Licensed #EASTGB744B1. Insured. Senior discounts available. Eastside Grab Bars is owned and operated by Mark Costello, and the business installs grab bars for elderly parents, grandparents, and spouses across East King County. The goal is simple: help older adults stay in the home they love, safely, for as long as they want to be there.
Aging in place is not a trend. It is what most seniors actually want. AARP research shows that roughly 77 percent of adults over 50 want to stay in their current home as they age. Grab bars are one of the smallest, most affordable steps that make aging in place actually possible. Residents of Issaquah, Bellevue, Redmond, Sammamish, Kirkland, Newcastle, and nearby can usually be scheduled within a few days.
The numbers from the CDC are hard to ignore. One out of four adults over 65 falls every year. Every 11 seconds, an older adult is treated in an emergency room for a fall. Every 19 minutes, an older adult dies from one. Falls are the leading cause of injury death for Americans over 65, and most of them happen inside the home.
A single fall changes everything. Even without a broken hip, the fear of falling again shrinks a person’s daily life. They stop showering as often. They stop walking to the mailbox. They stop going out with friends. That slow retreat from normal life hurts almost as much as the injury itself. A grab bar in the right spot, mounted to a stud, holding real weight, gives an older person the confidence to keep doing the things that make life worth living.
The in-home visit looks at the whole home, not just the bathroom. Many falls happen on stairs, at door thresholds, or in the bedroom. A single bar in the right hallway spot can matter as much as three bars in a shower.
Working with elderly clients means slowing down, listening well, and respecting the home.
Often the first call comes from an adult son or daughter living in Seattle, across the country, or overseas. Questions get answered directly, the install gets explained, and the visit gets scheduled around the parent’s schedule, not just the installer’s. The senior is welcome to join the call too.
The on-site walkthrough covers every area the person uses daily. Bathroom first, then bedroom, then stairs, then entryways. How the person moves, where they reach for the wall, where they lean on furniture, all get noted. Those small signals point to exactly where bars belong.
Drop cloths go down and work happens quietly, with the parent comfortable the whole time. Most homes are finished in one visit of two to three hours. Every speck of dust is cleaned before the install ends.
Before leaving, Mark walks the senior through each new bar in real movement: stepping into the shower, standing up from the toilet, climbing the stairs. Getting a feel for the bar with the installer still there builds confidence fast. A follow-up a few weeks later confirms everything is holding up.
Mark started Eastside Grab Bars after years of helping his own aging family members. A few well-placed bars turned out to be the difference between staying home and moving to assisted living. After retiring from the US Small Business Administration in Seattle in 2021, he turned that personal experience into a local business.
Mark holds the Aging in Place Home Safety Advisor designation through Age Safe America, the largest aging-in-place advocacy organization in the country. He also volunteers with Rebuilding Together Seattle, installing grab bars in the homes of low-income seniors across King County. Between paid and volunteer work, hundreds of elderly clients have shaped what works in real daily life.
This is the most common question adult children ask. It helps to frame bars as a way to stay independent, not as a sign of decline. Many seniors say yes once they hear that grab bars are what let their friends keep living alone. Mark is also happy to join the conversation in person during the assessment visit and answer questions directly.
Most homes end up with three to six bars total. A typical set includes two in the shower, one by the toilet, and one or two more at high-risk spots like the tub, the bed, or a set of stairs. Only what the specific home and person actually need gets recommended.
Yes. If a senior is uncomfortable with the install happening around them, or if the family wants it done as a surprise before a return from the hospital, scheduling works around the parent's routine with the help of adult children or caregivers.
Call Mark at (425) 522-8663, or send a message through the contact form for a same-day response. A safer home for a loved one is often one short morning of work away.
Senior discounts are available.
