Removing shower screen

[Gorners]

Hi all, could you help me with th best way to remove this shower screen and wall guides please?

Noticed a leak last couple of days at the bottom left corner coming from under the shower tray. Spent the last hour or so removing the thin layer of tiles under the tray at the front and when testing the water is coming down behind the tray right below where the screen connects to the wall. If you look at picture two I suspect the sealant has failed behind that guide which connects to the wall. I can't resealable this without removing the entire screen I believe.

Which is the best way to remove this, does the screen need to somehow slide out of the two guides and then remove the guide (I cannot see how to do this as the top and bottom 'rails' that connect each side doesn't seem to come off)? Or is it best to remove the 8 or so guide screws (the ones to the right in picture 3) and take the whole thing out completely assembled?

 

[jeff the gasman]

Remove all those chrome caps and the screws beneath them, cut silicone with a craft knife and bobs your uncle.

 

[dilalio]

Because it's a recess, the wall profiles have accessible screws for their removal. You'll probably find that at least one wall profile will need unscrewing from the wall so that it can pivot - the other side can be left in situ, with just the screws hold the profile to the screen removed so that you can slide the screen out of the wall channel on that side: hope that makes sense to you.

|=----------------=|
A~~~~~B~~~~~C

A= left wall profile
B= screen
C= right wall profile

Unscrew C from wall
Unscrew A from B
Unscrew C from B
Slide B towards C
Pivot B around A
Slide C off B
Remove B

 

[Gorners]

That's brilliant guys thanks very much. I'll leave the side without the leak in place and pivot the leak side out and fix. I'd not though of doing that, it will certainly cut down the amount of silicone I need to deal with!

 

[terryplumb]

hi, i think you are going to do a lot of work you don't need to do. the white silicone along the edge of tray to tiles looks as though it needs removing and re sealing ,photo indicates it is lifting.then use clear silicone inside the enclosure ,vertically, between the wall profile and tiling ,continuous bead down to meet tray and along the bottom where metal meets tray up to the "hinge". and up to white silicone. regards terry.

 

[Gorners]

hi, i think you are going to do a lot of work you don't need to do. the white silicone along the edge of tray to tiles looks as though it needs removing and re sealing ,photo indicates it is lifting.then use clear silicone inside the enclosure ,vertically, between the wall profile and tiling ,continuous bead down to meet tray and along the bottom where metal meets tray up to the "hinge". and up to white silicone. regards terry.

Won't that create a channel between the silicone on the outside of the profile and the inside? I thought you were only supposed to silicone the outside and let capillary action do the rest.

 

[rules&rulers]

I thought you were only supposed to silicone the outside and let capillary action do the rest.

In theory YES

in practice NO

Its down to the installer to silicone where appropriate a lot depends on the individual site.

 

[terryplumb]

you have water escaping from INSIDE the enclosure ,before it gets to the outside.so you prevent it. so how does water get into the "chanell" if sealed on the inside ? answer is it can not.that only leaves condensation in there,which is minimal .at the very top of the wall profile I always seal up the hollow channel,usually you get a nice chrome end cap which very often gets left off !! sealing the outside only ,although stated in makers installation guides very often , is flawed in my opinion. they are skilled in manufacturing ,and do not fit them !!!!! anyway try sealing it first ,you may be surprised .

 

[terryplumb]

by the way I have fitted new shower enclosures and found the manufacturers seal between glass and metal to allow water to pass, had to add silicone bead a few times.

 

[Gorners]

you have water escaping from INSIDE the enclosure ,before it gets to the outside.so you prevent it. so how does water get into the "chanell" if sealed on the inside ? answer is it can not

I would have thought water can get in between the screen and the profile where it slots in?

Anyhow I appreciate your opinion on this. I'll take a look tonight and see if the seal is broken next to the profile, and consider sealing up the inside before removing the screen.

 

[terryplumb]

should be a very tight fit ,but again not impossible. clear silicone that too ,you don't need loads , I even silicone where the screws go into the wall and those nice little chrome caps that cover the screw heads.

 

[terryplumb]

any chance of a close up photo of bottom corner outside the enclosure ? the horizontal sealing is usually more important than the vertical as water can " well up " there.

 

[aptsys]

you have water escaping from INSIDE the enclosure ,before it gets to the outside.so you prevent it. so how does water get into the "chanell" if sealed on the inside ? answer is it can not.that only leaves condensation in there,which is minimal .at the very top of the wall profile I always seal up the hollow channel,usually you get a nice chrome end cap which very often gets left off !! sealing the outside only ,although stated in makers installation guides very often , is flawed in my opinion. they are skilled in manufacturing ,and do not fit them !!!!! anyway try sealing it first ,you may be surprised .

Usually between the wall profiles and the screen/door. Ideally you do not want to seal the entire enclosure as water will end up between the front and back seals no matter how hard you try to prevent it. Personally I'd only seal the bottom of the frame at the front as the manufacturers recommend - I've not heard of any cases where this has caused any issues, but am welcome to being enlightened.

 

[terryplumb]

aptsys my friend prepare to be enlightened ,you have not heard of anyone having a problem when the outside only is sealed. well the person who posted this has exactly that. I must deal with at least half a dozen every year ,customers have leaks from shower tray/enclosures .can't remember any where water got between wall plate and screen as they are such a tight fit. most are because the silicone inside has failed ,usually between tile and tray .some because they were badly installed and the primary seal between tray /wall/and wall plate channel had not been done. needless to say there was always a nice bead of silcone on the outside ,doing nothing to stop water getting between the tray and the wall and the wall plate where it meets the tray ,the last one I went to had been leaking so long that 2 inches of the wooden joist below had disintegrated ,together with the floorboard . regards. terry.

 

[jeff the gasman]

aptsys my friend prepare to be enlightened ,you have not heard of anyone having a problem when the outside only is sealed. well the person who posted this has exactly that. I must deal with at least half a dozen every year ,customers have leaks from shower tray/enclosures .can't remember any where water got between wall plate and screen as they are such a tight fit. most are because the silicone inside has failed ,usually between tile and tray .some because they were badly installed and the primary seal between tray /wall/and wall plate channel had not been done. needless to say there was always a nice bead of silcone on the outside ,doing nothing to stop water getting between the tray and the wall and the wall plate where it meets the tray ,the last one I went to had been leaking so long that 2 inches of the wooden joist below had disintegrated ,together with the floorboard . regards. terry.

My findings are the same as yours Terry.