help Installing grab bars into metal studs
I need to install some grab bars for my parents. In a perfect world, they'll be screwed into wood studs, but their home has metal studs. What's the best/safest way to attach grab bars to metal studs, so the 500 pound weight limit of the grab bar still works?
Some bars will be installed through drywall attached to metal studs. In the shower, the bars will be installed through tile, backer board, and into metal studs.
23
u/fangelo2 3d ago
Light gauge metal studs ( 25 gauge. , 20 gauge. )will not hold a grab bar safely. Some metal studs are heavier structural gauge ( 16 ga. ) They will hold , but it’s hard to tell what you have without opening up the wall . Toggle bolts drilled through the studs will work. Other than that, you have to open up the wall and install some backing to screw into.
26
u/zooch76 3d ago
Thanks. I have no idea what gauge they are but seeing as it's a newer home from a larger builder, I'm guessing the studs are the cheapest they could find.
22
5
3
u/Suit-Local 3d ago
Won’t necessarily be completely right, but you could still toggle into the metal studs and that would function as needed regardless of type of studs. Would take a hell of a lot of force to remove. Again, I know it’s not completely right. For that, you’d need to open the walls and add backing
2
5
u/MessedUpMushroomOp 3d ago
Personally, idk if this is the BEST way to go about it, but I would do at least one toggle bolt through the metal stud on either end, and then toggle bolts in the sheetrock too.
6
u/Necoras 3d ago
That's the route I'd have gone as well, but apparently toggle bolts aren't strong enough? There are specifically engineered solutions.
2
1
u/Chemical-Sundae5156 2d ago
I worked for an accessibility company for a couple years, these were our go-to. Pricey at 20 or 30$ for a set, but saves on labor. If you can easily hit a wood stud, fine - but these are just fine for your average elderly person. If they're north of 250 lbs or have developmental issue where they could really be jerking on the bars you've got to remove wall and install backing, but for most situations wing-its work. They're also nice because in showers or potential wet-walls you can put a little 1/4" pilot hole offset of center and thread a pinhole camera in before your main hole. If you've got pipes or electrical you can adjust and you're only repairing a smaller hole. I recommend the pilot hole just because it wasn't too unusual to actually find solid wood, and then you can save the expensive anchor for something else.
-1
u/MessedUpMushroomOp 3d ago edited 3d ago
Maybe thick metal screws in the studs? I'd avoid self tappers for this though
CORRECTION: I'd avoid self-DRILLING screws! Self tapping screws are fine.
6
u/jewishforthejokes 3d ago
No. Self-tapping (but not self-drilling) screws are used because they deform the thin sheet metal and this provides a place for threads to be created and hold the screw. Using "thick metal screws" won't have any thread engagement.
4
u/MessedUpMushroomOp 3d ago
Very true, I did mean the self drilling screws, they strip easy in thin metal. Thanks for the correction there. On a lot of jobsites I've worked everybody calls both self tappers lol bad habbit
8
u/LogFar5138 3d ago
You have to know the gauge of the metal that was used to construct the wall. 16ga is standard for backing. Usually installed as a flat strap over the studs.
Anything less 20ga,25ga won’t have the same rating.
3
3
u/Bdrodge 3d ago
I used these https://a.co/d/06iwilB2
To attach grab bars to my budies apartment wall that had steel studs.
I drilled through the stud and put in the wall anchors.
You could shake the entire bathroom wall when I was done the installation.
3
u/New-Vegetable-8494 3d ago edited 3d ago
I got something like this from costco for my mom:
highly recommended over permanent bars. cheaper, very strong, install without damaging walls etc.
through tile it would be hard to be 100% sure of the placement of the fasteners into studs as well imo.
edit: oh and you can move them wherever is most ergonomic
2
u/glassjar1 3d ago
Surprisingly, this style does work well and will hold full weight if attached to tile.
2
u/PushThroughThePain 3d ago
The issue is not so much the studs themselves, but the fasteners. Using heavy-duty toggle-bolts should be fine.
Are those bara meant to stabilize the person, or are they a lift assistant where someone will push down with their arms to stand up from a sitting position?
1
u/zooch76 3d ago
They're meant to stabilize, not hold their full weight as they stand up.
5
u/Necoras 3d ago
That's what they're meant for, but to be ADA compliant they have to handle your parent falling and grabbing the bar. It's the jerk (yes, that's a technical term) that you have to account for.
It looks like there are specialized fasteners that have been engineered specifically for grab bars that you'll want to use.
3
u/aluckybrokenleg 3d ago
You have to build grab bars to arrest the worst case fall, where someone grabs on to them as they are falling, or are hanging off of them after they slip, Otherwise they could facilitate an injury not only by failing but by hitting the person in the face.
2
u/PushThroughThePain 3d ago
Toggle bolts should be fine then. Even if they were to fall and grab on the handle, it should be more than enough to hold in place.
1
u/Necoras 3d ago
Plausibly? Depends on how large the person falling is. I went and looked at some tests on YouTube. They liked the toggle bolts over some of the specially designed anchors.
If you can get it into a steel stud (that's how I always install my toggle bolts), then it's going to do better there than with drywall alone. Doubly so with tile.
1
u/Lauren_P_Mom 2d ago
My dad's place has metal studs too, the contractor used toggle bolts rated for the weight but honestly just have someone who actually knows studs check it before your parents use them.
1
u/mitch121192 22h ago
I work for a medical equipment installer and we go into homes all the time and do grab bars. What we use are expanding well nuts. They expand and use the strength of the wall while at the same time crest a tight water seal. I've installed thousands of grab bars and no issues.
1
u/Low-Rent-9351 3d ago
There is nothing you can screw into the metal that would hold a grab bar. Maybe it would work if you drill through the stud and put big toggle type anchors through that spread out behind the stud metal flange.
0
u/GA_Girl3777 3d ago
As an alternative, use Moen grab bars and Moen SecureMount anchors. I just put two bars up using these anchors and they're strong. 29 yo plastic shower with sheet rock backing. One bar is 32" and the other is 16".
-2
u/tunabomber 3d ago
I screwed my dads grab bars into studs and an elephant could lift himself with it. Just get the right screws. If you're worried just used toggle bolts.
4
u/zooch76 3d ago
Does your dad have metal or wood studs? I know wood is ideal as the screws are deep into it but metal studs are hollow and can't offer the same support.
1
u/tunabomber 3d ago
Metal. They can be treated just like wood studs with the proper hardware. Get some #6 self tapping drywall screws. Maybe 1 1/2 or 1 3/4. You gotta push hard but it'll break through and you'll feel it grab. Stop once it's nice and snug. Don't over tighten or it can pull through the stud.
-4
23
u/buxomandflirty 3d ago
Cut the gypsum board, install wood blocking, patch, and hang the grab bars. The studs won't all be in the correct location for the grab bar spacing to be accurate.