I have a fiberglass shower that I'm trying to remove, but I don't know where start. There are two parts to this shower, the base and the wall.

There are two knobs (hot/cold), they each have a screw in the middle that I have unscrewed, but they are still not coming off.

We are going to move this from home improvement to plumbing so the plumbers can chime in. We can take this piece by piece. There is more to your shower than the base, wall and knobs. Look at the pipe coimng out of the wall with the shower head, that comes off too. Lets start by shutting down the main water pipe and opening a faucet to blow off pressure. I am asssuming this unit is going into the dumpster so My solutions ill be a bit destructive. Put the two screws back into the handle stems but only for a few turns, do not tighten. Put a pry bar under the handle and pry outward as you strike the screw with a mallet or hammer. You may need to do this more than once and work around in a circle, not just one side. When you get the handles off come back and tell us what your see after removing the escutcheon plate behind the handles. In the meantime start locating a reciprocating saw; borrow, buy or rent.

Toolbeltgirl... do you have a shower door.. And what floor is this on..

No shower door, and it's on the second floor.

Cool... like Ballengerb1 said... it is all about the sawzall now ;)

First, loosen the plaster around the entire edge/flange of the shower unit and remove all screws or nails in the flange (flange is about 1.5 inches tall around whole shower covered by tile or plaster.. so need to remove this out of way to remove nails/screws).

Then, shut off water to shower and cut holes around the shower valve and the shower drain... will bounce and make lots of noise so I stand on drain with one foot as I cut around the drain (so pipe will not vibrate and break further away from the drain then you want it too). PLEASE BE CAREFUL NOT TO CUT TOO DEEP... ESPECIALLY AROUND THE WATER PIPES... the shower wall is probably not more then an 1/8"-1/4" think so just use the tip of the blade!! (and wear goggles! )

Then you start to cut each piece (top and bottom) into pieces ( I cut each into 2 or 3 pieces).. here, again... do not cut too deep or you will end up cutting into the next room.. or maybe even some wires that may be on walls of the other rooms behind shower walls. Then you will need to disconnect the drain itself from the shower strainer... may just want to sawzall out the p-trap altogether so you can install new p-trap and strainer assembly. Then remove shower valve and temporarily cap the lines (plug or cap waste line too as sewer gases are very bad and construction debris can fall in.).

That should pretty much do it. Hey let me and Ballengerb1 know how this is going for you... we are glad to help... and I am sure there a few others that will be glad to join in and help as well!!

PS... if you are going to install a new fiberglass or acrylic shower unit you will be happier with installation if you set the new base in a structolite gypsum base (or plaster) then if you just set unit on floor!

Toolgirl, if you get to the removal point and we are on line be sure to kill the power in much of the house and use an extension cord on the saw. Too many folks clip wires by accident. I use a short wrecking blade that has teeth on 3 sides, its about 3" long and 1" wide. MASS mentions the new shower base needs a bed of material so it won't creek and click, I have ben using modified thinset tile mortar and it works great too.

Thank you for your help! I'm starting the removal this afternoon. And I'll let you know how it goes.

I do have an additional issue! The last owners had a subfloor installed on top of a rotten sub floor. Both sub floor were rotten, I'm afraid of what is going to be underneath the shower base.

I'm having the whole bathroom tiled, including the shower (I will leave this to the professionals). I know there is water proof dry wall, which I'm intending on instaling once the fiberglass showr is removed, but I'm not sure if there is a specific subflooring that is water proff, or if I shoulg apply something to it to make it water proof? Thanks

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wrecking blade that has teeth on 3 sides

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Very interesting . Could you show that.

As I understand it you will be installing a custom tile shower. You do realize that the rotton sub floor will have to be replaced before you can start work on the new shower don't you? Will you be any of the plumbing yourself? Do you need instructions on how to install the shower pan and flange type shower drain? If so give us all the details such as the material the pipes are made of. At this time I would consider replacing the shower valve, (you may keep the shower raiser and drop eared ell ) Let us know what you wish to do and how we can help you do it. Regards, Tom

I think the saw blade may be called the Xtreme Aggressor but can't find a pic on the net. Toolgirl, a great waterproof sub floor is made by the James Hardie Company called Hardiebacker. Looks a bit like drywall but twice as dense and heavy, 1/4" for flooring and 1/2" for walls. If you go with this be sure to buy their spoecial screws.

I intend to leave the handles and drain in the same place. Do I still need to have a plumber come over?

One more time! Will you be doing the work yourself?

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Do you need instructions on how to install the shower pan and flange type shower drain? If so give us all the details such as the material the pipes are made of.

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You may leave the shower valve if you wish but the drain will have to be changed if you wish a custom tile shower. Regards, Tom

Toolbeltgirl, I am just a bit confused but are you going to try to reuse the base of the old shower and just add new tile walls. You can leave the shower head pipe in the same spot but you need to unscrew it from the elbow behind the wall. Try a web wrench or a pair of channel lock plyers but wrap the chrome tube with 10 wraps of duct tape or one wrap of rubber membrane, like an inner tube.

Ok! Shower is out, sub floor replaced; waterproof drywall up, I even replaced the shower handle that was broken (a little plumbing). All is left to do is prime the drywall and have the guys put in the tile.

I feel so empowered, I want to do the whole house now! Thank you for all your responses. I will post a picture when the whole thing is completed, too bad I forgot to take a “before picture”.

PS. Once the bathroom is ready I’m putting a new toilet in. Any advice? Thanks again.

Wish we had talked about this last week. What exactly do you mean by "waterproof drywall " We do not use drywall inside showers, don't even use green board any more since most all papered gypsum board will break down and mold if it gets wet. Had you asked I would have directed you to Wonderboard or Hardiebacker. Regarding the toilet, is the old flange in good enough shape and how does it compare with the finished surface of you new flooring?

I did put in the green dry wall. The tile people told me that was what I should use. Because it's a 8 by 6 bathroom, I used it on the whole thing.

Is there something I should do to prevent the mold. That is the last thing that I need!

In regards to the toylet. The metal part where the whole is seems pretty rusty, the sub floor was damaged due to a toilet leak. Should I have a plumber come and replace it with a newer one?

Hey toolbelt girl... I've been following the thread... I see you are in good hands.:rolleyes:...

Anyway just wanted to shout out a large agreement with Ballenger on that cement board around the shower!

I know you won't like it... but if I were you I would remove that green drywall in the shower area. At the very least you must remove the bottom layer of green board around the base of the shower and replace that with cement board. It is only a few pieces to be removed and I promise you --->> You will not regret it.

Green board wicks and rots and molds develop... bad for around any shower perimeter that will be tiled... period! Anyway, I know Ballenger will have more to say... so I am out... but wanted you to hear it from another remodeler/plumber... Green board not for shower. Sorry.

Greenboard is not for behind shower ceramic and the tile people steered you wrong. Take a minute and read this Installing Drywall In Wet Locations It may last 5, 10 maybe 15 years, who knows but if I walked into a job and saw that greenboard was in the shower I would rip it out and install Hardiebacker. That metal part is called a flange and it has two slotted grooves on the left and right. Your mounting bolts drop into this groove and then slide so they are 100% parallel to the back wall. If the grooves are intact and the bolts will snig up it should be fine. I thought you said the subfloor was replaced so I am just wondering how the top surface of the new tile matches with the top surface of the flange, arethey level to each other or is one lower than the other?

Are you talking about the flange that is at the bottom of the shower?

Would it be OK, if I romoved only the first 3ft around the shower, and leave the remainder of the green dry wall.

Also the wonderboard looks kind of hard to cut it, do you install it with nails or screws.

The tile guys are building a cement border for the shower (on the floor). Should they do something different?

No no, the flange is the rusty thing under the toilet. No, I would rip out all the drywall that would be covered by ceramic. Greenboard is OK for damp installation and places that can get wet once in a while but not inside the shower itself. The tile guys are building a shower pan from scratch. If they know what they are doiung and use a membrane it should be ideal. I hate that job so I use redi-made fiberglass pans made by Swanstone or others.