Jeff Cochran wrote in message
...
I have a towel bar in my bathroom that was here when we bought the house.
I
believe it is the builder's standard (the house is approx. 6 years old).
It
is a plastic bar and the holders look to be ceramic squares. They seem
to
be fused somehow to the wall. I really hate it and want to replace it,
but
I am afraid that if I just pull with all my strength, I will take half
the
wall down with me. Does anyone know an easy way to get these standard
towel
bars off the wall without damaging the wall too much? Is it as simple as
pulling up and away, or are they permanently glued on? The same goes for
the toilet paper holders. Please help!

These are usually set with the same mortar or mastic holding the
adjacent tile. You can try scraping the grout from around it, then
carefully prying it loose, but be prepared to do some wall repair as
well as patch the now-missing tile.

Jeff

Towel bars and soap holders are mortared in with thinset (a portland cement
variation) and hold like crazy. Having done quite a few remodelings and
repairs the easiest and best way I found to take out is to break it into
pieces with a hammer. I realize this sounds harsh and drastic but the damage
is actually less this way than a seemingly more civilized methode of cutting
and pulling it off.
Mack