Hanging from the basement (I Bolts?)

[gargoyle]

Cheap and easy is the "drill a small hole" method.
Figure out where the attachment points need to be.
You can use a temporary pair of nails to hold up an unoccupied hammock.
Drill the holes, drill into the upper half of the joist. Then string thru a contionous loop of 1/8" amsteel, and larkshead it to the joist. Clip your hammock to the continous loop.

No lumber to buy, or attach to the home. No need for multiple boards. Or worrying about how well your attachment job will hold.
The flooring above is obviously holding the weight and sharing the stress, or the joists/rafters would have folded over by now.

I believe Knotty did the drill technique in his basement?
Sometimes simpler is better.

[Bubba]

Cheap and easy is the "drill a small hole" method.
Figure out where the attachment points need to be.
You can use a temporary pair of nails to hold up an unoccupied hammock.
Drill the holes, drill into the upper half of the joist. Then string thru a contionous loop of 1/8" amsteel, and larkshead it to the joist. Clip your hammock to the continous loop.

No lumber to buy, or attach to the home. No need for multiple boards. Or worrying about how well your attachment job will hold.
The flooring above is obviously holding the weight and sharing the stress, or the joists/rafters would have folded over by now.

I believe Knotty did the drill technique in his basement?
Sometimes simpler is better.

This is what I did in my work room. I already had some scrap amsteel pieces so I just made some loops, fed them through the holes in the joists and use some biners to connect either a whoopie sling or webbing to the amsteel. It was the simplest solution for me and works well.

[Hung]

Jon

If your joist are running the same way you want to hang your hammock,I'd just go with the one on the bottom. And screw it from the bottom straight into the joist. Be sure and drill a pilot hole first. A 1/4 to 5/16 should be good.
And make sure you screw it in all the way to the eye.
There is no way you'll pull these out or bend them. And you really dont need to worry about re-enforcing anything. The way the floor is built already did that for you. You gotta remember the floor is designed to hold the weight of all the crap in your house,so the only thing you need to worry about is your connection points.

http://www.boltdepot.com/fastener-in...imensions.aspx

[Floridahanger]

from a structural stand point, it will take a lot of stress off of the 2x6 joist if you spread the load over several joist. at our old house i used a 10' deck board (5/4" x 6" x 10") cut into 5' pieces.
i screwed them to the joists with 2 1/2" coarse drywall screws then put an eye bolt through the deck board, between the joist.
it worked like a champ.

+2
You mentioned a little worry about not wanting to weaken the old wood. This would be the best, cheapest, and strongest option.
You could also use old planks with a little story behind them for the "umph" factor.

[jons4real]

Hey everybody, thank you very much for all the great tips and tricks. I decided to use I Bolts and attach them from the side and they are doing very well.

[Floridahanger]

Great. You know what's next.
Time for pic's.

[DaleW]

Holes are commonly drilled in joists for wiring and plumbing. You should avoid drilling a lot of holes in a line, where it could encourage a crack. The load isn't any more than giving your wife a hug and a kiss standing on the floor above, or sticking you head in the fridge If you put in bolts, you end up drilling a hole anyway and lag bolts are like driving a wedge in the wood. I drilled holes in my 2x10 joists and use tubular webbing as an anchor. I clip in carabiners to attach my whoopie slings.

[jons4real]

I think your right Dale. After putting up the bolts I decided it would be best to just drill holes and use amsteel to hang from. As soon as I can I'm getting amsteel!

Holes are commonly drilled in joists for wiring and plumbing. You should avoid drilling a lot of holes in a line, where it could encourage a crack. The load isn't any more than giving your wife a hug and a kiss standing on the floor above, or sticking you head in the fridge If you put in bolts, you end up drilling a hole anyway and lag bolts are like driving a wedge in the wood. I drilled holes in my 2x10 joists and use tubular webbing as an anchor. I clip in carabiners to attach my whoopie slings.

[DaleW]

I don't like using Amsteel where it can be abraded. That is why I used the tubular nylon webbing in the joist holes where there are splinters and rough edges. Nothing touches my whoopie slings but the smooth surface of a carabiner.

[kayak karl]

just work like a plumber and drill holes wherever