After removing the Jacuzzi tub, I was feeling cautiously optimistic about the shower removal… Then my 7-year-old got strep. I went into this knowing I had to juggle my mommy duties with everything else, but it sucks and its hard. It’s also how life works. So between prying and cutting, we made cookies and watched movies. I tried to get good photos, but forgive me if this is not as well documented as some of the other posts.
I tried to remove the shower doors by removing the screws, but a lot of them were rusted and stuck. Bob Vila says you can ” undo even the most stubborn fasteners” with their methods; however, Bob Vila doesn’t have a sick kid at home. I tried everything and eventually got 2 of the doors off. I was over it, so I just broke the final piece with my hammer and vacuumed that glass. My patience was too thin that day and TBH it was kind of fun.
I was ready to get the shower stall out. To figure out where the hell to start, I reference YouTube yet again. I found this helpful video to get me started. One side note… In the video, they do not wear safety gear. I, however, was geared up head to toe. I now knew I needed to expose the flange, remove the nails, and cut it out.
To expose the flange I cut the drywall 1 1/2″ from the exposed edged of the shower walls using a blade/knife thing and removed it using a pry bar and hammer.
It was time consuming trying to leave the rest of the drywall intact, so I had another “screw it” moment and just started hammering. Voila!
I then removed the nails using my trusty ply bar and was ready to start cutting. No… Wait… time for a cookie decorating break.
Ok, now it was time to start cutting… I was scared shitless to use the Sawzall. Its big and VERY powerful, but there is no time like the present. I started in the corner like the video and it was a lot easier to cut through the fiberglass than I thought it would be. Cutting the bottom was a bit harder because I struggled to find the right angle. About 20 attempts and 3 blades later I had done it.
The second wall was much easier to get off, but then I was left with the base. I needed to detach the drain and couldn’t get a good angle to get it with the sawzall. I ended up cutting the bas apart to get as close to the drain as I could.
Again, I couldn’t get the right angle. It was moving a little, so I tried unscrewing it using every tool that was in the garage with no luck. And again, I said “screw it” and just tried to saw through the top. The moment I hit it with the sawzall, it just popped off!
Now I have a huge hole in the wall. I never thought I would be happy about saying that.
Next up Removal of carpet and drywall?