Recessed soap dish- removal

It may have been embedded in plaster of paris

You might have to break it out

Charlie

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We are replacing the wallpaper and need to remove the recessed combo soap dish/cup holder. It's not on tile, it's mounted to regular drywall. It is slightly loose in the wall, so the caulk behind it has released, but there is still something holding it in. There are no screws. Can this be reused, or is pulling it from the wall going to destroy whatever bracket is holding it in place?

Help?

Did you look underneath it for a tiny set screw? It could be really tiny.

No, there are no screws. This is a solid chrome plated insert. There are rivets holding the cup-holder onto the fixture, but it's loose enough to see the rivets have nothing to do with the wall attachment. There is definately something inside the wall holding this.

Thanks

Yes, you had said that. Is there something special about this soap dish? Seems to me that whatever is holding it in has loosened since there is a gap now. Isn't that a problem if you plan to reinstall it? Since you said there are no screws, how would you tighten it up to the wall?

I'd asked if you have to remove it if all you want to do is redo the wallpaper. Is there some reason that that wouldn't work?

I understand your description, but how can anyone actually know exactly what you have? There must be literally hundreds of different soap dishes manufactured over the years. The standard way to attach anything of that sort, if it's not held in place with plaster like a tile soap dish (unlikely with a chrome dish), is to have some small screws that engage clips as someone else mentioned. If there are no screws, and no obvious way to remove it, it may have been intended as a permanent installation - there could be some sort of spring clips holding it place. I think that is a little unlikely, but it's possible.

Post a picture of it on one of those free sites and post the link here. Maybe taking a look at it will help identify it and the attachment method.

Thanks for the responses. To answer all the questions,

Charlie: No, it's not embedded in plaster of paris. As I said, it is slightly loose inside the wall, but something inside the wall is keeping it from coming out.

RicodJour: I asked if this can be reused, so yes, I want to put it back.

Does anybody actually know what is holding this in? Does anybody actually know the real steps to remove it?

KISS It very well could be a spring loaded tabs that are holding it in place. You know the type with bent sheetmetal tabs that fit in the hole and spring outward to make a nice compression fit. Give it a firm tug and see if it gives any headway

Personnally I still think there is a tiny set screw that he is missing. It happened to me once. I almost ripped a hole in the wall before finding the screw. And normally I am good at this type of thing.

They laughed when I said plaster of paris

Charlie

Turns out, there are 2 perforated tabs on the back that run the length, top to bottom. When installed, a massive amount of thick plaster is molded all over the back of the soap dish and squooshed (yeh, squooshed) into the wall. The plaster mushes out and sticks to the back side of the drywall. Some of it had broken off over time, so the fixture was loose in the hole, but enough was still in place to keep it from falling out. A good swift yank, and it shattered, and the soap dish came out, good as new.

Sorry Art, no screw.

Thanks folks.

And a most humbled tip-o-the-wrench to you for being correct.

PME

I've heard that before many times. I've learned not to be disappointed.

ROTFLMAO!

Jeff

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Here’s a picture, no screws to remove

Judging from the condition of it and the 1950s tile, it may be just as easy to renovate the entire bathroom. It may be set in place with the tile cement.

What is the purpose of the 2 small nubs near the bottom? Tile looks ok considering.

I don't know about metal soap dishes, but it's seems like it would work the same as ceramic ones.

I removed a recessed soap dish many years ago. 1956 house, probably original tile wall. The way they are installed is as often as follows:

The mortar will cure as one big mass and the material behind the wall surface will lock it in place. (It's similar to how a plaster and lath wall works. The plaster ends up behind the lath and holds the surface material in place.)

To remove the soap dish, I removed the tile around the opening and cut out the wall board. The soap dish came out with the wall board. I could not find matching tile to fill the space, so I bought some tile with a flower pattern on it where the color went well with the original tile. When I was done I had an "accent section" that looked like it had been there since day 1.