About This Job
The call came with a deadline attached. A relative was being discharged from hospital in a few days and the shower had nothing to hold on to. That is the kind of job where the date matters as much as the work.
We agreed on the rail first. The client chose the one she wanted, and I picked it up along with the silicone on the way, so nothing held the job up once I was on site.
The first thing on site was not drilling — it was asking where she wanted it. Where a grab rail goes is a decision for the person who is going to use it, not for the person fitting it. It has to fall where a hand reaches on the way in, on the way down and on the way back up.
Then the stud finder came out, and that is where the job changed. Behind the wall she had picked there was nothing solid at all — just lining. A grab rail fixed to lining will hold while nobody needs it and let go at the exact moment somebody does, because it is only ever loaded when a person is already off balance.
The opposite wall was a different story: solid timber framing behind it. So I explained the position had to move, and why. She agreed, I marked the firm points off the stud finder, and the rail went on there.
Last came the silicone. Every flange was sealed around its edge, because four sets of screw holes in a shower wall is four ways for water to get in behind the lining. Three hours, done on my own.
