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Installing an RV Grab Bar |
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| I've installed an RV safety feature this week. It's a serious safety grab bar designed for bathrooms. Our fifth wheel bedroom is 18" above the kitchen floor which means two steps up into the bedroom and of course, two steps down to the kitchen. Gwen was wearing new socks last week, slipped on a step and with nothing to stop her tumble, hit the kitchen floor with a thud. I had to order a special size grab bar (short) but I wanted something that was made for the job. I'm pleased with this bar ... as I told Gwen, she could do "chin-ups" on this bar now. |
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This close-up of the bar shows it's sturdy construction. It has a crome finish with three screws (at least that was what was supplied with the bar) to each support |
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brachet. The bar is mounted to the (mostly) solid wood sides to our kitchen cabinets so the screws would have worked except they are 2" long, 5/8" too long. I purchased flat head machine |
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| bolts with a washer and nut for each bolt. I tightened the bolts using my Brookstone gadget . The grab bar is very solid and gives a good feeling of support even for an old fellow like myself. |
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February 28, 2009: The installation above is on our King of the Road fifth wheel which we owned until we traded for our Cameo. This last day of February brings a one day bag sale at ACE Hardware, my favorite store. If you are one of the first customers, you get an ACE cloth shopping bag. I was one of the first so I got a free bag. My shopping today was for a garden hose pistol grip and a grab bar. |
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| We have three steps between the bathroom and kitchen area. At night, when we are half asleep, it would be nice to have a grab bar so we don't go sliding down those three steps. We had a choice of chrome or white. I chose white as the best of two bad choices. The problem with mounting the grab bar is that this wall is only 1/8 inch thick plywood. I decided to back the wall with a 2 x 4 fir stud. I cut it at an angle to match the grab bar and made a notch (rabbet for woodworkers) to catch the support beams on each side of the plywood. I glued the 2 x 4 in place using construction grade adhesive. The photo to the right is looking up inside the wall behind the grab bar. A 1-1/2 inch holding tank vent pipe is passing to the roof on the right of the photo. The grab bar feels solid. |
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