Fixing grab rail to tiled & plasterboard hollow wall.

I need to fix an (additional) grab rail in the shower room of my Mums house. The wall is tiled over a plasterboard base. Presumably with wood frame but the chances of hitting the wood for all 6 holes  in the position she wants is slim to non existent I guess. For light duty applications I would normally use a std ‘brown’ solid wall rawlplug and rely on the tile strength but not happy with that for this application.

Any recommendations for a heavy duty fixing that will work with a tiled surface over hollow wall?  Most of the fixings I have seen rely on the head biting into the plasterboard (which it wont do on a ceramic surface) to prevent rotation. Not keen on the spring loaded versions as the hole needed is pretty big.

Cheers

Do you have access to the other side of the wall?

Drill though the ceramic tiles and plasterboard with a tile bit.

Open up the other (presumably non tiled) side of the wall and fit a nice thick plywood pattress where the holes you’ve drilled are visible.

Repair the hole you’ve just made.

Screw  the grab rail into the ply.

raulplug hollow wall anchor and the setting tool.

surprising what they can hold up.

how ever based on what you say – its likely to be used to pull ones self up so will probably be safer doing as above with the ply .

Yes I do have access to the other side, and even better that side is a built in wardrobe so making good the big hole wont be quite as critical.

The cloakroom however where another smaller handle is required is a different matter. No access at all to the rear  but might be lucky there as its edge to edge on some boxing so there should be a framework to fix to.

Many thanks

Owen

raulplug hollow wall anchor and the setting tool.

surprising what they can hold up.

Mmmm, not sure they are strong enough for a grab handle, and it’s not the strength of the fixing that is the problem. I slipped getting out of the shower a few years ago and on my way down to the deck I grabbed at a towel rail attached via this method and pulled two large holes, a good couple of inches larger in radius than the fixings, off the wall around where the towel rail was attached. Came out of the wall as easy as you like. The plasterboard is nowhere near strong enough, so no point in attaching to the plasterboard. You really need to get in behind and put some additional structure in.

For the handle then you might be able to get a few tiles off whole. If the tiles have been attached directly to the plasterboard wall, the a bit of gentle prizing once you’ve chased out the grout around the tiles might see them come off whole and un-damaged. Certainly when I re-tiled my bathroom I just attacked with a large screwdriver as I wasn’t re-using the tiles, but most of the tiles popped off whole.

Duct tape?