Replacing a towel rail on tiles

Rooibos

I'm not well up on DIY hence my query!

I have a towel rail attached to a tiled wall. The towel rail has annoyingly snapped in the middle of the pole.
To replace the towel rail I'm thinking that I will be left with holes where this current one is, then I will need to drill again into the tiles? Is that tricky (am thinking cracked tiles....) or am I stating the obvious?
Or are towel rails of similar dimensions so I could find one that's an exact match and just screw it in the original holes?

See - not well up on DIY!

Ebe_Scrooge

A lot of towel rails are similar sized, you may be lucky and find one with holes in the same place.

If not, then drilling into tiles is not tricky. Use an ordinary masonry bit ( you can buy special "tile" bits, but it's not worth it for occasional use ). Stick a bit of masking tape on the tile, then drill through that, it'll stop the bit skidding around. DON'T use hammer action on the drill. Start very slowly, apply only a very gentle amount of pressure, you can increase the drill speed a bit when you've got started. Just take it slow and you'll be fine.

Of course, that doesn't help with the holes that are left in the tiles from the old towel rail. Do you have any spares kicking around in the garage, loft, whatever ? If not, you may be able to buy a couple of replacement tiles from a tile shop, if that particular pattern / colour is still made. The colours may not be an exact match, due to different batch numbers, but probably better than having holes. But even simpler, if you're able to position the new rail so that it covers the old holes then problem solved.

Dan-Dan

remember to push the wall plug flush in (i.e past the level of the tile)

wallbash

Would add, make the hole in the tile a little larger, just drill the tile , then swop for smaller correct drill bit. Make certain raw plug is pushed into wall beneath the surface of the tile. If you leave rawplug proud of tile you risk cracking tile.

wallbash

Must type faster!!!

*j*

Is it a single rod towel rail?

If so, you can perhaps find a new rod of the required diameter, or a pair of brackets like this

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.miles-nelson.com/images/product_shots/bathroom_fittings/024_towel_rail_brackets.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.miles-nelson.com/brackets_024.php&h=349&w=300&tbnid=20gJn8WV4t70nM:&zoom=1&docid=uv36ggTU_2i6wM&ei=J9fcVOOqHo76apiYgPAJ&tbm=isch&ved=0CCMQMygCMAI

and cut a new rod to the correct length so that the new brackets either use or cover the old holes?

Edit... or this one has a base that covers a bit more of the old tile. http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ironmongeryonline.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/1200x1200/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/3/0/3024.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ironmongeryonline.com/19mm-towel-rail-end-bracket-chrome-plated&h=1200&w=1200&tbnid=aQKGG6uRkvXXfM:&zoom=1&docid=AJb3zfr4V3Fb0M&ei=J9fcVOOqHo76apiYgPAJ&tbm=isch&ved=0CEsQMyggMCA

Be_Happy

When you say the pole has snapped, how does it fit into the side holders? Any chance of buying wardrobe rail from any diy store and cutting it to size to fit into side holders? If not, how about buying the cupped side holders for wardrobe rail as well and matching them to replace original towel rail sides.

We've done this for kitchen towels, but be warned the rail may turn in holder, but not too big a problem.

Must type faster too, previous poster mentions this.

Rooibos

Some useful tips there - many thanks. I might try a piece of pole first (Most MSE!).

Be_Happy

Rooibos wrote: »

Some useful tips there - many thanks. I might try a piece of pole first (Most MSE!).

Why does someone who's been thanked 36 times not use the 'thanks' button themselves?