How To Remove A Shower Screen [SOLVED]

At some point in your life, you're likely to have the accident in a shower we all fear - falling a breaking the shower screen. It's not fun, it's embarrassing, and can be dangerous - but it's luckily not the hardest thing to replace or repair. Fraffles is here to help walk you through how exactly how to remove a shower screen in a few simple steps. Keep reading to get all of the details.

How to remove a shower screen? You'll first need to remove the frame and/or door(s), depending on the type of screen you have.

This isn't a super hard project, so this will be a nice, short, and sweet article. Let's get going!

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How to Remove a Shower Screen - Doors & Frame

The first step in removing a shower screen is to remove the door. Depending on if you have a sliding or swinging door, this process will change slightly. Let's start with the more common sliding door, shall we?

Sliding Doors

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This is by far the easiest possible setup that you'll have. If your shower door slides, it's generally held by a thin piece of aluminium that holds the sliding tracks in place. You'll have roller wheels (usually) on the top of the frame.

To remove the sliding door, you'll need to simply grab it on both ends and gently lift it straight up. This will remove the rollers from their track, allowing you to move it a bit more freely. Now, slowly bend back and tilt the shower door out of the enclosure. Depending on how your shower is set up, this may require a bit of finagling, but you'll get it out pretty quickly.

READ NEXT: How to fix a cracked shower tray.

Swinging Doors

The other potential door you may have to deal with is a swinging door (or two). These use hinges to swing open, just like the other doors in your home. To remove a swinging shower door, you'll need to step inside the shower - I know it feels weird to be in there clothed and dry, but it is what it is.

Find the hinges and then remove them by unscrewing their anchoring screws with a screwdriver. Hold the door (or have a friend hold it) while doing this to prevent it from falling when fully disconnected.I recommend removing the bottom one first , as it will give you a bit more control over the door when it fully pulls off. You'll need to do a similar amount of finagling to remove the door(s) from the enclosure, but again, it won't take long to get out.

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Glass Frame

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Now comes the scary bit - removing the glass frame. Most shower enclosures use glass as a barrier, forming a "wall" that runs up to the door. You'll need to inspect this glass frame to find where it's attached to the wall.

Take a utility knife and gently separate the caulking from the wall, being careful not to damage the wall in the process. Next, take your screwdriver and remove the screws that are holding the glass in place. They will often be beneath the caulking, though it depends on the installer and type of shower frame.

Remove the glass frame once it's been disconnected. Again, a friend helps out a lot here. One misstep and you could have shattered glass everywhere ... not that I'm speaking from experience or anything...

Aluminium Frame

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This is the bit that's generally pretty simple and straightforward. The aluminium frame generally wraps around the glass frame for swinging doors or is part of the track for sliding doors. Either way, it needs to go.

To remove the frame, slide your utility knife in between the glass and metal, running it along the full length, separating the frame from the adhesive used to hold it in place. Repeat this along the entire length of the metal frame until the glass easily pulls away. If you're unable to get the glass to pull away, double-check that you've gotten every inch of adhesive separated. It's strong stuff, and even a little bit that's left will hold up your progress.

Occasionally, you'll find vertical frame pieces that will fit into the tub rail. These will either be screwed or caulked into place and will need to be removed to allow you to pull it out. Generally, unscrewing the screws, cutting the caulking, and giving a few gentle taps is enough to remove the frame from its tabs.

Finally, you just pull the frame loose.

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Final Thoughts

Removing a shower screen is generally pretty straightforward, if a little stressful. Any time I have to work with large pieces of glass, my heart goes through my chest - I've broken enough panes to know it's not to be taken lightly. Luckily, assuming you have a friend, this is a pretty simple task, regardless of the style of frame you have in your shower.

If you've got sliding doors, removing the door is as simple as lifting up and finagling it out. Swinging doors with a glass frame are harder, but still easy to remove. These will require a bit of unscrewing and cutting of adhesive and caulking. Luckily, it'll separate pretty quickly once that's done. All that's left after that is to remove your frame and replace it with your desired shower screen.