Grab rails

The first question I’d have is what is the grab rail going to be anchored to? Is this a fiberglass tub-shower? Bottom line, the grab rail needs to be anchored into something fairly substantial. Just putting an anchor thru the fiberglass is probably not adequate (IMHO, not an engineer). If the glass is flexed repeatedly (by putting one’s weight on it getting in and out), the glass will eventually develop stress fractures.

If it’s ceramic tile, then again the question would be what is the tile over. If it’s merely sheetrock, then again you have a structural problem. I build Habitat houses and our current client has arthiritis, so our plan is to permanently attach additional structure in the form of a 1X6 or 2X6 (thickest that will fit) into the studs beneath the fiberglass shower stall. Since the easiest way to do this is to run a single board horizontally, that would dictate a horizontal grab bar. Since our walls are open (at this time) we can do it however we (or the client) want. In a remodel, obviously it would depend on what you can get to.

-- Craig -- Bartlesville, Oklahoma

Grab rails at the entrance to a shower are usually angled slightly. For additional safety, run a longer rail inside the shower on the long wall and anchor it solidly using a specialized toggle wall anchor that is made specifically for this purpose. There are many different styles available. A google search for “grab bar anchors” will lead you to the choices.

-- Beth, Oklahoma, Rambling Road Designs