wife bought a new vanity, that is 3/4" to high. The back splash of the new sink, will hit the 2 exhisting soap dishes…is there a way to trim the tiled dishes without having to cut the bottom of the vanity
yes
you could remove the soap dishes and cut them with a tile saw. for a small job like this you could use a blade that would fit into a hand hacksaw.
you could cut the dishes in place with a fine abrasive blade in a small power tool. you will need eye protection due to dust and flying bits. if you had room to maneuver and a steady hand you could try an abrasive blade in a small rotary tool. these blades will break easily with a loud sound and fly around.
removing will be easiest and give the best edge.
trim the dishes back far enough to allow a bead of caulk.
Welcome to the board, Noopie. Since you’re looking for some advice, I’m moving your post to the In My Humble Opinion forum from About This Message Board.
That’s a lot to cut out of a soap dish. A picture would help. I’m guessing you’re referring to the base that is glued to the wall? It’s usually about 2 inches tall with the soap tray centered in the middle.
Are you talking about a surface mount soap dish? It can easily be taken off and installed higher.
A soap dish that is set into wall tile is a bigger problem.
You can try removing the soap dish. But it may break. They are usually adhered with tile mastic or sometimes thin-set. If it breaks then I’d suggest getting two new wall tiles and patching the tile. You probably will need to get the tile cut to fit. Tile stores sometimes will cut tile for you. Glue it on with mastic.
Then buy a couple surface mount soap dishes. Mount them above the new vanity.
Does the vanity have legs? You could possibly trim those more easily than the tile.
Alternately, if it’s a granite top vanity, you could either remove the backsplash portion entirely, or remove it and have a granite fabricator trim it down. (Probably not the cheapest option.)
You’re probably going to break any ceramic soap dish trying to get it off the wall. One other option is to chip out the soap dish and the tiles in that row, and replace them with some accent tiles, like this whole thing was on purpose.
If there is room to cut it you can do it with a 4" mason saw blade on a grinder ($40 to $50 at harbor freight). It doesn’t have to be pretty because you won’t see it. You might end up cutting the tiles on either side. A dremel with the disposable cutting discs would work and allow you to be more precise. Also, a vibrator saw with a grout blade might be the best route to try first.
cut out the grout first around the bottom of the soap dish.
I’ve recently cut some tile pieces when installing a new vanity in a bathroom.
Used a Dremel with a better quality cutting disc. Cut out most of the material from the backside. Scored the front with a glass cutter. Then finished cutting. I practiced first on a scrap piece.
Yes! meant to mention scoring the back side. Basically this is how a tile cutter works. You score it on one side and put even pressure across the line. You could also rent a wet saw and make yourself a pretty cut with no fuss.