Grab Bars FAQ

We added one in the shower this past spring: horizontal across the back of the enclosure. There already was a vertical bar lagged into the stud nearest the shower door opening.

I've tried to use a towel bar a couple of times when bending down to pick up the bath mat. That didn't go well, but there aren't studs well located to replace it with a grab bar.

Wish we'd put in some blocking when we remodeled in 2016, but needing grab bars seemed far way when we were in our late 50s and working like kids on the remodel.

Then what you do is put a strong piece of wood 4 or 6 x 14 or 20" , or whatever, between two studs and mount the grab bar to it. I'll bet one can make the wood look pretty.

I have thought about it. I even bought two lengths, one to stand up from sitting in the tub and one to get out of the tub, and exchanged one because it wasn't knurled and I wanted it to match the other one.

I even bought drill bits meant to go through the tile, and a better stud findeer to find the studs behind the tile. But I was't sure what it was showing and read something that said, "Check where the studs are *above* the tile", so I had to put a 2-step ladder in the bathtub to reach above the tile. Climbing that with only 2 of its legs on the tub was the riskiest thing I did all month.

Then I lost weight, didn't need the bars, and I lowered their priority. But I hear you and I'll think about it some more, as instructed.

I'm as mobile as can be. If I stop paying attention, I slide right to the floor. Sorry about your wife. It's good she has you.

I hope they are healing.

Wait a eecond. You just told me to think about it and now you say not to. I don't know what to do. Oh, I guess 3 seconds was enough thinking.

Okay.

My oldest sister came to visit me a few years ago, when she was 78. She said she would have liked grab bars to help her get in/out of the tub, and also while she was showering. Because of the layout, that's two grab bars rather than one doing double duty.

We have a one-piece tub/shower enclosure in the guest room that has about an inch of air space behind it. I assume there's a way to anchor a grab bar through the shower wall, but I'm not aware of it. The best way might be to simply remove the existing enclosure and put something back that can accommodate grab bars more securely.

Another bathroom has the same type of one-piece enclosure with the exact same issue - a large gap between the wall of the enclosure and any solid structure behind it.

Best thing we did was to remove the tub and put in a walk in shower. Then as my wife had problems we bought a shower bench . You canjust slide in and sit down and then slide out. It can be taken out if not needed and then put back in as it is just a bench with 4 legs and no rail on one side. We still have another bath room with one of the one piece tub and shower stalls. We were over 60 at the time and had just bought the house that was built in the 1980's.

Did the same in the last house. Sure, some people like to relax in the tub but last time it was used in our house was about 25 years ago when one of the grandkids stayed over. This house we had built with showers.

Also nice is the shower and hand held combo. Sitting in the chair I can easily reach every part with water.

Depending on where and how needed, mount a 24" bar on an angle to catch the 16" stud spacing. We have one like that in the water closet and it work well.

Yes, we instsalled a hand held head also. One with the multi spray paterns. Seldom use them , but can if wanted.

If we wanted to go to that much work, we could just replace the drywall afterward. In 2016 we stripped the bathroom to the studs and put it all back. This is alt.home.repair, after all.

Unfortunately, one of the studs that I'd use as an end has the shower-door frame screwed into it.

It is a good idea and reminds me of a neighbor who sold his house years ago.

He had renovated a bath room and the family that bought it renovated it again with grab bars for his elderly mother and the family patriarch that lived with them.

When I moved into this house 27 years ago I had to get the shower in the master bath remodeled. Then I put in a grab bar, because I was planning to live here the rest of my life and figured I would probably need it. I also put in a variable height shower head with a hose. Now when I get so I can't stand up in the shower I will bet a shower chair and will be able to sit in the chair and shower my whole body.

Bill

Our stall showers have hand held shower heads. When I shower, I leave the head on the wall mount. However, when I first turn on the water, I step into the stall, close the door and lift the shower head off the bracket and hold it at waist level. Then I turn on the water and wait for the water to get hot before replacing the head in the bracket. Keeps me from being hit with a full body dose of cold water and I don't have to turn the water on from outside the stall and check temp with an outstretched hand, spraying some water outside the shower onto the bathroom floor. The detachable shower head also makes it easy to rinse off splashed soap and/or shampoo from the walls of the stall when finished showering.

If you have a smooth surface there are grab bars with suction cups that can work. Problem is air will leak in eventually so they must be reattached.

I used one in the last shower a few years back. The big benefit was it gave you some stability getting in and out. Never tried full body weight but sure was better/safer than nothing.

They can fail just when you put weight on it and you fall down.

Epoxy them on??? No, not the BEST solution. With PROPER wall anchors you CAN mount hand bars on drywall instead of to studs. Still not the BEST solution - but both are better than no bar.

Replace the drywall afterward? After what? Putting the plywood inside the wall? You think that's not much mor work than outide?

Are you saying my suggestion is a lot of work, or not much work? It's hard to tell.

I'm assuming they're committed to the orientation of the bar, whichever angle they think is right, more than the length of the bar. The bar I planned to put next to the tub was to be at just the right angle to help myself out of the tub. perpendicular to where my arm would be, so I wouldn't have to worry about my hand slipping down the bar as I pulled.