www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

Hey all,

My first post as I'm a newbie. I've been asked to fit a grab rail for an elderly gentleman with dementia.

They want one on the wall by the bath and the other in their shower. The wall is ceramic tile but it's double tiled. Behind the two tiles is plasterboard.

I don't want to mess this up and brought drill bits and masking tape to drill through the tiles. My wory is the fixing required. Would a plastic raw plug hold or would I need an anchor fixing?

I would be grateful for any web links to said fixing on what would be suitable!

P.s I need to get this done for next Tuesday.

Cheers

If it was me, I would only fix a grab rail to something solid like brickwork or a timber stud/noggin.

grab rails need to be fixed to a solid surface,it'll never hold a persons weight into plasterboard. It dangerous to be honest. You could cut a section of the plasterboard on the opposite side of the wall,put in a solid piece of timber between the two studs then patch. You'll then be able to fix the grab rail securely.

Thanks Ayjay and Steviejoiner74.

I know there is a stud wall behind the tiles. I assuming it's plasterboard on the stud walling. Is that the norm?

I bought a stud finder from screwfix the other day and it couldn't locate the studs through the thickness of the tiles.

Barron wrote:
I bought a stud finder from screwfix the other day and it couldn't locate the studs through the thickness of the tiles.

No surprise there, those stud detectors can't generally find a stud through plasterboard, let alone a double layer of tiles + plasterboard....

BTW, you'll prolly need to drill through the tiles/plasterboard to find out if the p/b is dot and dabbed or indeed a stud wall.

If in doubt, check some of the untiled walls which should give a clue. As said if a stud wall you really will need to find a way to get a solid fixing..

Go to the other side of the wall and you'll know if it's a stud wall by tapping it with a pencil. If the wall you are fixing to is a party wall or exterior wall then you'll need to find out if it's dot and dab onto block or timber frame.