Bathroom handrails

Need to install handrails in a shower and tub. Are the suction cup ones any good? I’m keen to start drilling holes to find a stud to anchor them, but the person who needs them is wondering about the ease and low cost of the suction cup variety. Any experience here?

A couple of years ago, I got a soap dish rack thingie for my shampoo etc. I thought that the suction cups were a perfect solution. Turns out that they were not only hard to attach, but it falls on its own, at a random point between 2 minutes and 5 months after I put it up.

I finally figured out that it is because my tiles aren’t smooth enough, so that suction isn’t really great. If you’re going to try suction cups, make sure that your tiles are totally flat and totally smooth.

After my father broke his leg in a fall a couple of years ago, my parents were looking at having handrails installed in their tub/shower. It turned out to be more expensive than they wanted to pay, so they tried some of the suction-cup handles. Those have worked well for them, but they have a one-piece tub surround, so it’s a very smooth and uniform surface.

There’s another option (for the tub) :

When my spouse had to have foot surgery, I installed a temporary bar similar to the one @pjd linked. It worked OK. I used that because of the potential issues with suction cup ones. I mean, my general experience with suction cups is that they are inconsistent and can fail without warning. Not what you want in a safety grab bar.

I would only rely on that clamp over the tub side type, or the type that is screwed into studs.

Bathroom handrail suction is typically much more robust than the type you get with a soap dish. There is usually a way of sort of locking them down, which makes the attachment more secure.

Smooth tiles is still probably a good idea.

Yes, I said suction cups, but the ones we’ve looked are not the soap dish/dart gun variety. They say they support 250 pounds but are not designed to support full body weight, only provide assistance with balance. So not too much help if one is in free fall, but the issue here is balance, not defying gravity-induced velocity. Anyone else have experience with this? I’m revving up the drill and scaring people

Personally, I would be too nervous about the suction cups. Loss of balance can lead too quickly to having to support full body weight.

Seems like a good solution for travel though maybe. Although I would probably leave them behind in a hotel room too often.

Yeah, when I was looking for a temporary bar, I chose the clamp one because the specialty-suction-cup grab bars have review after review saying that they don’t stay attached. Maybe some people have better luck, but all it takes is a miniscule leak in the seal to make it suddenly fail. There are even ones that give you a green light that it’s installed correctly. Reviews say it keeps falling down. Obviously, mileage varies, but I would not trust it for this purpose.

Don’t use suction cups. Just. No. The only time they are even marginally safe is the type that clamp onto the tub edge and even then just to steady yourself.

I’ll give you the advice I give every customer including twice already today.

Forget about color, forget about matching style. You want ADA certified stainless steel with a rough finish. Trust me, they will disappear into the background even if you have polished brass fixtures.

The only way to attach them to the wall is bolts into a stud or the Moen SecureMount system. Any person who says otherwise gets immediately fired. SecureMount is the only Ada approved wall bracket. It requires a 1-1/8” hole saw but at least you stand a chance of it supporting you if you ever need it for reals.

Thanks for this: the Moen tip is great, and I’m glad my reservations re the suction cup devices were correct

While I’m at it; to determine the height of the bar stand in the tub with your eyes closed and reach out to the wall. Mark where your knuckles meet the wall and subtract half an inch (12mm). If two people are using the tub, use the shorter persons’ measurement.

Center the bar on the wall left to rightl, don’t offset it.

If you have balance issues, consider a 12” long vertically mounted bar opposite the shower head for getting in and out of the tub. Same idea as above, close your eyes and reach out to the wall while miming getting into the tub to see where to place it.

That’s clever. I’ll remember this.

I wouldn’t risk it. Too many possibilities of failure.

I’m with those who say don’t trust suction cups. They may work, they may not. I’ve had too many fail just on light-duty tasks, like supporting a small rack for shampoo and conditioner in the shower. The clatter of falling metal and plastic bottles became all too familiar, sometimes in the middle of the night. I finally replaced them with adhesive hooks and those have stayed on fine.

The risk with suction cups for supporting handrails is obvious: they may suddenly fail at the point of maximum stress when you need them most, and cause a dangerous fall.

Way, way to many possibilities of failure for a suction mount IMHO.

I’ve installed the real ones in our main bathroom, and in my moms house. A fiberglass/plastic shower/tub stall is a whole different animal. I would like to put some in our master bath shower, but it’s fiberglass or something. I would never depend on a suction mount.

When you need it YOU REALLY NEED IT.

Add my voice to the no suction cups. I say find a stud and drill and anchor it right. You can caulk the shit out of it to stop water damage. The suction cups are okay to hang your scrubbies, but not for supporting you.

And yeah, no suction cups. If they won’t hold the soap basket, it won’t hold you.

I’m convinced–no suction cups! But a reminder that the ones on the bars are very different from the soap holders and rubber dart guns.

Also, remember that the suction cup is attached to a tile that is glued to drywall. Too many points of possible failure for me.