Indoor Hanging Failure

[CentralTexasPathfinder]

Hey all,

Tried hanging my hammock indoors and immediately regretted it! I placed 5/16in. x 3 1/4in. screw eyes rated at 250lbs. into wood studs, hung my 125in. hammock at a diagonal across the 13.5ft. gap., and I weigh ~150lbs... and, well, you can see the results.





Looking at my last photo I can see now that I may not have gone all the way into the stud...Any tips on what I may have done wrong? Trying to hang in a rental and I really want to make sure I don't have to do any repairs on top of what I've already got! Plus, y'know, my dignity!

Thanks!

[mudsocks]

Looks like it did not have sufficient stud penetration. I used #14 3" SPAX and these D-Ring Tie Downs.

[Rain Man]

Looks as if the holes were not drilled in line with the force on the eye bolts.

Also, each and every piece of the entire system should be rated at 5 to 10 times the expected dead (static) weight. In other words, a 250 lb eye bolt is safe for no more than 25-50 lbs when it comes to human safety factor.

Finally, you might need to span a couple of studs with a sufficiently strong piece of lumber or hardware for each anchor point.

[jcksparow]

Do you know what kind of walls you have? Judging from your third pic, it looks as though they may be lathe & plaster. Those can be significantly thicker than drywall, meaning you'll likely need to utilize longer screws in addition to ensuring you locate the center of the studs--no easy feat through thick walls!

[BigE94]

Im not a huge fan of the eyebolts. I have some and they have worked, but I dont think it's the best option especially when hanging indoors on a diagonal.

I also use saddle buckles, but place a piece of wood underneath to add support. This keeps the drywall from getting crushed.

If you are 150lbs and caused that damage I would say you missed the stud or as someone said have more going on inside of that wall than you think. I'm 350 lbs and hang from my saddle buckles. Mine are rated for 300lbs, have a welded ring and are anchored with 4'' Spax. Rain Man is correct with the forces and human safety factor, If I have a failure it won't be because of the buckle and it's only a short drop to a carpeted floor.

Check out that wall a little more. Spanning across several studs would be a great idea.


hammock wall mount.jpg

[Grumpy Squatch]

With that long vertical crack my guess is that you either moved the underlying stud and/or the threaded portion of the eye also pulled the wallboard sheet.

I've never been a fan of anchoring into wall studs. They are designed to support a compressive load spread by the top and bottom plates, not a torsion load (hanging on a diagonal will do this) and a shear load at the site of the eye. In an older house w/ 2x4 walls and a couple of common nails at the top and bottom (likely hand hammered so who really knows if they both bit well) it'd be pretty easy to twist the stud a bit with a 150 lb hanger and a tight suspension angle.

IMHO, if your room dimensions support it, I prefer ceiling anchors into joists/rafters. Why? Even in older homes joists and rafters tend to be larger dimensional lumber (2x6 at least or 2x8 or even 2x10) and are often blocked or strapped to prevent torsional movement. Also agree with everything Rain Man said. Spreading the load across a couple joists or studs is optimal.

In my open basement I over did everything, spanning the floor joists and using heavy duty hardware.

DSC01086 (Medium).JPG

Good luck.

[sqidmark]

I recently installed what home depot calls superstrut. It has many names, kindorf, unistrut etc. I just happened to have a few pieces laying around. Found in the electrical dept. Get the 1-5/8 x 1-5/8, NOT the 1-5/8 x 3/4. Use either 3/8 or 1/2" spring nuts and of course equivalent eyebolts. I use 3/8 but I'm on the lighter end of the spectrum. in my opinion the 1/2" eyebolts they had at our HD were on the long side, they'd need to be shortened and a die run up it to allow the eye to be closer to the channel. Otherwise I'm afraid the bolt may just bend. Not shown on that page are the square washers that are needed. I also recommend a regular flat washer between the square washer and eyebolt nut, it helps to prevent the square washer from rotating as you tighten.

I've noticed that they also have plastic caged nuts to use in place of the spring nuts, both styles are simply to help keep the nut in position while you attach your stuff. I've never use the platic caged version.

The spring nuts have grooves that correspond to the inner lip of the channel. When the outer nut is well tightened up against that big flat washer, all parts become bound so tightly together I've never seen one distort. But you could be the first.

Currently, mine are mounted vertically so I can make elevation adjustments for bridge hammocks, but you could certainly use horizontally to span several studs. I use 5/16 lag bolts with flat washers to secure. I anchor about every 5th or 6th hole, but studs are pretty much always on 16" centers. This stuff is really sturdy, but I can't possibly vouch for it's behaviour when stressed between 16" anchors, although I would trust it before a 2x4.. I'm not an engineer. You're on your own.

I was a welder for 25yrs and installed a lot of this stuff at industrial sites for electrical and plumbing applications. Very often found hanging from threaded rod. The only damage I recall seeing to it was due to overhead cranes and/or fork trucks, or spans that were waaay beyond practical for the stresses applied. In all that time I never dreamed I'd ever use it for something like this?!

Important tip: After cutting the channel, make certain to debur the inside edges else you WILL regret it!

Sorry, I don't have any photos of it in use at this time.

[oldgringo]

Another option...WLL ~2500#.
Harken 56 mm Padeye 2 Fasteners 2759 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LDFLCNE..._jFTnzbFN241M8

With any system, it is crucial to locate the exact center of the stud. The only method I have any confidence in is to "fish" for both edges of the stud with tiny wire nails. Then use Grade 5 or better fasteners, such as SPAX.

[Carrico]

Try going into the top plate instead of the studs, it will hold a lot more weight and will be much safer. like mentioned above studs are not designed for horizontal Force specially if it's a 2x4. In fact the only thing that keeps you from snapping the stud in half and ripping it out of the wall is the fact that it's nailed top and bottom into the bottom plate and top plates and nail to the siding on the outside of your house and sheetrock, otherwise it would break very quickly. People have tried sinking 4x4 posts into the ground and hang in between them only to snap them off. I have installed I bolts into the top plate on my 2x4 walls and I've been hanging off them for about a year now with no problems. I've been building houses for over 20 years and wouldnt attempt putting an eye bolt in a stud and hanging off it, unless it was at least a 2x6 stud, then I would keep it close to the top of the wall and make sure I got the middle of the stud with the bolt.

[CentralTexasPathfinder]

Wow, thank you all for the many detailed responses! Proof enough to me that these forums are an incredible resource!

Looks like it did not have sufficient stud penetration. I used #14 3" SPAX and these D-Ring Tie Downs.

I ordered a similar D-Ring tie down based on your suggestion, thank you!

Looks as if the holes were not drilled in line with the force on the eye bolts.

If I'm understanding you correctly, I drilled the holes perpendicular to the studs. Do you think I should have drilled at the angle the hammock is going to hang?

Do you know what kind of walls you have? Judging from your third pic, it looks as though they may be lathe & plaster.

I don't know, but a hole in the wall in another part of the house indicated to me that the walls are only 1/2in.

I recently installed what home depot calls superstrut.

That sounds very promising! I found this thread, is that basically what you're suggesting? I'd prefer to keep it a little more subtle if possible though, I think.

Try going into the top plate instead of the studs, it will hold a lot more weight and will be much safer.

So just place the anchors directly under the ceiling? Won't that give a super steep hang angle?



To those who suggested hanging from the ceiling, unfortunately our lease stipulates that we're not allowed to go into the attic. Of course, I think they also frown on ripping the studs out of the walls...

Also, several mentioned the importance of finding the center of the stud. I don't know if it's my stud finder or the construction that's wonky, but there seems to be no consistency in where the studs are.. Certainly not 16'' or 24''.. more like 6'' and 21''. That's why I ended up deciding on anchoring in corners, because I could be at least reasonably certain the stud finder was telling me the truth there, and measured .75'' for the center.

Aside from this being my first time hanging indoors, I am also a DIY newbie, so thank you for bearing with me!