Grab this!

[Moparguy392]

I finally conceded to DW requests to install shower grab bars. To my surprise, they are really helpful in maintaining balance and preventing falls. I did not want to install them for the longest time because it made the shower look like "an old person's shower". We have tried mats and adhesive strips. Mats slip and the strips do not adhere to our shower base. Happy wife...(you know the rest). After 53 years of marriage I am still learning to listen to her. She reminds me.

 

[MarieIG]

I think they are incredibly helpful. Kudos to you for the installation.

 

[OldShooter]

Yup. We're believers. Re old person's shower, we have been buying from GrabBarsDirect.com - Grab bars, Mirrors, Shower Seats, and Accessories and they have a wide assortment of available colors.

 

[athena53]

I had my bath and shower re-done earlier this year and had grab bars installed in both. They're brushed steel and match the other fixtures and the soap trays so they don't scream, "This is a grab bar" the way the ones with plastic suction cups did. My balance is very good but it's nice to have them there. Very happy with them.

 

[Koolau]

I wouldn't want to be without grab bars. We put them in before we (thought) we needed them. I've never regretted them. Both of us have had mobility issues since putting them in and they've been very valuable and reassuring.

 

[braumeister]

Home Depot has very good grab bars, and they're simple to install.
At my wife's request, I even put one next to the toilet, and I like it so much I use it too.

 

[Surewhitey]

Installed a few for the neighbors and also mom recently. They serve a purpose for sure.

 

[Ronstar]

Yup. We're believers. Re old person's shower, we have been buying from GrabBarsDirect.com - Grab bars, Mirrors, Shower Seats, and Accessories and they have a wide assortment of available colors.

View attachment 52928​

Great job! Your grab bars are hardly noticeable in that ribbon of tile.

I will do something similar if I remodel our master bath.

 

[jollystomper]

When we renovated our full bathrooms 8 years ago we had grab bars installed, even though we were young and spry then . Well worth it, concerns about it looking like an "old persons shower/bath" just never came into the equation.

 

[OldShooter]

Great job! Your grab bars are hardly noticeable in that ribbon of tile.

I will do something similar if I remodel our master bath.

Thanks for the flowers. Another thing we did, not really visible in the photo is to put two complete showers on the wall facing the grab bar, each with its own plumbing and control. One is a conventional overhead one and one is a hand held shower head that mounts on a vertical "slide bar" and adjusts so, for example, someone can easily have a shower while sitting on a stool. I was surprised to find that several manufacturers offer slide bars that are ADA compliant grab bars too, so that's what I put in. It seems like an unlikely place for someone to grab, but if that happens I don't want the bar coming off the wall.

 

[Ronstar]

^^ I remodeled our guest bath in 2017. Put one of those slide bar shower heads in. Had to beef up the framing to make it strong enough to double as a grab bar.

I want to remodel our master bath. Rip out the whirlpool tub. (it's been used less than a handful of times in 30 years. And I want to make a walk-in shower with no door. Planning to take out the subfloor in the shower area and hack down the 2x12 floor joists to create a couple of inches slope for drainage. I want the entrance to the shower to be flush with the floor.

And a single rainfall shower head. And a long grab bar similar to yours.

 

[isisdave]

Doorless showers are common in hotels, especially in Europe, and people complain that if the wall/glass ends too close to the shower head, water splashes out too much. You have probably considers this, and have a long enough base, but most shower/tub areas are only 5 feet, and that's probably not quite enough.

 

[OldShooter]

Doorless showers are common in hotels, especially in Europe, and people complain that if the wall/glass ends too close to the shower head, water splashes out too much. You have probably considers this, and have a long enough base, but most shower/tub areas are only 5 feet, and that's probably not quite enough.

IIRC that one in the photo is six feet. It does have an entry with no sill or step. In fact that was a design criterion; there are no steps anywhere on the main living floor. None from the exterior doors and none when entering from the garage. All of the external doors had to have sills for weather sealing but no steps.

 

[aja8888]

I suppose I should put a grab bar(s) in my walk in shower in my newish small house. That may be a project for the coming year.

 

[jazz4cash]

I had my bath they don't scream, "This is a grab bar" the way the ones with plastic suction cups did.

How well did the suction cups hold?
I looked at the suction cup type when we had a mobility challenged houseguest stay with us. I thought they would be as a balance aid but I was not satisfied that it would hold if a bather put full weight on it. DW was not aware and she just bought one for the guest bath so I might test it.

 

[pacergal]

Adding grab bars are on our "to-do" list in the near future, along with considering a new walk-in shower. Our current one has a very small step over, but could still present a fall hazard as we age.

 

[athena53]

How well did the suction cups hold?

You have to check them every once in awhile. Sometimes one would fall off at random! I've never really tested them- DH, who was the reason we bought them, weighed under 120 lbs. in his last days so that's not a test for the average user.

 

[Luvtoride]

Yup. We're believers. Re old person's shower, we have been buying from GrabBarsDirect.com - Grab bars, Mirrors, Shower Seats, and Accessories and they have a wide assortment of available colors.

View attachment 52928​

Nice shower. We are redoing our bathrooms in our beach condo and designed a similar looking shower. That grab bar is pretty long!

 

[skyking1]

Every bathroom I build or remodel, I put 2x6 solid blocking from 31.5"~37" so a person can just install ADA bars anywhere they please.
I strongly suggest anybody doing a remodel do so. It takes me about an hour to do and a bunch of short pieces of 2x6.

 

[gamboolman]

We have them for the Shower, the Tub and the Toilets.
We also put in Tall Toilets.

 

[ncbill]

^^ I remodeled our guest bath in 2017. Put one of those slide bar shower heads in. Had to beef up the framing to make it strong enough to double as a grab bar.

I want to remodel our master bath. Rip out the whirlpool tub. (it's been used less than a handful of times in 30 years. And I want to make a walk-in shower with no door. Planning to take out the subfloor in the shower area and hack down the 2x12 floor joists to create a couple of inches slope for drainage. I want the entrance to the shower to be flush with the floor.

And a single rainfall shower head. And a long grab bar similar to yours.

A number of older residents here have done that in the master bath.

Remove the oversized tub & turn it into a large walk-in shower.

Then remove the freestanding shower & replace with a washer/dryer so one doesn't have to walk downstairs to the original laundry room.

I could've used wall-mounted grab bars this year after foot surgery, even though the shower bench had one.

 

[Mark1]

Every bathroom I build or remodel, I put 2x6 solid blocking from 31.5"~37" so a person can just install ADA bars anywhere they please.
I strongly suggest anybody doing a remodel do so. It takes me about an hour to do and a bunch of short pieces of 2x6.

Yes, that's my problem as I'm unsure where my studs are located behind the tile. I haven't tried a stub finder, but I would be surprised if it gave reliable readings.

 

[old medic]

Haven't finished our shower yet, but put blocking in for the bars I know are in our future.

 

[Luvtoride]

^^ I remodeled our guest bath in 2017. Put one of those slide bar shower heads in. Had to beef up the framing to make it strong enough to double as a grab bar.

I want to remodel our master bath. Rip out the whirlpool tub. (it's been used less than a handful of times in 30 years. And I want to make a walk-in shower with no door. Planning to take out the subfloor in the shower area and hack down the 2x12 floor joists to create a couple of inches slope for drainage. I want the entrance to the shower to be flush with the floor.

And a single rainfall shower head. And a long grab bar similar to yours.

Ronstar, sounds pretty ambitious….I hope you have a good contractor. We’re just completing our master bath renovation and did similar to your ideas. Took out the rarely used jacuzzi and made a large shower with bench as well as expanding the vanity, adding cabinets and a makeup area for my wife. We are putting a shower door on though.

 

[Ronstar]

Ronstar, sounds pretty ambitious….I hope you have a good contractor. We’re just completing our master bath renovation and did similar to your ideas. Took out the rarely used jacuzzi and made a large shower with bench as well as expanding the vanity, adding cabinets and a makeup area for my wife. We are putting a shower door on though.

It is ambitious. Maybe more ambitious of a project than I want to handle, but I would be the contractor for the most part. I've built and remodeled several bathrooms - so I have the ability, but wavering as to desire as I get older. I for sure don't want to do plumbing anymore. So I would hire a plumber. But I don't mind doing the demo and tile work.

Just stayed at a Las Vegas hotel with a walk in shower. Shower drain area about an inch lower than the rest of the bathroom. But the contractor goofed something up. Water falling from the overhead shower head landed far enough from the drain that it flowed away from the drain across the bathroom. Had to build up a little dam of towels to keep the water going to the shower drain.