Put Grab Bars When You Need Them

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What is more important?  Where you put the grab bar or how you attach the grab bar? The easy answer would be to say, both are equally important. However if you were forced to choose, which would you say is more important? 

Vertical Grab Bars Two Heights

I would choose the location and orientation of the grab bar as the priority.  Of course, I am an Occupational Therapist and I’m aware that a person’s way of moving, their height, their joint mobility, strength, balance, and many other factors affect where they need a support. For instance there are 4 phases of rising when a person stands up.  You have to look at which phase they are having the most problem with before determining where to put the grab bar and whether it should be horizontal or lateral.  If a person has a disease like Parkinson’s disease, they might have bradykinesia, tremors, rigidity or other postural instability that would create a need for support in different ways than a person who has arthritis affecting their knees.  A person moving from one seated position to another, for example from a wheelchair to a toilet, would need grab bars in a different position than a person who is walking.  A person will need a different type of support for stepping in and out of a shower than they would for getting up off of a chair or toilet.   A grab bar is most useful if it  matches a person’s skills, ability and intent.  

Wingits

 I also quite frankly, rigged the question so I could answer it.

Superpole by Healthcraft

Of course making sure that a grab bar is secure and can support the weight and forces that the grab bar user applies to it is critical.   Did you notice that I said “How you attach the grab bar- not whether it is secure or not.  The point I’m making is that there are so many ways to securely attach a grab bar and so many types of safe grab bars, it is sad that some people still position a grab bar based primarily on where they can find studs.   It does take some investigation of what structure exists and knowledge of how to work with it or around it.  This is especially true in situations where you are adding grab bars to existing structures and the money/time budget doesn’t allow you the luxury of getting to the studs to build in traditional blocking.  If you ever build or remodel and fail to provide a variety of blocking or best yet, create continuous blocking when the wall is open, you are missing a huge opportunity to avoid problems in the future.  Unfortunately most of the time, we are providing grab bars in homes where there is no blocking and there are issues such as the gap between many tub/shower surrounds and the walls behind them. However, between the four basic ways to use the studs for support and not-so-new-anymore technology such as Wing its™ or Moen Securemounts™ and alternatives to wall mounted grab bars such as the Healthcraft Superpole™ there  are many ways to add secure balance support without completely tearing up a bathroom.  There is absolutely no excuse for having the “search for studs” take priority in grab bar placement.

Traditional Blocking

           

Put grab bars where the person using them needs them by using the variety of installation methods and technologies available to you.  Give us a call if you want to talk grab bars.