old metal soap dishes--how to install?

9 years ago

I'm fixing up this bathroom and the soapdish was loose so of course I just pulled it out to see what sort of disaster was hiding behind it. It's actually okay back there so the pink bathroom gets another chance.

The dish is the recessed type with a bar that you hope nobody actually uses as a grab bar. Most of these had a plastic insert on the bottom to hold the soap. It overlaps the tile so there is a little wiggle room on size but not a lot. There are new ones as well as new old stock available but they aren't the right size. All the ones I've found have screws to hold them in place; mine has no screws and was just stuck into mortar. It might have originally had some nubs (technical term!) to stick into the wet mortar but they're gone.

Here is a new one without a bar (and if I get a new one I'll skip the bar--too tempting to use!):

Any idea how I can reinstall this thing (after I clean it up as best as I can) or a new one? glue? caulk? The tile it rests on is secure, the mortar it sat in is mostly solid with a bit of crumbling at the back which I guess is to be expected when you fill a hold with mortar and shove in a soap dish. If I can find a replacement that requires screws, there isn't anything to screw into.

Thanks!

Featured Answer

Fori
Original Author

9 years ago

Thanks all! Sounds too easy. :)

Next time it falls out I'll replace it maybe.

Mine might have been grouted once but more recently caulked and at least at some point uncaulked enough for the grabby thingies to get wet enough to disconnect...I just had to go tug on it, didn't I?

Comments (6)

roof35
9 years ago
The type of soap dish (new) you have pictured, comes with a bracket. Best way I can describe the bracket is, it's like a toilet paper holder. You don't screw it into a stud or anything else.
palimpsest
9 years ago
Yes, there is usually a large C shaped clamp/bracket.

Would something from here work as a mortared-in replacement? They have a couple peachy pinks that could work.

Here is a link that might be useful: HCP Industries.
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Fori
Original Author
9 years ago
Oh Pal, I wish those guys made low flow toilets!!

Thanks for the advice. I did find a reference to one similar--it may have had spikes on the back that just got mudded in and held it that way. They're still there, but rusted off. The perfectly molded mud cavity is still there and still solid. I'm not sure I want to start knocking it out to put in a different shaped dish...it might take out the whole wall with my luck. :)
MongoCT
9 years ago
If the molded cavity is still in good shape, silicon it back in place.
Babka NorCal 9b
9 years ago
I thought I already posted to this (uh oh, wonder where that one went???). I have the same exact thing in my 1965 bathroom but the bar has fallen off. Mine also has no screws and looks to have been set right in there with the mortar and grouted along with the tile.

Silicone caulk it back in place.

OBTW, Silicon is used to make computer chips. Silicone (with an "E" is a totally different substance used in caulk, adhesives, and hollywood boobs. ;-)

-Babka