John posted for all of us...



On 12/19/2014 9:24 PM, wrote:
Can you get to the other side of the installing wall and make a small exploratory hole? If not, is there a closet or someplace you can see what the mounting centers are for the studs. Maybe a climb into the attic will reveal somthing, you can look strsight down on the header above an inside wall and see where the nails go straight down into the top of the studs if the walls were prenailed before erecting them. Maybe a deep-penetration setting
on a regular electronic wall stud finder would be sensitive enough to find the studs behind the plaster and lath.


To add to what I posted yesterday:

Actual ADA approved grab bars have a screw pattern wider than a standard
stud, so at best you may get 2 of 3 screws into the stud on one end and
perhaps only one on the other end. Open the wall, put in solid wood and
do it right.

I also don't advise using bars that aren't knurled. Knurling is a cross
hatch pattern machined into the metal. Wet hands can easily slip off of
smooth surfaces. A smooth finish may look better but its an accident
waiting to happen.

John

+50 as a user of them.

--
Tekkie