Where to put grab bars in a walk-in shower

Grab bars get treated as an accessory, something you add at the end. Placed well, they are the cheapest part of a safe shower. Placed badly, they are a towel bar that someone will one day trust with their full weight.

This guide covers where they go and why. The numbers come from the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design. Those rules do not apply to a private home, but they are the best-tested reference available, and they are what most therapists and installers start from.

The one number most people need: 33 to 36 inches

ADA section 609.4 puts horizontal grab bars 33 to 36 inches above the finished floor, measured to the top of the gripping surface. In a shower with a molded pan, measure from the shower floor where the bar is, not from the bathroom floor outside.

That height suits most adults. When standing, it is roughly where a hand falls with the elbow slightly bent. It is also low enough to push down on while standing up from a seat.

Place bars around four moments

Instead of starting with walls, start with what the person actually does in the shower. Falls cluster around a few moments, and each one wants a bar within reach.

1. Stepping in and out

The step over the threshold is when people lose balance on wet feet. A vertical bar on the wall at the entry edge, where the hand naturally reaches as they step across, helps more than anything else at that moment. Set its height to suit the user, so the hand can hold it both standing outside and standing inside.

2. Standing while washing

Someone washing their hair has their eyes closed and their hands busy. A horizontal bar on the wall they face, usually the back wall or the wall with the controls, gives them something to hold the moment they feel unsteady.

3. Sitting down and standing up

If there is a seat, the person needs a bar beside it to push on or pull on as they lower themselves down and get back up. It goes on the wall next to the seat, not above it. A bar directly over a seat is in the way of someone sitting down, and you would have to lean back awkwardly to use it.

4. Turning around and reaching

Turning to rinse, or reaching for the controls or the handheld shower, shifts weight onto one foot. A long horizontal bar that runs past the controls covers this without needing another bar.

What the ADA layouts say, by shower type

The ADA specifies bar positions for three kinds of shower compartment. Even in a home, they show tested layouts for each shape.

• Transfer shower (36 by 36 inches), section 608.3.1: bars across the control wall and along the back wall to a point 18 inches from the control wall. The seat is on the wall opposite the controls.
• Standard roll-in shower (at least 30 by 60 inches), section 608.3.2: where there is a seat, bars on the back wall and the end wall, but not above the seat. Where there is no seat, bars on all three walls. Bars are placed no more than 6 inches from the adjacent wall.
• Alternate roll-in shower (at least 36 by 60 inches), section 608.3.3: bars on the back wall and on the side wall farthest from the entry, and not above the seat.

If you are building for a wheelchair user, these layouts are worth following closely. If you are building for someone who walks with some unsteadiness, they are a good base, with the entry bar added.

The bar itself

Not every bar sold as a grab bar is one. The ADA sets out what a real one looks like, and these are good requirements for any home bar:

• Diameter: a round bar 1¼ to 2 inches across (609.2.1). Thinner bars are hard to grip with arthritic hands; much thicker ones are hard to close a hand around.
• Clearance: 1½ inches between the bar and the wall (609.3). Less, and an arm can slide through and get trapped in a fall. More, and the bar stands too far off the wall.
• Strength: the bar, its fasteners and the wall it is mounted to must withstand 250 pounds of force applied in any direction (609.8). That is about the wall as much as the bar.

Choose a textured or knurled grip if hands are often wet or weak. Choose a finish that stands out from the wall. A white bar on a white wall is nearly invisible to older eyes in a steamy room, and a bar no one can see does not get used.

What holds the bar up

This is where most grab bar problems actually start. A bar is only as strong as what is behind the wall, and there are only three good answers:

1. A stud. Strong, but studs are usually 16 inches apart and rarely exactly where a bar should go.
2. Blocking. Solid wood added between studs before the walls go up, at the heights and positions where bars are planned. Cheap during construction, expensive afterwards because it means opening the wall.
3. Reinforced wall panels. Some shower wall systems have laminated wood backing behind the whole panel, so a bar can be screwed in anywhere, at any time, with no blocking and no opening the wall.

What does not count: hollow-wall anchors in drywall, adhesive mounts, and suction cups. Suction-cup bars are the worst of these, because they can release when the surface is soapy or the temperature changes, or when they are loaded suddenly. That is exactly the moment a grab bar has to work.

Fitting the bars to one person

The ADA numbers are written for the general public. In a home, you are fitting the bars to one or two particular people, and that allows some sensible adjustments.

• Mock it up first. Before anything is drilled, have the person stand in the shower and hold a broom handle against the wall where the bar would go. Mark where their hand naturally lands. It takes five minutes and catches most mistakes.
• Ask a therapist. If someone is recovering from a fall, a stroke or a joint replacement, a physical or occupational therapist can do a home visit and recommend exact positions. It is often the most useful hour in the whole project.
• Think about the next five years, not just today. Someone who showers standing now may need to sit later. Place the bars so they still work when a seat is added.
• Consider a caregiver. If someone helps with bathing, keep the entry open enough for them to stand alongside, and do not put a bar where they need to reach in.

Common placement mistakes

• Using a towel bar as a grab bar. Towel bars are held on with small screws into drywall. They are not designed to take body weight, and they pull out of the wall. If a towel bar is where hands go, replace it with a grab bar that holds towels.
• A bar above the seat. It gets in the way of sitting and is awkward to push on. Put it beside the seat.
• No bar at the entry. People place bars inside the shower and forget the step in, which is where many slips start.
• A bar where the handheld hose catches. Check the path of the hose and the slide bar before you fix the grab bar position.
• Only one bar. One bar covers one moment. Most people need two or three to cover the moments above.

Questions people ask about shower grab bars

How high should a grab bar be in a shower?

For horizontal bars, 33 to 36 inches above the finished floor, measured to the top of the gripping surface. That is the range in the 2010 ADA Standards (section 609.4). In a private home it is a starting point rather than a rule, and a physical or occupational therapist can adjust it for one particular person.

Can grab bars be installed on shower kit walls?

Yes, if there is something solid behind the panel. Some wall systems have laminated wood backing behind the whole panel, so a bar can go anywhere. Others need the bar to land on a stud or on blocking added before the walls go up. Ask what is behind the panel before you order.

Should a shower grab bar be horizontal, vertical or diagonal?

The ADA layouts use horizontal bars on the walls, at 33 to 36 inches. In homes, a vertical bar at the entry is a common addition because stepping in and out is when people reach for support. Diagonal bars are popular too, but some people find their hand slides along them. If you can, have a therapist watch the person use the shower and decide.

How many grab bars does a walk-in shower need?

Most home showers are well served by two or three: one at the entry, one horizontal bar on the wall the person faces while washing, and one beside the seat if there is a seat. A wheelchair-accessible shower without a seat has bars on all three walls under the ADA.

Are suction-cup grab bars safe?

We do not recommend them as grab bars. Suction can let go when the surface is soapy, when the temperature changes or when the bar is loaded suddenly, which is exactly when a grab bar is needed. A real grab bar is fixed into structure and rated to take a person’s full weight.

The short version

Horizontal bars at 33 to 36 inches. A bar at the entry. A bar beside the seat, never above it. Bars that are 1¼ to 2 inches across and 1½ inches off the wall, in a color you can see. And something solid behind every one of them. If the walls are reinforced, you can change your mind later. If they are not, decide carefully now.