How to Install an ADA Handrail By a Toilet

Purchase a grab bar that measures at least 42 inches long. The ADA specifies that grab bars mounted beside toilets must be this length. If you plan to install a grab bar behind the toilet, the ADA requires this bar to be at least 36 inches long.

Stand facing the wall beside the toilet and measure 12 inches out from the rear wall. Make a pencil mark at this distance. The ADA requires that grab bars mounted to the side wall beside a toilet must be placed no more than 12 inches from the back wall.

Turn on a stud finder and move it around the wall between your pencil mark and the rear wall. If you can locate a stud in this area, mark its location with a pencil.

Select a drill bit slightly smaller than the mounting screws for the grab bar and drill a hole in the drywall and through to the stud. The ADA does not specify the height of the grab bar off the ground, but it should be within easy reach for someone sitting on the toilet.

Measure the length of the grab bar from one mounting hole to another. Place a laser level on the wall and level the device so the beam creates a horizontal line from the hole you drilled previously. Make a pencil mark for the other mounting hole. For example, if the grab bar is 42 inches from one mounting hole to the other, make a pencil mark at 42 inches.

Drill a hole in the location of the pencil mark. If you do not hit a stud, redrill the hole with a drill bit slightly smaller than a wall anchor. Hammer or screw the wall anchor into the hole.

Hold the grab bar against the wall so its mounting holes line up with the holes you drilled. Use a screwdriver to drive screws through the mounting holes and into the stud and anchor.