Shower slide bar: does it need to attach to a stud?

15 years ago

Hi all,

I loved the slide bar position thread, it really helped me decide on my placement. I have another question: the plumbing-supply person told me that I need to decide the shower bar placement along with the valve placement (before tile!) because the shower bar attaches to a stud. The plumber claims that he always just attaches the bar directly to the tile and we can decide the placement after the tile goes up. Which is correct? How can the bar be attached to the stud, does the tiler just tile around it? That seems really tough...Sorry if this is a dumb question...

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charlikin

15 years ago

The slidebar isn't intended to be a grab bar - my contractor explicitly warned me not to use it as such, and I'd read in other places that it shouldn't be used as such. (Probably the metal in the slidebar isn't as thick and strong as you'd want in a grab bar, even if it were attached to studs.)

My slidebar was just attached to the wall through the tile. It's certainly secure enough to hold up the handshower.

My towel bars were attached the same way - through the tile inside the tub/shower area, and just through the wall board outside the shower.

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Comments (9)

raehelen
15 years ago
Shannon,

I find it hard to believe that the plumber 'just attaches the shower bar to the tile'. I mean, I believe that's what he told you...but...really.... I'm wondering if there's even a municipal code he's breaking. You would think that anything like a bar that could be grabbed if you were falling would have to be anchored securely to something. I'm guessing you could drill holes through tile, but behind that tile there has to be something solid to screw into...

We like to have studs where we're hanging towel bars, for heaven's sakes, a bar in a shower.... accident waiting to happen.
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hendricus
15 years ago
I mounted a 3/4" piece of plywood where i wanted the slidebar. Lots of room to manuever the final install.

Noting that the contractor warned about grabbing the slidebar, someone, sometime is going to do it and say oops!
raehelen
15 years ago
Actually, Hendricus is right. That's what we do. Am home with howwible head cold, and really not thinking too stwaight! We put the plywood (not studs- my bad) wherever we anticipate hanging something- heavy pictures- towels- light fixtures, etc.

I realize that the slide bar is not intended to be used as a grab bar, but if you're falling...(not that I've ever fallen in a shower). We have to replace the glass in the bathroom window with tempered glass for that reason (Will be at end of tub) ... better to be safe than sorry.

If you've already got the wall open, putting up a piece of plywood between the studs is not a huge deal.
User
15 years ago
Actually, although it's made pretty clear that a slide bar is NOT a grab bar, you can get special clips to use with some of the slide bars so they can be used as a grab bar as well. The Moen we've purchased for our shower has that option. When I saw they were offered it was a no brainer to me, they only cost about 20.00 and the safety factor is priceless. As the others have said as well, it's recommended you have some pieces put in between the studs for the installation.
flseadog
15 years ago
An apprentice plumber did some of our rough plumbing and the master plumber checked it. Just in passing as we were chatting with the master plumber he was looking at the plans, the shower wall and then back at the plans again. He shook his head and said that the apprentice had completely missed putting in the blocking for the slide bar. I had no idea what he was talking about but he explained that anything that could be grabbed on to in a shower should be anchored whether it was code or not. He spent the next half hour showing the apprentice how to do the blocking. So I guess what he was saying is that some things are sensible whether mandated or not.
garden18c
15 years ago
okay, as a follow-up question on this. Given that it's recommended to secure the grab bar (or even slide bar) to something - should it be studs, or is plywood sufficient? My GC is suggesting that plywood glued to the back of the shower unit is good enough. Any comments on this?
raehelen
15 years ago
garden18c,

I found this info while googling- I am sure there is lots more info to be had...

"Most building codes require that they be capable of withstanding a 250 pound load. To support this weight, you must screw the grab bars into wall studs or into additional blocking. Molly bolts, nails, or screws into sheetrock are not adequate. "Cats" 2-by-4s that you nail in between the studs, or "Plates" plywood or another substantial material that spans the wall studs, are both common practice."

You now have me thinking that I should block support into the shower wall we're now building for possible grab bars in the future...(and take a picture/note where the blocking is)
User
15 years ago
We just set our shower up for this last week, after we figured out the height we wanted to set the bar at, my GC installed "additional blocking" to the studs and marketed them on the shower wall as he was enclosing it. Tell your GC how to do his job obviously he needs the direction.

Shower slide bar: does it need to attach to a stud?

charlikin

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raehelen

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