Sunrise Specialty » How to Remove Shower Doors? (Step-by-Step Tutorial)

How to Remove Shower Doors? (Step-by-Step Tutorial)

Have you thought of swapping your old shower doors for a fine silky curtain yet? Surely, Curtains will be a great alternative since it doesn’t require much space and they are much easier to maintain.

Several things might push you to want you do complete removal of the door. Either the door is looking unpleasant due to a lot of moisture, defects on the door, or maybe you just need an easy entrance into your shower space.

If you have had this above-mentioned problem or thought then you might be looking for ways on how to remove shower door in your bathroom. Not to worry we’ll provide you a step by step guide on how to remove both sliding and swinging doors.

Tools You Would Require To Remove Shower Doors

If we are in the same category as Do It Yourself kind of people, then you should get acquainted with these tools and material. You could get them from a close neighborhood home improvement shop. Tools and material include:

  • Service Knife
  • Caulk Gun
  • Caulk Remover/ softener
  • Silicone Caulk
  • Screwdriver
  • Synthetic scraper
  • Curtain pole for shower
  • Curtain fastener for shower
  • Curtains for shower

How To Remove Shower Doors

Step 1: Slide Door Removal

It’s no hard task to take out a sliding door from its bracket as it doesn’t take much to unhinge. The thread beneath is created with aluminum and it has two unequal ends with the first longer than the second. The thread above the door has a roller wheels that enable it to glide and it’s normally on the bathroom side.

Take Out the Gliding Shower Door

Procedure on how to remove a sliding shower door is quite clear and straightforward. First, check out the thread beneath the frame. This has two ends, the one is facing the bathroom is smaller compared to the first.  Then find the framework beneath it and unscrew the nuts that keep it in position, and then locate the thread wheels that enable the doors to glide.

You should have your textured gloves on to help get a better hold of the glass door. When you’ve detached the thread wheels, pull the door nearest to you from both ends and thrust it up strongly. You must have detached the door from the thread, just bend with the lowermost angle to extract it from the frame.

Take Down the Standing Door

There should be an immovable door which has a totally different removal technique to the gliding door. The caulking that holds the door is located at the wall side, so all you need to do is just loose it with your caulk remover. Then glide the door to the empty area of the tread and off it goes!

You should be cautious to get a grip firm enough on the door after you have removed the caulking so that it doesn’t slip off your hands. Make sure your texture gloves are still on as this will aid in grasping.

Step 2: How to Evacuate Swinging Doors

Remove a Swinging Shower Door

Hinges hold swinging doors in position to make it easy to unfold and shut. You should be in the shower space for you to able to detach this door as the hinges are fixed in that end. You need a screwdriver to loosen the screw that attaches it to the iron framework.

We’ll recommend that you get a good grip on the door when unhinging it so that it doesn’t drops off and damage in the floor in the process. Peel off the lower hinge before the upper hinge to enable you to retain an extent of constraint on the unattached door. With the hinges off the door, you can carefully lay it on the floor.

Step 3: Take down the Immovable Glass Door

Remove the Stationary Glass

The same methods you employ on how to remove sliding shower doors for cleaning are exactly the steps you take for standing doors. You have to peel off any caulking that will stop you from seeing the nuts, before loosening the nuts with a screwdriver. Easily take down the door after you’ve loosened the nuts by gliding it over to the open area.

Step 4: Take down the Aluminum Framework

When you want to repair a cracked or shattered glass shower door, it will require that you take down the aluminum framework. This is done after you have detached both doors from the holding tread. You can’t just install new glass doors without taking down the framework that fastened the previous ones in position.

The framework is tightened to the wall using a caulk so you could just pull it out simply with a caulk softener. Various companies manufacture these caulk softeners or removers but they all have the same application method.

Sprinkle the softener directly to the caulk, smear evenly with a paintbrush, and allow it to sit for 30 to 45 minutes.

Press the utility knife into the middle of the iron and the glass and glide back and forth on the rims. This is to separate the frame from the glue used, carry out this out on the two sides of the rim. Hit the plastic hammer on the iron easily so that it releases the glass then drag out the aluminum frame.

Step 5: Takedown All the Frameworks and Top Rail

Remove Side Frames

Most times, the upper section of the frame is not usually fused into the other part which makes it very simple to detach. Give the rail a good shove so that it disconnects; if you’re using hands make sure you wear your gloves so that you don’t injure yourself.

Glide your utility knife down in the middle of the wall and the frame so you can take down the wall frame from the two sides. Use the plastic hammer to slam against the two sides of the frame to loosen the caulk, then drag gently of the wall.

Take Down the Lower Frames

Do this to take out the bacterial growth beneath the lower frames, detach rail and push the door

Step 6: Peel off Any Residual Caulk

Remove Any Remaining Caulk

Any Leftover caulk will be simple to peel off so far the rails are not there again. Apply enough caulk removers on it and allow for some time so that it can soften. Then scrape it out using the plastic scraper gently.

This procedure requires a little bit of tolerance for the softening period.

Step 7: Cover the Openings on the Walls

You can do this either by plopping a unique type of spike into the openings or with silicone chalk that fits your tiles. The second option guarantees a better look than the first.

Also, ensure that you remove any rubber anchors in the openings, and then clean out excess silicone with spoilt debit card. You can make use of a pointed pair of pliers for the anchor removal.

Step 8: Hang the curtains

Install Your Shower Curtain

There are various purposes for using a curtain, for instance. For one, curtains are simpler to preserve and retain in good shape. It makes your shower look spacious, convenient for children and allows you the freedom to choose from assorted.

Calculate the length and expanse of your shower door, then hang the matching curtain poles and attach bands to your curtains. Ring up the bands jointly and hang the band rings on the curtain poles. Ensure you position the curtain liner on the side of the shower and hang the curtain on the other side.

Wrap Up

This how-to remove shower door bottom guide not only tells us how to remove old shower doors but also install curtains. Shower doors are good but reduce your shower space and so are mostly replaced with a curtain. I’m sure these eight steps did justice to how to remove shower door tracks and frames, but don’t forget to:

  • Wear texture gloves to prevent wound
  • Exercise little patience with the caulk soften
  • Always be cautious with the glass doors so it doesn’t shatter
  • Clean up your workspace after the process

Have any questions? Hit us with them in the comment section.