Question on fitting hammock on patio?

**Reives.J** · 04-19-2011, 15:49

Ive Been looking around and thinking of asking for an ENO Doublenest for my upcoming birthday. Thinking about hanging it up on the patio and was wondering if it would be possible to fit it out there. The patio is 11' Long and has a 6x6 beam along the top supporting the next floors patio running across. I am not to worried about attaching to the beam just wondering if the 11' will be long enough to hang comfortably. I would say the beam is about 8' above the Patio floor and was thinking this might be a little high. Any thoughts on the matter or does anyone have any experience hanging in such a small space. Thanks.

**Bubba** · 04-19-2011, 16:59

You can hang in there. Your attachment points will have to be low, probably around 5 to 5 1/2 feet high I would guess. If you attached it to the beam 8 feet high you will have way too much sag and your hammock would be more of a chair. Are there posts 11' apart you can wrap some webbing around? BTW, DO NOT GET THE ENO SLAP STRAPS. They are a waste of money IMO and many others opinions because they are nylon and they stretch too much.

**Ramblinrev** · 04-19-2011, 17:16

Unless you can lower your attachment points the beam is too high to be reasonable. Is this an apartment or condo? If so you might want to check into the construction of the beam. There are a number of possibilities. If it is structural it might be a solid beam, or it could be a wood case built around a concrete beam to give it a more pleasing look. If it ias not structural it might even be a hollow box set there to be decorative.

Lowering the attachment points might be as simple as using the support posts for the beam if they are strong enough. If the beam is supported by a wall of sorts you have a different set of issues to work with. Before I went attaching bolts into a wall surface supporting a patio I would want to make sure the wall was built to handle that amount of stress. For example, brick veneer concrete block would probably not be a suitable wall to attach to.

**Reives.J** · 04-19-2011, 17:38

The beam is a solid piece of lumber as far as i can tell. The walls have vinyl siding so i am not sure about what it is like behind them. On both sides of the patio is a door as well, one into the apartment and the other into a storage closet. Unless i can attach to the top door framing on each side the walls are probably not going to be of much use, however the door framing is about 7 feet high at the top and not much better of a situation than the beam it seems.

**Bubba** · 04-19-2011, 18:04

How about a hammock stand?

**Reives.J** · 04-19-2011, 18:09

Also a possibility but kinda takes out any other uses for the patio. I was hoping to be able to hang it and just move the folding chairs out of the way when i wanted to use it.

As it was recommended to hang about 5 feet how far off the ground would that put me? A foot? If so could the hammock not be identically hanged at say 7' above the door frame since the doors open to the inside of the apartment and be just hanging 2 feet higher?

**Ramblinrev** · 04-19-2011, 18:14

You could string the hammock so it hangs 6' off the floor if you want to. The problem is getting in and out. Usual height is just slightly more than chair height when it is unloaded. Another two feet is a considerable jump to maintain the typical optimal sag.. The other admonition to be considered is the all encompassing adage "Don't hang any higher than you are willing to fall.

**Bubba** · 04-19-2011, 18:22

Amen Rev.
5 feet, as Rev said, would give you chair height. I have hung from the joists in my basement which put me 4 feet high. I hand to use a small ladder to get in and out. I was confident that I was not going to fall though. In your case, relying on the door frames I may not be as confident. It's possible and others have hung from door frames. Just make sure they are able to take the weight.

**Reives.J** · 04-19-2011, 18:46

Yeah while the door frames MAY be alright i am not to keen on depending on them. I know the Beam would support it but then again that leads to the being high up and needing something to get into the hammock. I suppose i can look into some sort of hammock stand im just not sure how easy these can be to set up and tear down as it is not something i would want there permanently. Any links on a stand that can be torn down relatively easily (5-10 mins). Thanks for the help so far.

**Bubba** · 04-19-2011, 19:23

My wife got me a Vivere Universal Hammock Stand for Christmas which I use in my basement. It's pretty good and goes together and comes apart in about 5 to 10 minutes with no tools required. The ends do move inwards when you get in but this happens with most if not all stands of this style. I use mine all the time and is holding up. I am 230 lbs BTW. You could make one yourself out of wood. Search the forums and you'll find some plans for DIY stands.