Greater Lansing

Grab bars and bathroom safety

A grab bar is a fall arrest device, and the number it is built around is 250 pounds arriving suddenly in whatever direction somebody happens to be going. The bar is almost never the weak part. What it is bolted to always is — and tile, cement board and the anchors that come in the box do not hold that load.

What is actually wrong

A grab bar is a fall arrest device. The figure it is built around is 250 pounds of force, applied suddenly, in whatever direction somebody happens to be going. Anything that will not take that is decoration that looks like safety equipment, which is worse than nothing because it is trusted.

That load only ever goes into framing or into blocking. Tile does not hold it, cement board does not hold it, and the hollow-wall anchors sold alongside grab bars in hardware shops do not hold it under a shock load even where the packet says a weight. A bathroom wall is usually tile over backer over studs at 16 inch centres, and the bar has to reach the studs or reach timber put there for it.

Suction-cup bars are not grab bars and should not be relied on by anybody at risk of falling. They are a travel aid for steadying, they fail without warning when the seal goes or the surface is wet, and they are the single most common thing found in a bathroom where somebody has already fallen.

Placement does as much work as the fixing. The bar by the toilet, the bar going into the tub, and the bar inside the shower are three different heights and three different angles, and the right ones depend on the person — how they stand up, which side they lead with, whether they are stepping over a tub wall.

Where a wall genuinely cannot be opened, there are fixings designed for the job that anchor into the stud from the face and spread the load properly. They are not the plastic anchors in the grab bar box, and knowing the difference is most of this.

Where this stops

When it is not a handyman job

This is at the top of the page rather than the bottom because getting it wrong costs you a wasted visit. Insured, and no contractor license is claimed or implied — the Michigan residential builder license is not held.

Nothing here is a medical assessment and nobody here is an occupational therapist. We fit what is asked for, and where an OT or a discharge team has specified positions we fit to that specification. If there is one, send it.
A bar will not be fitted into tile and board alone, whatever the customer asks, because the failure mode is somebody already falling. Where a position cannot be made solid we say so and offer the one next to it.
Suction-cup and tension-pole products are not fitted or recommended as fall protection.
No structural alteration — the Michigan residential builder license is not held. Removing a tub and forming a level-access shower is a remodel and a different conversation.
No plumbing license. Moving a shower valve, relocating a drain or altering supply is referred to a licensed plumber.
Pre-1978 housing with deteriorated paint in the work area gets flagged rather than disturbed.

The work itself

What actually gets done

Finding the studs behind the tile before anything is drilled, and saying honestly where a bar can and cannot go as a result.

Grab bars lagged into studs, at the height and angle that suits the person using them rather than the one in the brochure.

Solid blocking added between studs where the bar has to go somewhere the framing is not — from the back where there is access, through a neat opening and made good where there is not.

Purpose-made heavy-duty fixings where the wall cannot be opened and the stud can only be reached from the face.

Tile drilled properly, with the right bit and without cracking the glaze, and every penetration sealed so water does not get behind.

Bars by the toilet, at the tub wall, inside the shower, and along a hallway or step where somebody needs a hand hold.

A second handrail on a stair, or a rail made sound where the existing one moves.

Non-slip treatment and threshold tidying where a trip hazard is part of the same problem.

Taking out suction-cup bars and telling you plainly why they are coming off.

This work sits inside General Repairs, which carries the invoiced price bands for the trade with the sample size printed beside every figure.

Before you call anybody

Doing it yourself, and when that stops being the right call

Reasons to handle it in-house

If the bar lands on two studs and the wall is plain drywall, this is a drill, two lag bolts and twenty minutes. A competent person should not pay somebody for that.
Finding studs in an untiled wall is easy and the bar itself comes with the fixings for exactly that case.
You know the person and how they move far better than anybody arriving for an hour, and placement is half of whether a bar gets used.
A stair rail made sound, or a second one added on the open side, is ordinary DIY and makes as much difference as anything in the bathroom.

Reasons to bring somebody in

Drilling tile is where a confident DIY job turns into a tiling job. The bit walks, the glaze chips, and a cracked tile in a wet wall is a water problem as well as a cosmetic one.
When the stud is not where the bar needs to be, the correct answer is blocking and the tempting answer is an anchor. That choice is the whole safety question and it is made by somebody who has seen what the wrong one does.
The load is a shock load, not a hanging weight, and almost every anchor rating on a packet is quoted for the wrong one. Judging that is not something to learn on a bar somebody is going to trust.
If this is for a discharge, a fall that already happened, or someone living alone, the thing being bought is not the bar. It is somebody standing behind the fixing.

What it costs

There is no price list for this, and here is what actually decides the number.

The same three words describe a twenty-minute job and a two-day one. Rather than publish a figure that is wrong for one of them, here is what moves it — so you can work out roughly which end of it you are at before anybody comes out.

Whether the bar lands on a stud. The honest answer is often that one of three positions does and two do not, and the ones that do not need blocking.

Whether the wall can be opened from behind. A closet or a hallway on the other side makes blocking easy; a tiled wall with another tiled wall behind it does not.

Tile type. Ceramic drills cleanly; porcelain and natural stone are slower and want a different bit and more care.

How many bars and whether they are in one room. Three bars in one bathroom is one setup; bars in two bathrooms and a stair rail is a different day.

Whether anything else in the room is a hazard worth doing at the same time — thresholds, a loose toilet, a bad light.

How to get a real number

Somebody comes out, looks at it properly, and you get a fixed price in writing with the work set out line by line and the exclusions written down as plainly as the inclusions. Coming out to do that is not charged for, and neither is working out what is wrong. If something is found once a wall or a floor is open, it is priced as a written change order and you decide before the work carries on rather than after it is billed. Materials are supplied at cost with the receipt attached, first-time customers get 10% off labor, and labor carries a one-year craftsmanship warranty.

If this is happening right now

What to do in the next five minutes, and what happens when you ring.

Before anybody arrives

Watch how the person actually moves in that room — which hand they reach with, what they grab now when nothing is there. People almost always already have a grip point, and it is usually the towel rail or the sink, neither of which is holding anybody.
If there is an occupational therapist report or a discharge sheet, find it. It saves a conversation and it is usually right.
Take the suction-cup bar off today if there is one, and do not wait for us. It is giving false confidence to somebody who is relying on it.
Photograph the bathroom from the door, plus close-ups of each wall where you want a bar. Tile, layout and what is behind the wall can mostly be read from that.
Check whether the towel rail has already been pulled out of the wall once. It is the clearest sign that somebody is using it as a grab bar.

Call the business line

(517) 505-7135

Answered Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 18:00. There is no out-of-hours line and this page is not going to invent one — outside those hours, leave a message with the address and what is happening, and it is picked up in the morning.

On the call you get asked what is happening, what else in the building is affected, and whether it is still getting worse. That is how it gets decided whether this is our job at all — and if it is not, you get told that on the phone rather than after somebody has driven out.

No trip charge
No call-out fee or minimum
No diagnostic fee
No charge for a return visit

True across all 84 written quotes this company has issued. Most contractors in this market charge to turn up.

Or send the details

When the right answer is not this company

You can smell gas: Leave the building and call the utility from outside. Not us, and not later.
Water you cannot stop: Your main shut-off first, then a licensed plumber. Every minute of this one costs money.
Sewage backing up, or several fixtures at once: A licensed plumber with a camera. That is the shared line, not a fixture, and a cable down one sink will not touch it.
Sparking, scorching or a burning smell at an outlet or a panel: Breaker off, and a licensed electrician. Electrical work here is repair and like-for-like replacement, and this is neither.
No heat, or heating and cooling equipment that has failed: A licensed mechanical contractor. That trade is not offered here at all, and knowing that in one phone call is worth more than a visit.

Questions people actually ask

Can a grab bar be fitted if there is no stud where I want it?

Yes, but not with wall anchors. The right answer is solid blocking — a piece of timber fixed between the studs behind the wall, which the bar then lags into. Where the wall can be reached from the other side that is straightforward. Where it cannot, it means a neat opening in the tiled wall, blocking fitted, and the wall made good. There are also purpose-made heavy-duty fixings that reach a stud from the face and spread the load, which work in some positions. What does not work is the plastic or metal hollow-wall anchors that come in the grab bar box: they are rated for a static hanging weight, and a fall is a sudden one.

Are suction-cup grab bars safe?

Not for anybody at risk of falling, and they should not be the thing in the bathroom of somebody who is. They are intended as a light steadying aid for travel. The seal fails without warning, it fails faster on textured tile, soap and wet surfaces, and the person finds out at the exact moment they need it. They are the most common thing we find already in place in a bathroom where there has been a fall. If there is one in yours, take it off before we arrive rather than after.

How much weight does a grab bar need to hold?

The figure the fittings are designed around is 250 pounds, applied as a sudden load in any direction. That is the number worth holding in your head, because it rules out the anchors most people reach for. It is not about whether the bar is strong — almost any bar sold is. It is entirely about what the bar is bolted to.

Where should the bars actually go?

It depends on the person, which is why a brochure diagram is a starting point rather than an answer. Generally there are three positions worth considering: beside the toilet for standing up, at the entry to the tub or shower for stepping over, and inside the shower for washing. The height and angle of each depends on how that person stands and which side they lead with. If an occupational therapist has specified positions, those come first, ahead of anything we would suggest — send the sheet.

Send photos of the bathroom

Photograph the room from the doorway and then each wall where you want a bar. Most of what matters — the tile, the layout, and where the studs are likely to run — can be read from that before anybody visits. If an occupational therapist or a hospital discharge team has written down positions, send that sheet; it takes priority over anything we would suggest. Tell us how the person actually moves in there and what they grab now when nothing is there, because that is usually the towel rail or the basin and neither is holding anybody. If there is a suction-cup bar in the room, take it off today rather than waiting for us — somebody is relying on it. Where a bar cannot be made solid in the position you want, we will say so and offer the one next to it rather than fit something that looks right. Coming out to look is free and there is no trip charge.

Get a Free Quote Call (517) 505-7135