Handicapped shower ideas

[Aaron Rosenthal]

A very long term friend has had progressively more difficulties with mobility; at this stage he is confined to a wheelchair.
His bathroom was specially configured to accommodate his disabilities, including the no barrier shower area, and the "collapsible" rubber dam.
Unfortunately the rubber dam needs replacing about every 18 months, and the prep for making it stick is persnickety. Replacing it is costly and the area must be cleaned with alcohol and scraped scrupulously. Its a good solution but look at all the alternatives before going that particular route.

[Rick Potter]

I hope I am not stepping on James' thread, but this goes hand in hand...

My shower is tile and I want to install a couple grab bars, but they just don't fit with thee stud spacing. I am leery of plastic moly's, and I don't want to drill out a hole big enough for the toggle type.

I also have one end of a stair rail that has a toggle which has started to get loose enlarging the hole in the drywall.

Is anyone aware of moly's that will hold the weight of grab bars in drywall?

[Tom M King]

Togglers.... will find a link

They really do work as easily as it looks in the video. They were what I used in the shower pictured in the thread. If you can catch a stud, use it, otherwise these things are great. Buy a Bosch 1/2" diamond hole saw bit off Amazon. The cheap ones might get one hole through tile. The Bosch will do one whole shower, and some more.

https://www.amazon.com/TOGGLER-SNAPT...%2C175&sr=8-10

https://www.amazon.com/Bosch-HDG12-D...6674617&sr=8-2

[Tom M King]

A very long term friend has had progressively more difficulties with mobility; at this stage he is confined to a wheelchair.
His bathroom was specially configured to accommodate his disabilities, including the no barrier shower area, and the "collapsible" rubber dam.
Unfortunately the rubber dam needs replacing about every 18 months, and the prep for making it stick is persnickety. Replacing it is costly and the area must be cleaned with alcohol and scraped scrupulously. Its a good solution but look at all the alternatives before going that particular route.

We get by fine without one. After drying off, drop the towel on the floor outside the shower, and a quick wipe takes care of it. I think a lot of people think one is required, but we have not.

[Kev Williams]

My shower is tile and I want to install a couple grab bars, but they just don't fit with thee stud spacing...

Mount it/them on an up-angle, as if you were grabbing a stair railing to go upstairs...

[Rick Potter]

Tom, thanks for the Toggle heads up. I will be ordering some.

Kev, good tip on the angle, but in my shower, I will be hanging towels on them, so... I do think I will do that next to the toilet though.

[Ron Selzer]

As Rick said on an angle. Have one across from toilet on an angle mounted Jan 2015 getting ready for knee replacement. Most people don't even see it as there is a towel rack above and below it. Hang the x-large bath towels on there and the bar is cover yet ready accessible by swiping sideways on the top towel. I have a grab bar and the wife doesn't have to look at it
Ron

[Curt Harms]

I’m not a tile guy, but I deal with this stuff, and aside from access issues the priority should be having a bench in there.

SWMBO has this issue but is able to deal with sill 12" off the floor. A good grab bar is essential for her. We had a hard time finding the grab bar lengths we wanted. It turns out that 3/4" copper tubing works nicely for the bar part. She uses a shower chair though with 40" that might be snug.

[James Spillman]

We had a bathroom contractor come over Friday. He looked at the room and told us he could build a 40"x 60" accessible tile shower with a seat and grab bars. He would have to reroute a heat duct and replace a window with glass block. Also, floor would have to be retiled. We are waiting for the cost of the project, which we should get tomorrow. My guess--$10,000. Also, work won't start until Oct. He said after being in this business for 35 years he has never been busier. He attributes that to Covid checks and a change in people's priorities because of the virus.

[Mel Fulks]

I would buy a plastic curtain ,and not allow removal of the window.

[Thomas McCurnin]

Please visit John Bridge Tile Forum for ideas and suggestions. Typically, the whole bathroom floor is treated as if it was a shower floor. That is to say, from each of the walls to the drain, there is a pre-slope 1/16th of an inch per foot, a rubber, pvc, hot tar, or plastic type water proof membrane which follows the preslope, and a two part clamping drain, which sandwiches the membrane between the two parts, then the tiling substrate, usually a fairly dry mix pounded into place. The membrane should go up the walls about 18". I'm doing this by memory, so I may have some details wrong, but that's how I remember doing them for Habitat for Humanity way back when.

[Jim Becker]

We had a bathroom contractor come over Friday. He looked at the room and told us he could build a 40"x 60" accessible tile shower with a seat and grab bars. He would have to reroute a heat duct and replace a window with glass block. Also, floor would have to be retiled. We are waiting for the cost of the project, which we should get tomorrow. My guess--$10,000. Also, work won't start until Oct. He said after being in this business for 35 years he has never been busier. He attributes that to Covid checks and a change in people's priorities because of the virus.

This undoubtedly will not be an inexpensive project because of the additional considerations for water movement, etc., but the end result will be great for your situation. If I were building a new residence from scratch, I'd consider this type of arrangement even without a physical need simply because it makes a lot of sense.

I do agree somewhat with Mel that I'd be concerned with replacement of a window with glass block, especially if it's the only non-fan ventilation source available in the bathroom. But if it's not something that can be relocated, it may be necessary to do that as well as beef up the assisted ventilation in the space. Every project is different...

[James Spillman]

We received the cost of the project yesterday. Boy, was I wrong. It will cost $20,000. We are going to look to see if we can get someone at a lower cost. We'll probably alter the plans to see if we can reduce the cost. It's very hard to find someone who isn't busy. Several firms I called said they are fully booked and are no longer bidding on work.

[Jim Becker]

Yea, that's been an issue for a long time now...firms are really busy. It really hurt small jobs at first, but has crept up to medium size jobs like yours now, too. I hope you can find a resource sooner than the fall and at a better cost, but if you need this for your personal safety, you're likely going to have to go with what you can get in the current market.

[Thomas McCurnin]

Yes, if the room is too small for an off the shelf accessible shower, then it has to be custom.

Everything torn out to the walls, that's one day. Preslope and drain rough in, thats one day. Drywall and membrane, that's one day. Then setting bed, that's one day. Then tile, that's one day. Then grout, that's one day. Then add doors and grab bars, that's one day.

This is a big job.

The good news is that these types of bathrooms are highly desirable and will add value to the home. They are popular in Europe.