HOw do I install rings in my condo

[Kristen Large]

Hi everyone. I am determined to get better on those rings so my husband and I are discussing buying a set and putting the up in our condo. How exactly are they to be installed? Neither of us are very handy by the way. Thanks in advance for the help.
By the way, where is the best place to buy a good set of rings for a decent price?

[Blair Robert Lowe]

Look for a support beam. A big, fat wide one; the fatter and wider the better. Some people screw an eyelet into the bottom of one but I would rather drill a bolt into the side of the beam and hang the rings from there. Currently, I hang my rings from a pullup tower station. Some people hang theirs from portable door frame pullup bars. One of those Iron Gyms would work. None of these solutions allow for the rings to hang while using long straps and have clearance issues.

for rings:

there are Tyler's Hass Elite rings at ringtraining.com, Coach Sommer's at gymnasticbodies.com, Rogue rings, PowerMax rings, Muscledriver rings, and some crossfitter's that sell rings on ebay.

I own Coach Sommer's rings and enjoy them because of the texture. Tyler's were the first of these commercial rings and I enjoyed them as well( the non metal ones ). Rogue's ring work but I wouldn't use metal rings preferably though I hear their strap system is good. PowerMax are decent but not as good as either Tyler's or Sommer's. I haven't played on the Muscledrivers yet so I dunno.

They are probably all around 50-75 bucks+shipping or maybe with shipping.

[Eric Ward]

I purchased Rogue rings just before Christmas, and I love them.
Strap is strong and easy to adjust, with a Velcro strap to hold excess length.
Rings are metal which some people don't like because they may cause injury if they are swinging freely.
The grip is awesome and hold chalk well.

[Kristen Large]

Thank you both for your replies. Very helpful. What if my ceiling does not have any beams that are visible.? We have that cottage cheese looking white ceiling. Can I put the bolt directly into a stud in the ceiling? Will that hold us when we are on the rings? Is there a certain size eye hook we need?

[Ed Haywood]

Depends on the strength of the lumber you are hanging it from. If there is a floor above you, then you might be drilling into solid floor joists, which are pretty sturdy. Or you might be drilling into I joists, which aren't designed for that. If you're on the top floor, your ceiling joists may be as small as 2x4 if the roof is built with trusses. I definitely wouldn't hang an eye bolt from a single 2x4. Is there an attic above you where you can take a look at the wood? If you're unfamiiliar with the terms I'm using, here's a primer on roof construction. (wfs)

I suggest you get a 2x8 about 8 feet long so it spreads the load across 4 or 5 joists. Bolt some big (3/8 or bigger) eye bolts through it, then lag bolt that into the ceiling joists. Board should be perpendicular to the joints. Looks like this:
http://www.logwod.com/photos/hangingrings.jpg.

If you're not familiar with basic construction, get a friend or handyman to hang it. Having a 2x8 fall on your head would suck.

[Kristen Large]

Thanks. That is extremely helpful. You guys are very knowledgable.

[dale milam]

I ordered both the Xtreme rings and the Elite II rings. I compared both of them side by side and ended up keeping the Elites. Some posters swear by the metal Rogues but I am happy with the Elite IIs.

[Leah Turner]

Ed or anyone else, if we do what you suggest in the picture, but there are I joists and not solid floor joists is that okay?

Is there anyway for one to determine which type of joists one has without seeing them? How exactly does one locate the joists in the ceiling?

What are the chances this will fall out of the ceiling and if so what kind of damage would it cause?

I personally would be hanging mine on the first floor of a townhouse, with the second floor above me.

And thanks for the explaination; very helpful!

[Paul Rivers]

If I can add a question to the thread, what if the ceiling beams are sloped at 33 degrees? I've not yet cut into my garage drywall to see what sort of beams. But assuming they are solid 2x6 or better, how would an angle change things?

Thanks much!!

[Ed Haywood]

Leah,

First, I'm not a professional builder or engineer, just a relatively handy guy, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

I would not hang a heavy load from the bottom of an engineered wood I-beam joist. They are engineered for a top load, not a bottom load. You can read more about I joists here. (wfs)

You can locate the joists with a stud-finder, same as you would when hanging a picture. There is no way I know of determining what type joists are used without looking at them. I suggest you take a look in the attic, if the floor is exposed up there, or crawl space if you have one. If your attic floor is joisted with engineered wood, then it's very likely that the rest of the building is too. How old is the townhouse? Engineered wood joists were not used prior to the 70's, and not common until the 90's. Finally, you could simply cut a small square out of the ceiling sheetrock and look up in there, then patch it. That is a very simple repair, and you could do it in a closet where it is not conspicuous.

If it did fall, the damage to the house would be a few chunks of sheetrock and wood would fall from your ceiling. Fairly easy for a carpenter to repair. The damage to your skull if the 2x8 hit you on the head would be much worse. That could easily be a fatal injury. Don't risk it.

Do you have a deck on the second floor? If so, you could hang your rings from the floor joists on the underside of the deck, using the method shown in the photo. That would be bombproof. Use treated lumber and galvanized hardware outside.