I did the exact same thing. I really dislike shower doors. Glad your outcome came out as you wished. Nice job.

I kind of wish I could do this for my shower but it's a full standing shower, not a tub/shower combination.

Yay! Where is the after pic? :)

Seriously? The last photo, with the shower curtain.

great tutorial. shower doors make me feel so claustrophobic when taking a bath.

I've done this, too. Super easy. Biggest shock was all of the mold under the track.

Holy moly, I was just thinking this morning that I was going to submit to Good Questions on this very topic. I am dying to get rid of the shower doors around our tub. I kind of want to smack the person who thought it was a good idea!

I haven't done the investigative work, but what if there IS a screw in the bottom track that penetrates the tub itself? Is there a decent way to repair that hole?

Avoiding this task for 7+ years & now I can do it! Thank you.
Any creative ideas on what to do with the discarded doors?

I've always been curious about this. I strongly dislike the feeling of a wet shower curtain and the idea of leaks on the floor, but I noticed a majority prefers the curtains. Feel like I'm missing out on a wealth of shower curtain benefits. Why is a curtain better? Thank you!

For what it's worth, I squeegee my shower and doors after every use and consider it free exercise :)

I don't care more for the curtain vs. the glass but I do think a curtain is safer. If I fall, I'd rather hit fabric than glass. But I'm perplexed by your description of the shower curtain "feeling"...are you wrapping yourself in the wet shower curtain? I'm just not sure how you strongly dislike something that is meant to contain water, and fulfills its purpose. Do you mean that you don't like leaving it wet after the shower? You could squeegee it just like the shower doors.

Well, thank YOU for planting that particular brain worm! Here I was, in a new house, miserable with that stupid shower door (and missing having a fun shower curtain like crazy), but not even really thinking about it, because, hey-- what are you gonna do? Never mind the perpetually bruised elbows from accidentally trying to widen the space in there every day. One of those problems your brain just tells you to live with because it can't see that there is an easier alternative to ripping out the entire bathroom & starting over.
And now I know. Bless you!

I SO WANT TO DO THIS! My landlord has given me permission to remove the doors but not the frame. I'm stumped. Can I add a tension curtain rod around the frame? adding to the complexity are the floor to celiing tiles so no drilling into the wall. My kid is outgrowing her bathtub and i need to get her in "the big tub" but the doors make half the tub inaccessable to me and therefore unsafe for my daughter (i can't reach her if she's onthe far end of the tub).

Mine was very easy to remove, just as described in the post (e.g., the only screws were on the side rails). The caulk is easy to scrape off, if needed. I was worried about leaks on the floor, too, but I haven't had any issues with a shower curtain and a liner. A big plus is that the tub is way easier to clean with a curtain. And like I said, the mold . . . the bottom track often has drain holes in it that traps water beneath it. Ugh.

I did this when I bought my house. I have a step in shower that had the sliding doors on it, and the doors rested on a marble slab (like the ones on the bottom of windows here in FL). So, it required a little bit of sanding and buffing the marble because it had pitted. But, it was really easy and I sold the doors on craigslist for $40!

I don't find keeping the doors clean difficult, I find keeping the creases and crevasses around it clean incredibly difficult -- and I hate having to get inside the tub to clean it.

Real Talk: I had shower doors and one slid off the track and fell into the tub and the door was so heavy it completely removed my housemate's toenail. Utter chaos! The other door then fell into the room and then the metal frame collapsed onto him as well. SO. I'm sure you can guess how I feel about those clunky and dated eyesores.

Wally's right, wet shower curtains are gross, even if you're not wrapping yourself in them. My apartment features an old claw-foot bathtub. The shower curtain wraps all the way around the tub, held up by an awful metal oval that the landlord obviously installed himself. The curtain gets a bit claustrophobic, and there's no way to avoid touching it while lathering up. Especially if we leave the window open for ventilation; the cool air coming in makes the curtain billow into the shower more.
You get used to it, but it'd be nice if the curtain bar was wider or something to keep it further away. At least we got rid of the old tenant's musty moldy liner...

Also, I'm not really sure how I would go about squeegeeing a shower curtain like this. Pretty sure one good tug would bring the whole support system down from the ceiling, but even if it was sturdy, plastic shower-curtain-liner fabric doesn't lay flat and smooth while you try to run a squeegee down it. I suppose I could use a towel instead.

I love my tub, and I'm glad it has a shower, and I like shower curtains, but I'm just sayin'. I see Wally's point.

Oh Wow we totally did this a few months ago:
http://myfirstpad.wordpress.com/tag/the-scary-bathroom-project/

For very different reasons though. I was redoing my bathroom and the previous owners had done everything gold in the 70s, I couldn't afford to get new shower doors (those things are expensive) so I had the bright idea to just scrap the current gold doors and put in a curtain (much more affordable). It is much easier to keep clean and I feel more sanitary, however the doors above look really good so I cant imagine wanting to change them. Like I said I wanted doors, but I was on a budget. I didnt get caulk remover, just a little WD40 and took an afternoon of scrapping. Also rather than use a silicone plug we bought these little plastic caps (white to match the tiles) and inserted them in the screw holes. That way it is easy if I ever want doors again or if the next owner wants doors. It was so easy and turned out so good, I am so glad I thought of it because I was going to end up with a beautiful new bathroom and gold shower doors.

My mom did this a few years ago to the bathroom in my childhood home and it made such a huge diffrence! I highly recommend taking the doors off to anyone considering it! Curtains are so much easier to keep clean and you can easily swap them out whenever you get bored!

Shower enclosures can get in the way in a small space. They are also difficult to clean and keep clean. They also make it harder to clean the tub. I use shower curtain liners and replace them when they get UGLY. They are about $8 at Target, because I get the ones with the metal grommets. And I have a nice white cotton pucker weave washable shower curtain from Target. Not top of the line, but it looks great. So far, I have not had any problems with water "leaking" out onto the floor. I just have to be careful to put the curtain close to the walls before showering. Mine have magnets that "attach" to the tub.

Bagelsmom--
We are renters as well, and with two small children (1 and 3), giving them baths around a glass door was a nightmare. But, it was so easy to just pop the doors right off their track and also remove the top bar. There is still a track on the wall and the tub, but I don't even notice it any more. (plus, the shower curtain hides it when closed). When we move out, we can just pop the doors right back on and nobody will know the difference.

Can we see an after pic that includes the tub sides, rather than just the new shower curtain bar?

Looks like a very satisfying facelift!

Pi--
This can be done with a standing shower. You just need to find an extra long curtain.

This seems like a step backwards. I miss doors at my current place. They're not that hard to keep clean and there are other PITA issues with small kids besides bathing (that they'll outgrow in time).

We removed sliding tub/shower doors, tried to live with a shower curtain for a few months, but eventually had new glass doors re-installed.
As serious hot shower lovers, the curtain never held in as much relaxing steam as the doors, and since we used the lightweight liner like you, we needed small round magnets to secure it to the tub - yet it still billowed in while we showered and made the whole experience very claustrophobic....

I know someone who had same sliding doors on the tub that she removed & replaced with curtains. It really helps when you have little kids to bathe & cleaning since the doors limit your movement.
I like curtains for combo tub/shower but for very small shower stalls they do seem to billow against you all the time...and, the mildew free liners still got mildew...we have a trackless door now but unfortunately, they are $$...we do squeegie door/tiles after showers.

Unf, I don't have doors above a tub, but rather a *lovely* gold full frame on two sides. Has anyone found a way to turn the gold to silver? I've seriously considered taping off and spray painting, but wasn't sure 1. it'd be worth the effort, or 2. that it'd withstand daily use and not flake off. Anyone?

Oh how I hate most shower doors! One of the first things I did when moving in with my (now) husband. He couldn't understand why I wanted to rip them out immediately...... until he saw the grossness that had grown under the track! They've improved a bit in the last few years ----- a new track system that does not hold water, but unless they are kept clean...... ugh!

A shower curtain liner can be washed in a washer with old towels & some bleach to disinfect (don't put it in the dryer!). I've had the same 'heavy duty' liner for quite some time. Using one of those after shower sprays on the curtain each time really helps as well.

For the person with the claw foot tub & billowing curtains ----the tub is likely metal under the enamel so if you use strong magnets to hold the curtain in place, it should help.

I do not agree with this approach. I do not particularly like shower curtains.

1. I don't like getting in a shower and having the curtain billow around me, creating cold air drafts and sticking to my body. This problem is not usually remedied by a curved shower rod.

2, I hate constantly having to make sure the curtain sticks to the end walls and sides of the tub to prevent water spray on the floor.

3. I don't like worrying about whether wet shower curtains are hanging properly inside the tub so that during or after the shower, the water drains into the tub and not on the floor.

4. I don't like disassembling, washing, then rehanging shower curtains.

If the shower doors are that offensive, burdensome or obtrusive to the bathroom, consider replacing them with frameless, clear glass, bottom-trackless, shower doors. If access is a problem, replace the doors with accordion or slide-swing doors, again with clear glass. You'd be surprised at how much a clear glass door changes the room, especially in comparison to the semi-transparent doors.

If you're that in love with shower curtains, use them to frame the shower doors like window curtains. In fact, consider using actual window curtains to frame the shower.

Glass doors aren't just annoying - they're a serious safety hazard if you have a very small but very squirmy child. The only way I can really bathe my 10 month old safely is by hopping in the tub too, which isn't all that convenient.

Doors are lovely for keeping steam in, but I'm pulling mine out as soon as I get a free afternoon. After all, installing new doors isn't that hard. I might even keep the doors down in the basement if I can find the room, and then replacing them in the future will be free!

When I lived in a rental I had these kind of doors and to cover their ugliness I just hung a rod with a curtain on the outside, which allowed me to still have the bar for my towel and a clear plastic on the inside, which kept the track and doors clean. When I moved out all I had to do was clean the tub, do a once over on the doors and everything sparkled and no icky grime to clean out of the tracks. Win-win situation.

ha! :) I'm actually installing bathtub shower doors sometime this week. We're at the end of a bathroom reno and my husband and I both dislike how small the room looks with a shower curtain.

These are the doors we're installing. They do however have a fixed pane of glass so yes you do have to get intot he tub when cleaning and it would be harder for those with kids. However they look fantastic and for $600 they're half the price of custom glass doors.

Not my bathroom:

http://www.maax.com/~/media/Images/Products/Horizontal/Door-HaloTub-1.jpg?mh=419&sc=1

Top Rollers:

http://www.maax.com/~/media/Images/Products/Horizontal/Door-HaloTub-3.jpg?mh=419&sc=1

Handle/side frame:

http://www.maax.com/~/media/Images/Products/Horizontal/Door-HaloTub-4.jpg?mh=419&sc=1

There's a huge difference between having doors on a bathtub and doors on a shower.

Doors on a tub are a nuisance. The tub already places an obstacle (i.e., the side) between you and your shower. Why would you want a second obstacle in the form of glass doors? (Corollary: I hate most bathtubs.)

Doors on a shower stall --the right doors, that is, with minimal, easy-to-clean tracks -- can be gorgeous. I had clear semi-frameless doors installed in my new shower and it opens up the space mush more than curtains ever would. Much cleaner, too.

I live in a rental with a separate tub and standing shower. The doors on the shower are impossible to keep clean the way I'd like them to be, but I can't remove them. So, I went out and bought a rod and curtain and put them up in front of the doors to hide them. It makes the bathroom look so much prettier and I can live with the crappy doors when I shower. I just have to clean them all the time.

I do think curtains look better than doors and stay cleaner. If your curtain gets cruddy, you can always throw it out and buy another one.

I have shower doors in my rental apartment. I put a decorative shower curtain in front of the doors so you can't tell that there is an ugly metal door behind the curtain. The doors function as the curtain liner. It's a nice compromise.

I do agree that it stinks when you have a shower curtain that billows around you, though I think you just need to spend more on a heavy duty liner with more weight. Last place I lived only had a curtain and the liner was heavy enough that it didn't attack the showerer.

@wally3: The reason for my preference of a shower curtain is that it can be tied completely out of the way for taking baths. The tracks of shower doors are difficult to get clean....if you look closely, they're often grimy. Ew. Plus I have little kids and doors just get in the way, or pinch fingers. I also like that I can clean my fabric shower curtain liner in the washing machine and hang it right back up.

Aww I love taking showers with doors like that. It always feels so bright in there without a curtain cutting off most of the light. That said, I do agree that they are super hella ugly, but I don't understand how people feel clausterphobic in them!

I'm in a rental and we have the shower doors and I hate them. They take up unnecessary space and I have yet to take a bath because it's so tight in there. How can one take a bath without draping your arm over the side of the tub. Anywho, as a small concession, I put up a tension rod so that I could at least have a fun curtain in front of the ugly thing when it's not in use.

I switched and will never go back to shower doors. I use a clear plastic liner, and a very sheer Martha Stewart fabric curtain and it really opened up the space and allowed more light into the bath tub area. I also bought these hooks so it's easy to wash and replace either curtain without having to take everything off the rod.

http://www.amazon.com/Maytex-Mills-Double-Shower-Brushed/dp/B0042ZB1YI/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1361908234&sr=8-4&keywords=shower+curtain+hooks

Thanks for this post. I've been wanting to do this for a few years now.

Shower doors, like wall-to-wall carpeting and vertical blinds, are a landlord's most effective way of torturing and humiliating tenants. Renters, fight back!

Trig, you could sew curtain weights or coins to the bottom of your shower curtain. That will keep it from billowing into the tub when your window is open.

When I bought my house, the building inspector made the seller remove the glass doors with wire (looked like chicken wire) embedded in the glass. He said they were illegal because if you were to fall against and break the glass and then slide down the wire while falling, you could be killed. I like my pretty shower curtain.

Thanks for the idea of using silicone caulk to fill in the holes in the tile. I still have a few screw holes and now I know what to do about them.

Yes! We finally did this in our apartment about a month ago with permission from the super. I haaaated those bathtub doors. Our place had been neglected for awhile and most of the caulking had rotted away, and the tracks of the shower were perennially full of water and therefore mold and mildew. Blech! I also hit my shins on the tracks more than once.

The boyfriend finally decided to just rip them out. We feared there would be damage to the tile underneath and were pleasantly surprised. We also just had a few screw holes to file.

Now we have a fun gray-and-white striped curtain (from West Elm) that makes the bathroom look a thousand times more modern.

One more vote for getting ride of the doors from both a cleaning and safety issue. A friend of my parents was severely scalded in a shower when the cold water went off and he couldn't get out of the shower quickly enough. True, it would be a rare occurrence with today's default water heater settings - but overriding those settings is one of the most common changes.

Why are people trying to defend their position or convince others they're "wrong" in their preference? So silly. @John H - I don't like the doors. I do love shower curtains. If you like the doors, great! You have them in your house.

This project came out great and it's something I would also do if I were presented with a tub with shower doors. Nice job :)

Living in Arizona, i removed the sliding door to our shower, because scorpions were always hiding in the tracks. Now with showers curtains you can change colors all the time. Unfortunately, I still find scorpions

Ewwwwwwwe...

@vix vax dead right. I dislike the doors and love the curtains. I also prefer showers I haven't had a bath since 1984 when we moved into a house with both bath and shower rooms. Everytime we've moved since then we've gone for showers.

Cool post, I hated our shower doors too once we had a baby to wash in the tub... it was way too uncomfortable to lean over the track for an extended time. Putting a towel over the side helped but it would fall off as I jostled around. We're lucky now to have a place with tubs of both kinds. The one thing I like doors for is the rare need to wash a filthy cat... you just stand in there with them, and the doors keep them trapped so they barely even try to escape or resist, and you have an easy wash.

I'm with @rosekraft. I hate shower curtains, and tossing liners every few months as they mildew is very un-ecological. I have a standing shower (kind of small, but works for me) and I squeegee the door and walls after every shower, and rarely have to clean it further. Chose a door with a textured pattern (on the outside -- the inside is smooth) that I liked, and would never go to a curtain, no matter how pretty/cute. I hang art in my bathroom and towels can add more color if I want it. To each his own, but there is a case to be made FOR doors, as well...

I did this when my elderly father came to live with us so that he could get in and out of the shower easily. Once he passed on, I bought new doors and put them back. I much prefer the doors to the curtain.

Bathroom doors are utterly disgusting. Plain and simple, the nooks and crannies create a breeding space for bacteria. Shower curtains are washable (and disposable)! Replace the curtain and liner as often as you wish. I have a big problem with mold and bacteria- I'm queasy at the sight of it. I've had apartments with both doors and curtains- I just find that curtains are easier to clean and maintain. And in response to the person who said curtains are not environmentally sound....well, you can find them if you look for it. In fact, the shower curtain liner I have is eco friendly, pvc-free, mold resistant and I change it every few months.

Shower curtains are easy to throw in the washer with towels, and some bleach.

Great article! Thanks for posting.

We did this, and were glad of it. One problem we ran into was where the tub was chipped underneath the door. We also found out that one wall was rotted when it pulled off an entire tile section.

I can't believe people still use shower doors and straight shower rods. Use a curved shower rod. Completely elimanates billowing curtains and every having to touch the shower curtain. Doubles your shower space.