Weekend Bars
The weekend bathroom-safety kit for your parent’s house.
Weekend Bars is reader-supported. If you buy through links on this page, we may earn a commission. Most grab bars are not covered by Medicare; confirm with their plan. This is not medical advice.
Who this kit is for
You already opened Shower Entry and found the problem: a 24″ bar does not land on two studs. That is this page. Same adult child, same parent’s tiled stall, same Saturday. The difference is you will cut a 1¼” hole and use Moen’s named hollow-wall hardware instead of inventing a mount.
This kit is one Moen Home Care 24″ (8724) and two SecureMount anchors (SMA1005CH). Print 300 lb on the anchors. That is the number that matters when a flange is not in wood.
You can still put a flange on a stud if one end lucks into wood. Mix is allowed by Moen: one side stud, one side SMA. You cannot mix SMA under an Amazon Basics bar. Wrong hole pattern. Leave Entry in the box.
Drilling the tile is still the tile guide. This page owns the hollow-wall fork.
Who should not buy this kit
Skip this page if any of these are true.
You cannot — or will not — drill a 1¼” hole through tile. SMA is not a 1/8″ pilot. It is a hole saw. If that is too much wall, this is not the upgrade. It is a different job.
You are a renter, or the house rule is no holes. Do not “upgrade” from Entry to Better. Both kits put holes in the wall. Open Shower Renter.
There is no 3½” cavity behind the tile. Moen’s sheet requires that space. A packed wall, a double-layer of board with nothing behind it, a block wall — stop. SMA has nowhere to open.
You are trying to reuse the Amazon Basics bars from Entry. SMA is Moen flange only. Reviews of the anchor say other brands’ holes do not line up. Do not drill out a Basics flange to make it fit. Buy the 8724.
You wanted the 500 lb stud number on a hollow wall. You do not get it. The SMA listing is 300 lb. The 8724 bullets say 500 lb “when installed in a stud or when using SecureMounts.” The 8724 body copy says 300 lb. The SMA comparison table says 300. We print 300 on the anchors. “ADA Compliant” on the bar listing is listing copy, not a home-install claim.
What’s in the cart
Prices are Amazon.com street on Aug 31, 2026. Verified the same way as the Entry 24″ ($24.56): live buy box.
| Item | ASIN | Size | Price | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moen Home Care grab bar, 8724, 1.25″ diameter | B013P49Y2M | 24 Inch | $27.29 (Aug 31, 2026) | The bar. Stainless. Concealed screws. Anchors not in the box. |
| Moen SecureMount SMA1005CH | B004Q02FX0 | 1 Count — buy two | $10.84 each (Aug 31, 2026) | One per flange that is not in a stud. 300 lb. Moen bars only. |
| 1¼” carbide or diamond hole saw | Hardware store | — | a few dollars | The SMA hole. Not in the Amazon box. |
| Painter’s tape | Hardware store | — | a few dollars | Marks; keeps the saw from skating |
| Silicone bathroom caulk | Hardware store | — | a tube | Optional at the cover. Do not caulk a miss. |
The 16″ vertical at the entry is still usually a stud job. A vertical can ride one piece of wood. Do not automatically buy two more SMAs for that bar. Use the Amazon Basics 16″ from Entry if that flange hits wood, or a matching Moen 16″ in the same finish. This kit is the 24″ that missed the studs.
A pack-of-2 SMA exists on the same listing. No featured offer was captured for that size. Cart is two one-counts.
Designer alt, not in the default cart: Moen LR8724D3CH if the valves are decorative chrome or brushed nickel. Amazon ASIN and street price UNVERIFIED. Same SMA. Same 300 lb off-stud.
Do not add Amazon Basics to this cart to “save the bar you already bought.”
What this kit assumes
Ceramic or porcelain over drywall or cement board, with a 3½” empty cavity behind the wall. That is the SMA spec. This page is the tiled stall. It is not a how-to for other substrates.
You have Install a grab bar on tile open for the glaze, the tape, rotary-not-hammer, and the 1/8″ pilots into any stud you do hit. Start the horizontal around 33–36 inches off the finished floor, then move the tape to their hand.
You will drill 1¼” at each SMA location, insert the guide sleeve UP no matter which way the bar runs, and follow Moen’s sheet — not a hardware-store toggle.
You will tug-test — one firm pull, not a hang — before anyone else uses it.
The 24″ vs 16″ OC problem, owned here
Studs are usually 16 inches on center. A 24″ bar has flanges about two feet apart. One end can sit on wood. The other often sits on hollow tile-over-board. Entry’s rule was: if the 24″ cannot land on wood, do not force that kit.
This is the force-that-is-allowed: Moen bar, Moen anchors, 1¼” holes, 300 lb, 3½” cavity. You may put both flanges on SMA, or one on a stud and one on SMA. You may not put SMA under Basics.
If you can shift the bar so both flanges hit wood, you do not need this kit. Use Entry, or use the 8724 on wood only and skip the anchors. Do not buy SMA “just in case” and then skip the hole. The unused anchor is not a backup. The hole is the mount.
Order of work Saturday
Friday. Order one 8724 and two SMA1005CH one-counts. Confirm you did not buy a pack with no offer. Buy the 1¼” hole saw, tape, silicone. Charge the drill. Read the tile guide once, then Moen’s SMA sheet.
Saturday morning, dry. Them in the stall. Tape 33–36 inches, then their hand. Find studs. Mark which flanges are wood and which are hollow. If both are wood, you are on the wrong page. If neither has a 3½” cavity, stop.
Tile first, then the big hole. Tape the glaze. Rotary only. For a stud flange: 1/8″ pilots into the wood, Moen wood screws. For an SMA flange: 1¼” hole saw through tile and board. Sleeve UP. Pull the tab. Plate on. Bar on. Optional silicone behind the cover.
One firm pull. If the flange lifts, it is not set. Do not caulk over it.
Leave it. Recheck in a month. Looseness is a mount problem, not a bar that wore out.
When this is the wrong upgrade
If you cannot drill at all, Better is not a quieter Entry. Open Shower Renter.
If you still have the Basics bars in the bag, do not order SMA to rescue them. Order the 8724 or go back to Shower Entry and move the bar onto wood.
Buy: Moen 8724, B013P49Y2M at $27.29 (Aug 31, 2026), and two SMA1005CH, B004Q02FX0 at $10.84 each. Drill the tile per Install a grab bar on tile. This page is the 1¼” hole.
Weekend Bars 