Help me remove my toilet paper holder!

November 22, 2011 11:29 AM

I need help removing a U shaped toilet paper holder attached to a cabinet in my apartment. Pictures inside!!!

I live in a rented apartment, my toilet paper holder broke and we've been living without one for months. I've decided it's time to be civilized and fix this small problem but I've been cautious about trying to pry it off as I do not want to damage the cabinet it is attached to. If anyone has any advice on how to remove it, it would be greatly appreciated!!!

It is a U shaped toilet paper holder, and the U part no longer stays in the holder, so the holder most go.

I've taken some pictures to better explain:
Front View
Other side of cabinet. In this photo I've measured and drawn dots where the holder is attached on the other side, so I don't believe it is screwed into the cabinet for this reason.
Side View

Thanks!

posted by devonia to home & garden (9 answers total)

Look at the bottom edge of the large, circular base. There may be a tiny set screw -- either slotted or allen.
posted by jon1270 at 11:32 AM on November 22, 2011

Seconding jon1270's comment. There's usually a screw. Once you remove this, the whole thing unclips, leaving a bracket with obvious screws holding it onto the cabinet.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 11:34 AM on November 22, 2011

You may also need to first pry up that circular base, I've seen those little screws hidden underneath those.
posted by Blake at 11:37 AM on November 22, 2011

yeah, if there's just a little notch/gap around the base edge about the size of a flat screwdriver, the base part probably prys up and exposes the base where the actual connections are.
posted by rhizome at 11:41 AM on November 22, 2011

It looks like the remaining bit is in two pieces. There may be a screw under the tube-thing from the U-holder - is that screwed onto the base? Try lefty-loosey twisting the whole centre piece and see if it comes off?
posted by peagood at 11:42 AM on November 22, 2011

Thanks for all of the great ideas, I'm going to try and implement these when I get home and let you know if it works!
posted by devonia at 12:39 PM on November 22, 2011

You might want to pick up a teeny-tiny screwdriver on the way home, if you don't already have one. One of the TP holders in my house needs a screwdriver from a glasses repair kit to be removed.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:52 PM on November 22, 2011

I have one of those. There's a grub screw in the edge of the flange, right underneath where it's hard to see, that needs a 3mm flat screwdriver to take out.
posted by flabdablet at 5:01 PM on November 22, 2011

Thanks so much for all of the excellent advice. It's now removed!
posted by devonia at 7:12 PM on November 22, 2011