How thick is that wall?

[Lawrence Tarnoff]

I need to rehang the shower head fixture base in our '99 Contessa.  The fixture base is attached using a pair of simple anchors, one of which has worked its way loose (and the other is losing its grip as well).  I plan on replacing using the kind of anchor that expands to grab the back of the wall.  These come in various lengths, so I need a good idea of the thickness of the wall in order to get the right size anchor.  Any thoughts?

Larry

[Fred Brooks]

         Lawrence,

     I believe the wall thickness is 2", to verify, open a window and make a caliper out of cardboard and measure the thickness. Regards Fred

[Lawrence Tarnoff]

This is an interior wall.  What I need to know is the thickness of the material used for the wallboard.  My guess is that it isn't 1/2 inch sheetrock.

[Grant Ralston]

Lawrence,
We installed a safety handrail in our 98 Contessa shower.  The fiberglass shower stall was about 1/4" thick backed with plywood about 5/8" thick and a couple of small studs.  For the screws that missed the one stud we used a thru the wall high capacity moly-bolt style connector intended for handrails that was all good until we brought in the expando slide and the end of the moly-bolt splintered one of the wood bracing member of the slide before I got it stopped.  We removed the trim piece to investigate, discovered the tight clearance once you go thru the plywood and we used sheet metal screws into the plywood.   It passed my load test and all is good.

[Lawrence Tarnoff]

Thanks, Grant.  A closer inspection on mine reveals no wall behind the fiberglass at the point where the shower head mount is located.  Simple job now of replacing the anchors.

Larry