Tub safety bar

[Frog42]

Stud finders...sounds like it might be useful. And you can get this on Amazon? Well, I'll have to take a look. Do they have stud pictures? I would like to see the stud picture before I decide on which stud to bring home! I'm sure John won't mind.

We have one and there is a series of lights. The closer you get to the center the more lights come on. Lenny thinks ours may be a Stanley.

[agate]

Stud finders...sounds like it might be useful. And you can get this on Amazon? Well, I'll have to take a look. Do they have stud pictures? I would like to see the stud picture before I decide on which stud to bring home! I'm sure John won't mind.

Hmm. Not sure that's the kind of stud that is being discussed, but some pictures of guys in thongs might be nice. Or guys not in thongs.

[Virginia]

I get the idea that Linda is talking about a different kind of stud!!

Agate, my tub is tile - no problem holding the kind of thing you saw. But a garden tub is a large one like you usually see that have jets (like whirlpools have). It is a corner tub and I have always wished I had just a regular tub because it is so big neither I nor the maid want to clean it. It gathers dust as far as I am concerned. I use to enjoy getting in it occasionally, but now my legs will not get me up from a sitting position. I was wondering if this was something that I could pull up by.

My shower is completely separate and I put a shower stool in it years ago.

[Howie]

Agate, STILL dreaming about me in a thong, and I haven't even mentioned it in this long cold Winter weather. Well, I will promise you that you'll be the first to see me in a thong. Just hang in there! Summer is just around the corner!

[Catdancer]

Cat, muttering to herself...lordy me, people's minds in the gutter......

[agate]

Agate, STILL dreaming about me in a thong, and I haven't even mentioned it in this long cold Winter weather. Well, I will promise you that you'll be the first to see me in a thong. Just hang in there! Summer is just around the corner!

I believe I mentioned nobody by name. I was thinking of one of those beefcake photos that are available in calendars.

[Howie]

Remember the calendar Cherie put out that one year? I had one but lost it like 100 other things.

[Virginia]

The tub thing will not work for me. My ridge is 6 1/2" wide, but I just was not thinking. After that there is block tiles all around the tub to match the tiles that go part way up the wall on two sides of it, so it really is wider. It is a decorative thing and above that I have wall paper.

[Parsi]

Don't use a towel bar as a grab bar! They are not made for that purpose, and could tear out part of your wall, creating even more of a problem should you grab it while you're falling, or trying to use it to pull yourself up! If they don't pull out of your wall (taking plaster or tile with them), they could bend, and be useless that way, too!

There are tools called "stud finders" you can buy at a hardware store. You can buy one for around $5...up to $30, depending on their sophistication...that you need to use to find the studs -- the upright beams used in walls. There is a magnet in them which will locate the nails used in the construction of the wall. The beams are usually set about 16 inches apart, measuring from the center of the board to the center of the next board. After you've found a couple, you can then measure to find the rest. Screw the grab bar (thicker than a towel rack, built to hold your weight, built to be pulled on) into the studs. They usually come with 5 screws. The grab bars are usually set at about 36 inches high, but you can set them at whatever height you want...usually somewhere around the height of your clenched hand, when standing. (As if your hand was holding on to the bar). The grab bars come in various lengths, from 2 feet (24 inches) on up. Most of mine are 36 inches...but it depends on where you're putting it, and how much wall space you have.

Be safe out there! You don't want wall board, or plaster, or bathroom tiles falling on your head while you lie on the floor with a bent rod in your hand!

Don't worry. I have no intention of using a towel rack as a grab bar. Just the opposite. I was thinking of removing the towel rack and replacing it with a grab bar or two (on the studs, of course). I saw two lengths of grab bars at Menards.

[jendie]

The warning about not using a towel bar as a grab bar reminded me of the time I lost my balance when getting out of the shower a few years ago. I only grabbed the towel bar because that was what kept me from falling on the toilet.

Now I have grab bars at both ends of the tub. A tub safety bar could help Tom get himself out of the tub. I thought I'd seen some at the local Walgreen's, something for us to check out.

[agate]

This place has a couple of built-in grab bars but they're not as conveniently located as I'd like, and so I've treated myself to this extra gadget.

It turns out that the tub is fiberglass, and so I'm going to make sure it isn't clamped on too tightly, but I did get the managers' OK on it.

[SuzE-Q]

Looks like a handy device, Agate!

I could use one of those stud finders myself. Where did you say I could pick one of those up?

[Parsi]

Looks like a handy device, Agate!

I could use one of those stud finders myself. Where did you say I could pick one of those up?

Until Agate answers, I'll stick in my 2 cents:
You should be able to find them at Menards, Home Depot, local hardware store, or any place that has supplies for home improvement.

[agate]

Parsi is right. Any hardware store probably has them.
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[Jeanie Z]

:) Palm Beach County has a program through their housing program that any disabled person who owns their home and has a low enough income can have accessible improvements done by the county.

They sent 3 different companies to bid. If the work is under $15,000.00 it is done for free. If over they would put a lean on your home. They removed my bathtub and made a shower stall with a 6 inch lip. Three support bars, one over 4 feet in the shower the length of the side against the wall, one over the toilet and one up and down on the right side to use to get in the shower. The shower head drops down and I leave it on the floor.

They also had to redo my electric so it would be up to code and put ground fault sockets in the kitchen and bath. They also removed the carpet in the bath, hall, living room, dining room and Florida room and tiled the floor. This was at least 10 years ago and it has been a Godsend and was under the $15,000.00.

I have a sturdy shower stool and Andy added another suction grab bar like the one that was shown on here under the faucets in the stall. Now I can grab the long side bar and the one in front of me to stand up. I also have a nonslip mat.

I have a phone in the bathroom and also on my scooter in the bathroom doorway there is a button for the alarm system that has a panic button. Paramedics would be sent if I pushed that. There is a key box with a code that the alarm company has to give to the paramedics so they can get in.

I am happy to have my shower feel so safe, but I still have to be extra careful as my balance is not good. We broke a heat record this week and it is very windy. Jeanie :)