Need Advice on preventing drilling into Water Lines - Grab Bar Installation...

Users who are viewing this thread

Chefwong

Member
Messages
949
Reaction score
11
Points
18
Location
District of Columbia
I am helping to prep my uncles home - he is scheduled to leave rehab in 2 weeks.
I need to install Grab Bars and the bathroom is one of the most important rooms .

He is in a residential building.
I do not know where the shut off is for his unit....
I did see a *gotcha* as well when I was up in the ceiling removing a junction box, I saw a single 3/8 water line in the ceiling as well......so that leads to extra caution..


With that said, just short of obviously looking at the plumbing hardware and determining roughly the vertical runs of the water piping along the *wet wall*, I am planning to add grabs at the usual locations where they are needed in the bathroom. Hopefully there won't be any hidden surprises on areas where I would not expect water pipes in....


I'm planning to just put tape on the drill bit and just stop drilling holes for *Toggler Screw Holds* at 3/4" Deep. Playing and feeling for *resistance* should there be something behind it....

The only issue I am going to forsee is that I will need to give it some *force* when drilling as the walls are old skool plaster.

Any helpful thoughts, suggestions, etc....
 

Jc60618

DIY Junior Member
Messages
87
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Chicago
I would never install grab bars with "Toggle screw holds" especially into plaster. The proper way to install grab bars is to screw them into wood backing/blocking which should be secured to the framing.
 

Chefwong

Member
Messages
949
Reaction score
11
Points
18
Location
District of Columbia
Toggler Screw holds can be done....

Handicap whitepapers from Columbia University , etc advise it as well.

We're not talking molly bolts. Toggler SnapToggles and well as Wingits are endorsed for such application.

The goal is to find a stud and if placement is right...start at least one side of the handle screwed into a stud.
My plan is to mount them and just hang my weight on them. IF it feels solid, I'm leaving it as is.
If it doesn't....I will have to be intrusive and break the wall to get backer board into it.
And if you're wondering....I can't get access to the backside of the walls I want to put Gbars in to add backing from ~behind~
 

hj

Master Plumber
Messages
33,599
Reaction score
1,037
Points
113
Location
Cave Creek, Arizona
Website
www.terrylove.com
Use a stud finder to locate the studs, and then get the proper sized grab bars to fit them. If the bar is a little too long, you can angle/tilt the bar to "shorten" it. It may hold YOUR weight when you hang on it, but NOT when someone is falling and "yanks" on it.
 

Chefwong

Member
Messages
949
Reaction score
11
Points
18
Location
District of Columbia
Excellent angle of approach HJ. I was just in the planning stages..I was under the impression that either I hit a stud or toggler it is. Regardless if its a metal stud, toggler required
 

Terry

The Plumbing Wizard
Staff member
Messages
29,946
Reaction score
3,460
Points
113
Location
Bothell, Washington
Website
terrylove.com
My father in-law was in the 300 lbs range. I cut the walls behind and put in wood blocking.
It cost me a few hundred to bring in someone for restoring the walls, but I didn't the poor guy killing himself in the bathtub.
I also installed an ADA toilet with grab bars.

Angling like hj mentions is good too. Nothing wrong with that.
 

Gary Swart

In the Trades
Messages
8,101
Reaction score
84
Points
48
Location
Yakima, WA
Toggle bolts do hold better than Molly bolts, but they still are not proper for this installation. Gotta go into wood. If the studs are not in the right place even to angle the bar, then opening the wall and adding a 2x4 from stud to stud would be the best alternative. PITA to have to repair the wall, but wall "heal" better than people.
 

Jadnashua

Retired Defense Industry Engineer xxx
Messages
32,771
Reaction score
1,191
Points
113
Location
New England
In the tub area, or anywhere it is tiled, WingIts anchor is designed, and certified, to hold up safety bars. They are not cheap, but could be in the whole scheme of things if otherwise, you'd need to retile the wall. I used a pair at my Mother's house, and there's no way you could pull them out short of a winch. If I remember correctly, you need a 1-1/4" hole, and NO blocking around that hole for the SS feet to expand and anchor the device to the wall from behind. On the finished side, there's a large SS flange where you can screw the anchor plate of the bar to. They do also sell bars, but the threaded hole pattern is fairly standard, and many other bars can be anchored to them with no problems. The only gotcha with them is how precise you need to be to drill that large hole, as the threaded holes in the plate need to align with the bar you choose, and there's often only a very small slot. If I had to do it again, I'd make a plywood template with the holes at the proper separation, and double-stick tape it to the wall, and use my core drill to make the holes rather than measuring. Getting the centers exact with a core drill is somewhat of an art.
 

Chefwong

Member
Messages
949
Reaction score
11
Points
18
Location
District of Columbia
Anytime you're predrilling instead of *drilling from the hole*, measurements tend to get finiky and precise. Reminds me of my $$$ decorative bathroom hardware. It was going into tile and while the top bar was precise, the bottom bar was a smigen off level. Can't control these things even though using carbide tipped bits, as 2mm off and you could see the slight off centerness...

Back on topic, on the Wingits, I actually thought they were specific to *their grabbars* Go figure as I was looking at Grabbars online and did come across one site that said *wingit* compatible.
 

Jadnashua

Retired Defense Industry Engineer xxx
Messages
32,771
Reaction score
1,191
Points
113
Location
New England
The installation instructions have you mount the bar temporarally to the anchors as you push them into the holes. This keeps the things rotated properly for the holes to line up, but if the separation isn't correct, you'll never get it into the holes you drilled. There is NO play in the hole you drill and the anchor - it's an exact fit. The only slop you have is maybe the slot in the bar's plate that you screw to the anchor. You only need to use 2 screws into the anchors from the bars, but there are more holes you can use. If I remember, there's a line drawing on their website. You could compare that with the bar you want to use, or send it to the manufacturer and ask if it will fit on it.
 
Top
Hey, wait a minute.

This is awkward, but...

It looks like you're using an ad blocker. We get it, but (1) terrylove.com can't live without ads, and (2) ad blockers can cause issues with videos and comments. If you'd like to support the site, please allow ads.

If any particular ad is your REASON for blocking ads, please let us know. We might be able to do something about it. Thanks.
I've Disabled AdBlock    No Thanks