How to Install Towel Bars in Ceramic Tile

You can install a towel bar on a tile-covered wall.

Installing towel bars and other bathroom fixtures can help make a bathroom more functional and fashionable. If the majority of the wall surface in your bathroom is covered with tile, you will have to drill into the tile to install a towel bar. The key to installing a towel bar that will not pull free of the wall when used is a combination of locating the studs and drilling quickly into the tile.

Things You'll Need

• Stud finder
• Masking tape
• Pencil
• Drill with a carbide bit and screwdriver attachment
• Plastic screw anchors

Instructions

1. Locate the studs in the area where you wish to install the towel bar. Ideally, you want to catch a stud for each end of the towel bar. Even if only one end of the towel bar catches a stud, the installation should be secure enough.

2. Place two 3-inch pieces of masking tape, in an X design, over the areas where you will drill the holes. The masking tape will keep the bit from slipping on the glaze of the ceramic tile. Each towel bar will have its own specific hole configuration, so refer to the rail's escutcheon--the decorative plate which attaches to the wall--for distance and number.

3. Mark the tape with a pencil where each hole will be drilled. Quickly drill into the tile using a carbide bit. Drilling too slowly will result in a hole that is too large.

4. Push a plastic screw anchor into each hole. Most tile will be too smooth after drilling to securely hold the screws tightly, so a plastic screw anchor will be able to fill the hole and give the screw some grip.

5. Position the ends of the rail over the screws to attach the towel bar to the wall. Some rails with more modern styles will screw the decorative plates directly to the wall. Attach one of the plates first. Attach the second plate loosely and push the rail into the tightened plate first, then the loose plate. Tighten down the loose plate to hold the entire rail into place.

   More traditional style rails will use an anchor plate. Attach the plate to the wall and fit the decorative cover over it by positioning the top and snapping it down to the bottom.

References

• This Old House: Drilling Holes in Tile
• Ask the Builder: Drilling Ceramic Tile