How to Fix a Soap Dish in a Shower
Showers are a time-saving convenience for people to get clean and refreshed. There are times when the shower may need some TLC. For instance, the soap dish may become loose and from the wall if it is used as leverage to get in and out of the tub. Luckily this can be a relatively simple DIY fix. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Hammer
- Chisel
- Replacement tile
- Rubber stopper
- Newspaper
- Painter's tape
- Thinset mix
- Paint stirrer
- Putty knife
- Grout
- Silicone adhesive
- New soap dish (optional)
Instructions
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1
Hammer the tip of a chisel into the grouted edging of the tile that supports the loose dish. Pry the tile loose and take it with you to a hardware or home improvement store to help match the new tile square to the current tile. This may prove to be the most difficult step, as finding an exact match, which may vary by manufacturer or manufacturing process, can be like finding the proverbial "needle in the haystack."
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2
Place a rubber stopper over the drain in the shower once you're ready to begin work and you've procured a replacement tile. Cover the bottom and sides of the tub (or shower floor if your shower is standing only) with generous amounts of newspaper to prevent accidentally scratching the tub or floor. Secure the paper with painter's tape to keep it in place.
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3
Chisel the interior of the space where the loose tile was sitting, allowing the old cement underneath to crumble and fall onto the newspaper. Chisel away until you reach more solid concrete in the wall, and chisel enough of the cement away until the wall surface in the space is relatively even.
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4
Add half the amount of water suggested on the thinset's packaging and stir vigorously with a paint stirrer. The mix will be thick like cake batter; if it's too thick, keep adding teaspoons of water until you reach that batter-like consistency. Use the putty knife to fill the vacant space until the mix is even with the other tile on the wall. Press the new tile in place and press down firmly. Wipe any thinset that oozes from around the edges.
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5
Allow the thinset to cure for at least 24 hours. Once dry, apply a bead of grout around the tile to waterproof the thinset underneath the tile. Place the soap dish, either the old one or a new one, against the new tile. Make sure it's level before applying a bead of silicone around the base of the dish to secure it in place. Allow several hours for it to dry before removing the newspaper and placing soap in the dish.
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Tips & Warnings
For showers that feature soap dishes molded as part of the tile, follow the above steps to attach the tile in place. There's no need to purchase or use the silicone adhesive since the grout and thinset will be enough to secure the dish tile in place.
References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
