appalling workmanship visited upon the poor old shower as a result of all of this - preferably without rebuilding it completely because I have neither the time or the budget to do this.

Unfortunately, whilst I am pretty handy at most things I have so far managed to avoid gaining any direct personal experience in tiling so a full rebuild would definitely involve professionals. it has been a tough year, and the funds for this are simply not available so a compromise solution is needed for the time being. (Showers in other units are being rebuilt - by carefully vetted bathroom professionals. These guys don't come cheap thus contributing significantly to the current cashflow situation.)

[ ** With regard to dismantling the shower cubicle - I can definitely do this but I want to avoid the scenario of taking rather more than I need to apart only to discover that there is a "trick" to it with respect to getting the door off. As an engineer by profession I am generally adept at getting things apart that others cannot but I have also had plenty of disassembly jobs get rather more involved than they needed to be once it became clear what the "secret" was. My enquiry was just in case anybody out there knew of any such simple trick. ]

 

[mattconway1984]

Unfortunately, the problem is that I am not, nor do I have the luxury of, starting from scratch here.

Thanks, and I completely agree with almost** everything that you say there and if I was starting from scratch that is most definitely the way that I would approach things.

I may be a beginner at tiling but I have done quite a bit of research and I do appreciate that your advice is most definitely the correct way of going about it.

Unfortunately, the problem is that I am not, nor do I have the luxury of, starting from scratch here.

This is a rental unit and things didn't start well with the original developer who cut corners in the first place by applying the tiles directly onto the plasterboard. Having said that, this was 16 years ago now so things have held up quite well under the circumstances.

No, the main problem has been so called "handymen" employed by the letting agent down through the years to "renew" the silicone - culminating in the absolute abortion of a job done by the last git that was engaged to do it.

These people appear to have virtually no idea of how to go about getting a silicone job on a shower done correctly as they always block off the natural drainage channels in the shower screen leading directly to the kind of damage displayed on the walls outside the shower. (I have taken now to vetting contractors being considered for shower maintenance work by my letting agents and asking them my "trick" question about how to ensure that this kind of decoration damage is avoided as a result of reapplying silicone. Get the answer wrong and they are not the right man for the job! Unfortunately, this new policy of mine was only put in place recently - too late to guard against this horror.)

My task now is to somehow recover from the appalling workmanship visited upon the poor old shower as a result of all of this - preferably without rebuilding it completely because I have neither the time or the budget to do this.

Unfortunately, whilst I am pretty handy at most things I have so far managed to avoid gaining any direct personal experience in tiling so a full rebuild would definitely involve professionals. it has been a tough year, and the funds for this are simply not available so a compromise solution is needed for the time being. (Showers in other units are being rebuilt - by carefully vetted bathroom professionals. These guys don't come cheap thus contributing significantly to the current cashflow situation.)

[ ** With regard to dismantling the shower cubicle - I can definitely do this but I want to avoid the scenario of taking rather more than I need to apart only to discover that there is a "trick" to it with respect to getting the door off. As an engineer by profession I am generally adept at getting things apart that others cannot but I have also had plenty of disassembly jobs get rather more involved than they needed to be once it became clear what the "secret" was. My enquiry was just in case anybody out there knew of any such simple trick. ]

No problem -- If it's a rental why can't you just get someone out to fix it? Or just live with it as is? If the damage builds up and causes structual damage then I'd imagine the landord could be sued for dangerous accomondation (or something along those lines).

 

[EalingBadger]

No problem -- If it's a rental why can't you just get someone out to fix it? Or just live with it as is? If the damage builds up and causes structual damage then I'd imagine the landord could be sued for dangerous accomondation (or something along those lines).

I am the landlord - which is why I am trying to do something about it.

 

[Mairin]

I am the landlord - which is why I am trying to do something about it.

Hi, I'm wondering did anyone actually answer your question or did you manage it yourself?
I'm in the same boat - just want to remove doors but not the frame..
I know your post is a couple of years old but maybe you can help me?
Thanks!