Grab Bars

OT: but for those that have purchase grab bars, what sites/places have you purchased them.
Just looking for feedback as there is quite a but of places that sell them - whether it be online or local.

FWIW, I'll be using Wingits...so a compatible system would be great.

Grab bars can be slider bars for handshowers, if they are made for this. Moen and Jaclo have this. That is what I have learned from web searching. I haven't seen them. I wish I had known this a few years ago. It would have resolved a dilemma at home, where one important person didn't want grab bars, since they're "too ugly for words."

Wingits brand grab bars are optimized for the wingits fasteners, so that is the obvious choice. Here are the distributors ( on line ) http://www.wingits.com/Online-Distributors_ep_42-1.html

I've found that the screw pattern on the Wing-It safety bar fastener will fit many other brands. The thing that can be the biggest hassle, regardless of whose you use, is that there is not very much slop in installing the things. I used some in my mother's shower install and they worked great. Much cheaper to just screw into blocking, but if you don't have it, they are a great item. Depending on the bar's mounting flange, you may only have 1/16-1/8" slop in drilling the mounting holes. I suggest making a jig with the holes the proper distance apart and then using it to guide your core drill bit to make the holes rather than trying to measure and drill free-hand through the tile. A drill press to get the holes perfectly perpendicular through your jig is also a very good idea, but if it isn't very thick, it won't affect the distance.

I bought one at Home Depot. They have different lengths

What I was trying to say is that if you are going to use Wing-Its, when you drill the hole in the wall to mount them, your tolerance is VERY small, or the holes in the bar itself will not line up to mount the bar to the Wing-It. So, to save yourself trouble, it will probably be easier to make a template, drill some holes, make sure the bar will fit into the template, then use the template to make the holes in the wall. I think the Wing-its are a good answer for an added on safety bar...they are well made, solid and if your wall meets the specs, should easily meet the proper strength. Because of the cost, I would not use them if I could or had installed blocking so I could simply use screws.

You might also try what they call "assist bars".
A grab bar improperly fastened might equal an assist bar properly fastened. The weight and age/strength of the user also counts.

A pair of Wing-Its are spec'ed to meet ADA requirements for a safety bar...if you haven't seen one, the coller is almost the size of the mounting flange of a bar, fits in a large hole with a sleeve, and has somewhere around 8 strong SS fingers that spread out in about a 3-4" circle behind the wall that gets compressed against the back. Once installed, it isn't going anywhere.

Don't they look great! I'm waiting on a new version and some different colours but these are fantastic.

I'll see how they look when dimmed...

Oh great! Electricity in the shower...I can hardly wait!

BTW...this is an interesting discussion about whether the ADA is out of date. But just fail to comply with an ADA spec, and that famous "gotcha" lawfirm , Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe, will own your business! Happens all the time down here. So little mom and pop restauraunt, they go in with calipers and find the stall is narrow by 1/2" or the lav mirror isn't tilted enough....GOTCHA!

A long wait is over.

I just received my first two grab bars from Elio and the quality and new design is outstanding. I'm post a few new pictures of these LED grab bars once I hook up the power supply.

Night Lighting and Grab Bar choices just got easier.

JW

The grab-bars for the OP was for a relative of mine - who fell and since that fall, has been impaired from waist below.
I ended up doing full grab bars, tub bench retrofit and a couple of other assist mods.

Not a fan of the led grab bars......
I do think the LED lights in the P&S GFCI outlets looks great and work somewhat for ambient lighting.

Call me old school. I still prefer halogens and incadescents. I still prefer the coloration

ELIO Led Grab Bars and barrier free bathrooms

Chef Wong there are studies being done into the success of these LED Grab Bars in hospital studies. I believe the Doctor researching the subject is Dr. Margaret P. Calkins (http://www.ideasconsultinginc.com/pages/StaffBios.asp) and I had the pleasure of listening to her speak on the subject of paitent safety and vision related falls.

Another White Paper study in Spain has shown that these safety improvements help patients navigate from bed to toilet and the soft light is easy and not blinding on the eyes.

The waterproofing measures are simple ones and the design of the mounting hardware allows a through hole to be drilled away from the mounting screws. I would think some Kerdi Fix would do the job perfectly.

My father in Law as we speak is in Lions Gate hospital - the result of a fall and not being helped for almost 3 hours. He did not fall in the shower and he did not trip over anything. His fall the result of reaching out for support and grabbing his rolling chair - not the best plan.

Any improvement in safety is welcome in my books.

I will be offering these LED grab bars to my clients and installing them for those in need. Even if the bar is not hardwired they look great and are wonderful to touch. I find stainless steel hammered metal to be an institutional look and one I do not care for. Many medications can affect a persons vision and in the early morning hours and nightlight of any kind can improve the ease of finding the toilet in the dark.

Night lights and such should be in my opinion wired to a timer or photocell switch. My father in law has enough to remember just taking is pills at the right time of day - running around at night switching on night lights I'm sure not one of his priorities - but it should be.



A few of these ELIO LED Grab Bars would have looked great in this barrier free shower we wrapped up last year. My client offered up the stool for my father in law and when I stopped by I snapped a few pictures of the equipment I purchased. Building a bathroom as a barrier free design open the doors to many more years of enjoyment. This bathroom has no tripping hazzards and offers up the safety of a one way slope.

Where are the bars in this pic??? I don't see any. (I know, that's the point, right?)

Can you point me to them, please?

Thank you

Great looking build nontheless JW ! Good job.

Kinda odd to see assist items but no grab bars

Humor me. On the right side inside the shower, that white wall....what is the composition of whatever is there ?
Hard to pick up the pics.....just looking for inspiration always

not quite what I envisioned, but, nice stuff. Thanks for the pics and info.

chefwong said:

...Humor me. On the right side inside the shower, that white wall....what is the composition of whatever is there ?
Hard to pick up the pics.....just looking for inspiration always

Click to expand...

That is a 1'x2' tile inside the shower.

Outside the shower is just drywall.

Check out these new LED Grab Bars installed in Harrisburg, PA.


You can find more install pictures of this job here http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.372419392770968.96736.137316126281297&type=3

Wow, Hey that's my facebook album there... thanks for sharing my work Jdub. My customer is very happy with them.

Todd Stull said:

Wow, Hey that's my facebook album there... thanks for sharing my work Jdub. My customer is very happy with them.

Click to expand...

Todd could you post the pictures here so people don't need to leave Terry's site to view them? That job looks great and I would love to see you share your work.

Thanks

I think those LED grab bars are a bit over the top. I'm sure there was a big study paid for by the manufacturer that says there the best thing since sliced bread.

I guess they should make one that "beeps" for a blind man.