Cutting off bath shower mixer. Literally.

[WaterTight]

Due to terrible access and 25 yr old tap conns and backnuts cannot remove bath tap mixer. Suggest can either remove bath or cut taps off from above - the latter has been chosen.

I've cut about 3 or 4 taps off before with a hacksaw, all have been kitchen monoblocs and that was fun enough. It's an acrylic bath and so not thinking to fondly of using powertools to cut these off. There's about an inch and a half between the back of the taps and the wall for movement of a saw and the rubber sealing pad that sits between the bath mixer and bath sruface is visible all around and at both ends and so sliding the saw between taps and rubber should hopefully not scratch bath.

Is there any kind of saw other than a junior hacksaw I could use that would make my life easier? Like some hyper sharp, frameless, lazer-guided, metal-melting super-saw? Cutting off taps with a hacksaw is about as fun as cutting your foot off and these are bath taps with two tales to go through.

 

[Phil]

I was thinking more along the lines of the sheet metal protecting the duct tape which is in turn protecting the bath.

 

[WaterTight]

Ah but once the blade pass under the deck where there is no metal or duct tape it may scratch the bath so you'd have to make sure replacement mixer is at least as wide and long. All sounds like a lot of work to me. I might just wrap them in Crime Scene Do Not Cross tape and install taps the other end of the bath.

 

[fibre washer]

Ive used my dremmel in these situations but make customer sign a disclaimer regarding potential damage to the bath, use the dremmel for removing nut and bolt from close coupled cisterns that wont budge so far no problems just wish plumbers would put a dab of grease on the threads for the toilets.