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I have the pictured towel bar that I would like to remove for painting. I am stumped on how to remove it from the wall.

I've inspected for tension screws and found none. I tried to slide it upwards along the wall using my hands to no avail. I've also attempted all manor of twisting, the bar doesn't telescope to allow for removal or anything like that.

I'm left wondering if there's a special removal tool? Or maybe tap it harder upwards with a hammer?

Any advice on removing this is welcome.

Edited to add an image of the backside of this towel bar. Tapping upwards from the bottom with a rubber mallet did the trick.

bracket no tension screws

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rogerdeuce
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  • Are there no small Allen or other screws on the inside aspects of the wall attachments? – Jim Stewart Sep 08 '23 at 23:56
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    Are you able to shift the bar left or right laterally against a spring that would free one end of the bar? Alternatively, possibly the ball elements that hold the bar snap in to the wall attachments and can be pried loose. Once removed there would be a screw inside each wall attachment to remove those. – Jim Stewart Sep 09 '23 at 00:04
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    Was this towel bar painted? If so, whoever did this could have painted over the screw or even puttied or spackled it before painting. – Jim Stewart Sep 09 '23 at 00:15
  • Does the protruding ring in the middle of the wall attachment unscrew? – Jim Stewart Sep 09 '23 at 00:22
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    I know you said you twisted, but did you twist the part closest to the wall? It’s rare, but sometimes those parts thread on to hide screws. – Aloysius Defenestrate Sep 09 '23 at 00:50
  • The set screws are horizontal? Can't say I've ever seen that. They're always on the top or bottom. – Mazura Sep 09 '23 at 20:22

2 Answers2

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I've removed plenty of these on my drywall and painting endeavors!

There are usually two different ways a towel bar could be uninstalled.

Here are two things to check:

Towel Bar Removal Option 1

A lot of towel bars are attached onto a mount on the wall, and then tightened in place with an allen key/wrench. They can be very very small.

towel bar removal

Towel bar Removal Option 2

I placed this one last, because it's important you check for the tiny hex screw first. Last thing I would want is you to try to pull upward on it and damage the drywall.

If you for sure cannot find any type of screw attaching the towel bar, it could be held in place by the specific mount behind it. To try to remove a screwless towel bar, you will have to lightly tap upward from the underside of the towel bar to pop it off.

To understand the removal, the installation is done by screwing two mounts (each side of the towel bar) into the wall. Once this is done, the installer will slide the towel bar in place from the top down. It is held there by the mounts.

isherwood
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DrywallCentral
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0

Try unscrewing the cover. This might bring access to a screw or other way in which the bar was attached.

Failing that, towel bars are cheap, and god invented the angle grinder for a reason.

Cheery
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