Grab bar installation: safe, solid and good looking

A grab bar has to be anchored into wood blocking or a stud so it'll hold at least 250 pounds, mounted where the person actually reaches when they need it, and finished to match the room. A bar screwed into drywall with plastic anchors is worse than no bar. It gives way at exactly the moment someone trusts it with their weight. Put in right, a grab bar looks like a towel bar that happens to be very strong.

Towel bars and suction cups won't hold you

When people slip, they grab whatever's closest. The towel bar, the soap dish, the handle on the shower door. None of those are made to take a person's weight, and most of them rip out of the wall. The suction-cup bars sold for travel can let go without warning, especially on textured tile or across grout lines.

A real grab bar is part of the wall's structure. The bar you see is the easy part. What it's screwed into is what keeps someone off the floor.

How it has to be anchored

The accessibility standards, the ADA standards and ANSI A117.1 that most codes follow, call for grab bars that resist 250 pounds of force in any direction. There are three ways to get there.

Blocking is the best one. That's solid lumber fastened between the studs behind the finished wall, at the heights where bars might go. If the walls are open during a remodel, it takes very little time to add, and we'd put it in even if nobody's hanging bars yet.

Studs work if they land where you need them. Most are 16 inches apart, and they rarely line up with the exact spot the bar belongs.

Where there's no blocking and no stud, there are anchors made for hollow walls and for tile over backer board that are rated for grab bar loads. They have to go in exactly the way the maker's instructions say. No shortcuts.

On tile, the holes get drilled with a bit made for it and sealed so water can't get into the wall. In a lot of newer houses in Wilton and Malta, the shower is a one-piece fiberglass or acrylic surround with a hollow gap behind it. Those need anchors built for that, or blocking added from the other side of the wall, through a closet or the next room.

Where the bars go

At the toilet

Put a horizontal bar on the side wall, 33 to 36 inches off the floor. It helps with sitting down and getting back up. A second bar on the wall behind the toilet helps when the side wall is too far away to reach. If there's no side wall at all, a fold-down bar mounted on the open side does the job. A comfort-height toilet helps a lot of people too.

In the shower

Three bars cover most showers. A horizontal one on the back wall, 33 to 36 inches high. One on the control wall near the valve. And a vertical bar at the entry, about 18 to 24 inches long, to hang onto while stepping in and out over the edge.

At the tub

Use a horizontal bar on the back wall, an angled or vertical bar at the faucet end for getting up from sitting, and a vertical bar on the side where you climb in. If the tub itself is the problem, read our guide to a tub to walk-in shower conversion.

Those heights are general guidance. The right spot depends on how tall the person is and how they move. An occupational therapist can watch them get in and out and tell you where a bar will help, which beats any standard diagram.

Bars that don't look like a hospital

Grab bars don't have to be shiny stainless tubes anymore. Match the faucet finish first. Brushed nickel, matte black, polished chrome and brass bars are easy to find and line up with the common fixture lines.

Then look at combination pieces. A toilet paper holder, a shower shelf or a towel bar can be built as a grab bar with the same rating. It does two jobs and nobody notices it's a safety item.

Get the size right. A bar 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter, with about 1 1/2 inches between the bar and the wall, gives a good grip without looking clunky. A knurled or textured finish helps wet hands and doesn't look clinical.

And line them up. A bar set level with a tile course or the vanity top looks like it was planned with the room.

A good-looking bar in the same finish as the shower head can be the difference between a parent who uses it and one who resents it.

When to do it

During any bathroom remodel, even for someone who doesn't need bars yet. With the walls open, blocking takes a few minutes, and later on hanging a bar becomes a short job. If you're redoing an older bath anyway, our post on how to update a dated bathroom covers other changes that go well with it. If your walls are finished and in good shape, bars can still go in. It just takes more careful anchoring.

Bars are one piece of making a house safer. Lighting, stairs and the front steps matter too, and they're covered in our aging in place guide for Saratoga County and the home safety checklist for aging parents.

What drives the cost

We don't publish prices. The cost of grab bar work comes down to the wall (tile, a fiberglass surround, drywall or plaster), whether blocking can go in from a closet or the next room, how many bars you need, and the finish. Plaster walls in older Saratoga Springs houses take more care than drywall does, since old plaster cracks if you rush the drilling.

Frequently asked questions

Can grab bars go on tile without damaging it?

Yes, with a diamond or carbide bit and some patience. The holes hide under the mounting flange and get sealed against water. What makes it hold is hitting blocking or a stud, or using an anchor rated for that wall.

Do grab bars need a permit?

In a private home, adding grab bars generally doesn't. If they're part of a bigger remodel with plumbing or electrical changes, that project might. Check with your town or city building department.

What height should a grab bar be?

General guidance is 33 to 36 inches off the floor for horizontal bars at the toilet and in the shower. The right height for a particular person may be different, which is where an occupational therapist earns their keep.

Safe at Home, the aging-in-place service we're putting together for Wilton, Saratoga Springs and the rest of Saratoga County, will take on grab bars, stair rails and accessible bathrooms. It isn't open yet, but you can join the waiting list on the Safe at Home page, or read about our work in Wilton.