If not needed even for repurposing (like an in-shower towel bar) and especially since you really don't want them now, then no, you don't need to install them at this time.

But since you are smart enough to look ahead, consider where you might need or want grab bars and install 2-by blocking in those areas while the framing is still exposed.

That way when the time comes to install the grab bars, you won't be searching for studs or spending extra money on wall anchors rated for grab bar use.

Mongo

What you can do is install blocking (wooded framing) behind the wall to support the installation of grab bars later.

Just decide where your grab bars should be - if in doubt, choose 2 or 3 locations -- blocking is cheap and easy. Then have your contractor install the blocking. Take lots of photographs with yardsticks noting reference points, and put the photos in a safe place. Then finish as usual.

We do that routinely for alternate toilet roll holder locations, towel bar locations, grab bars, etc.

Great, thank you both, that sounds like the perfect solution, we will install the blocking and make a note of where it is for later.

That's what I did and I am already considering installing the grab bars.

Instead of using a yardstick, I just wrote the location of the blocking on the blocking and then took the pictures.

I'd put the grab bars in now.

We had just finished remodeling the bathroom and although I thought about grab bars, we didn't put them in nor did we plan for them.

DH suffered a haemorrhagic stroke eight days after his 50th birthday. It was a hectic, tense, emotion-filled four days in the hospital before he came home.

Even if we'd had the blocks installed and marked out, I honestly don't think we would have been able to get them installed before he came home and took his first shower. I was a nervous wreck and watched him every moment because his balance was precarious.

It's nice to think that you will have time to install them when they're needed...but you can't count on that. Life happens, and it doesn't always happen at times that are convenient - not only for you, but for handymen and store vendors.

Oh, that sounds like a very traumatic time for you! I hope your husband is completely recovered. And thank you very much for that sobering perspective.

Another vote for do it now. Mom just broke her ankle and is having a rough time pulling herself up from the seat in the shower due to her non weight bearing cast. Jkom51 is right life happens and putting in grab bars after the fact may not be practical when you really need them.

It's so much easier to go ahead and do it now. You won't believe how fast "old" gets here!!! Happened to me overnight...haha.

I'd install them now. I don't think it's an age issue (at least I hope not). I've been bugging DH to put one our tub/shower combo.

I heard somewhere that there are some stylin' grab bars out there now. Does anyone have suggestions about where to find them? Anyone with pictures of their bathrooms with grab bar installations?

I am also putting in a new walk in shower and had the contractor put the blocks in and agree putting the grab bar in is a smart idea.

I also agree that I rationalized the look by finding more decorative ones. If you look on the Jedco website, they have some decorative ones that have different reeding patterns and also allow you to choose the length, if you want an "L" shape as well as the shape of the ends of the grab bar. They are pricey, but I found going to a good local plumbing supply store should be able to give you 35 - 40% off. So you also have options of the finish as well. I will be ordering a 30" for a 5' shower with an angled door.

I'm getting my shower replaced next month and I am definitely putting one in. I am 55.

There are acrylic/Lucite/plexiglass grab bars, a little less visually intrusive in certain setups, as shown below on the included link.

When you are setting up safety bars, it really helps to be in the same/similar space. Now imagine the different scenarios:

- Balance issues, including back problems. You'll need one where you are most likely to be turning yourself around, whether front to back or side to opposite side. Back problems make it very hard to bend over, or to sit down/get up comfortably from a bathing stool. The bigger the space, the more likely it is you will need two bars for vertical balancing.

- Broken leg. It's hard to lift your leg - surprising how quickly you lose strength in any cast, soft or hard. You need to bend down to wash your calf and foot. What can you comfortably hold on to?

- Broken arm. Less of a problem than other injuries. But it's safer to clean yourself while seated. Again, can you get up easily/safely with the safety bar placement?

HTH!

Here is a link that might be useful: Clear safety bars

Yeah, I broke an ankle while I was still in my 30s and bathing wasn't very pleasant even back then without something to grab onto.

Reel life, if you just google "decorative grab bars" without the quotes you'll find more than you ever imagined.

I have a related question. We have one bathroom that's shower-only, so for serious mobility problems that will be okay, but I'm a bathtub kind of person so we're putting a deep soaking tub in the other bath. Most of the models we're looking at have an option for getting them predrilled for grab bars, but it seems to me that a wall-mounted bar would be preferable. Any thoughts?

Do it now while the walls are open, the contractor is around and you know what is behind the tile.

The difficulty about a bathtub is the entry/exit. I have real problems with my knees, for example. Getting into a bathtub is hard enough, but getting out of it is a nightmare! Without a vertical grab bar - rarely found for a tub, and even more rarely in the right location, on the side where your grip is strongest (e.g., are you left-handed or right-handed?), it takes some careful maneuvering for me to get out safely.

For my MIL's tub (she's 84 but in reasonably good shape for her age with only minor balance issues), I have a short bar angled slightly upwards on the long side of the tub, just where it is comfortable when you sit up straight inside the tub.

Then there is a longer vertical bar she can hold onto once she is standing up, close to the towel bar (which swings for easy access; it's actually a swinging curtain bar). She says this works very well for her and she feels safe.

I also had a grab bar put it. I find it very useful at times even though there are no mobility issues. I agree that it is easier and much more practical to install it now.

Reel life--I think that Smedbo has a good assortment of good-looking grab bars.

Writersblock--we installed a vertical grab bar on the wall. We placed it low enough so that we can reach it from the tub but high enough that it helps getting in. If you look at my pics under "Pics of my new bathrooms" you can see the bar on the left.

Thanks, nycbluedevil.

Just ran across this from Moen: a shelf that's also a grab bar at a reasonable price:

But I wish it came in something besides brushed nickel.

Jayco -
Install them. My 50-something roomie has had a broken leg, a ruptured achilles tendon AND a knee replacement in the past 5 years. We had grab bars in the shower and by the toilets for the last two and they were a godsend.

He's "middle aged and in good shape" ...

Another vote for install them now. I installed two in my mb shower during the rip and replace remodel, thinking they'll be useful someday. Reality - they're useful now; they're used as washcloth holders and have also turned out to be amazingly handy for stabilizing while shaving legs (one foot on bench, hold bar in one hand, razor in the other - no more 'hopping' - found I still prefer to stand while shaving despite having a roomy bench - go figure.) I'm guessing that when gardening season rolls around again and I strain my back again (yearly occurence, it seems) I'll be even happier I've got them.

Remember that if you are installing grab bars for the elderly, contrast is a GOOD thing. The ability of an 80-yr old to perceive subtle contrast can be up to 50% less than the eyesight of a 40-yr old.

Think of the world in black and white. Now put a fine mesh screen over it, reducing the contrast by 50%. That's what happens to your vision as you age.

Thank you all for your interesting views.

So now I have another question: how do you know where to install the grab bar/s? The shower is 36 x 48, with the shower fixtures on the left short wall as you walk in. My husband is a lefty; I am a righty.