A grab bar looks like a small job. The installer arrives, drills a few holes, and leaves. Whether your parent can hold on safely depends on what happens inside the wall and what you check before the installer packs up.

Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.

Check the order before the installer comes

Ask for the order in writing and compare it with the discharge plan. The order should name each fixture, its length, the wall where it goes, and the address where it will be installed. If the hospital's instructions put a bar beside the toilet and the order puts it beside the tub, fix that now, not on install day.

Ask who is doing the install: the company's own technician, a contractor, or a handyman. Get the name of the person on the appointment and a phone number that reaches that person, not only a general line.

Ask how they will find solid backing

A grab bar holds only as well as its mounting. Ask the installer how they will find solid backing: wall studs, blocking inside the wall, or an anchor rated for that wall type. Tile, plaster, and hollow board each need a different approach, and a screw that holds in one will not hold in another.

Ask what they will do if they find no backing at the spot you need. A good answer is that they stop, tell you, and do not drill anyway. If the answer is that they will use a longer screw and hope, the bar is not ready to be used.

Ask for the manufacturer's rating for the bar and for the anchor, and ask whether that rating applies to the wall they are actually using. Write the rating on your list.

Sign off before anyone leaves

Be home for the install, or have a key holder who knows the plan. Before the installer packs up, walk each bar with them and check that:

Each bar is level and tight, and the installer has tested it with a firm pull in the direction your parent would pull.
A toilet riser or tub bench sits flat and does not rock on the floor. Check its height against the measurement in the order.
Any fixture that needs a tool to remove is marked, and the installer leaves the instructions or the tool.
Holes are patched, or the installer tells you who patches them and when.

The first use

Do not test a new bar by leaning your full weight on it. Ask the installer to show you the test they used, and do that test. Then follow the transfer steps the hospital gave you, with someone standing close, until you are satisfied the bar works the way the plan assumes.

Find out who handles service

Ask who answers if a screw loosens or a bar moves. Ask how many days it takes for a technician to come, whether there is a charge for the visit, and whether the warranty covers the wall or only the bar itself. If the equipment is rented, ask who removes it and who patches the wall when it leaves. If the house may be sold in the future, ask whether the fixtures can come out without damage and what that involves.

Put the service route in the plan

Write one line in the discharge notebook for each fixture: what it is, where it is, the installer's name, the phone number, the warranty end date, and who calls if something moves. Keep it with the rest of the discharge papers. If you are still looking for local contacts, the Local Help After a Discharge page lists where to start, and the Sources page shows where the general guidance on this desk comes from.

The Grab Bars Are Going In. Check the Wall, the Sign-Off, and the Service Route Before Anyone Leaves