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Is this dangerous?
I watched the new X-POLE XPERT Installation Video (2014) on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHGPCv7Dy-A
In it at just over the 5:00 mark they suggest finding the joist by knocking on the ceiling. I find this a dangerous suggestion. Left a comment there but xpole deleted it. Even with an electronic stud finder its difficult enough. Also what sounds like a joist might even be a water line or wood supporting something not a part of the roof joists. Not to mention (but you know I would anyway!) to be under the center of a stud which is a 2″x4″ and therefore actually 1 ½” can be a shot in the dark literally. I actually have added wood to joists to add support and make it easier to be completely under wood that will support the load from the pole. For anyone interested, they can find my plans here: http://webjunk.us/pole-dancing/
Just worries me that people may get hurt. Sorry for the rant. -
5 Replies
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I think its really cool the level of engineering you went through to make sure your pole was installed securely. I also imagine all the holes in ceiling sheetrock X-Pole would find themselves liable for were they to tell people to go in the attic of their home and reinforce the ceiling.
The vast majority of people are not capable of or lack the tools necessary to perform restructuring of their ceiling to this extent. Additionally many people live in domiciles that lack attic access as in the case of an apartment building.
Such restructuring would also eliminate the portable nature of the pole, at which point you might as well have simply installed a single point permanent mount pole directly into the joist and avoid the entire restructuring process.
X-Pole has been doing this for nearly ten years, I’m sure they have consulted with lawyers and their insurance provider to insure that they are offering what would be considered a safe installation video.
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I don’t think the knocking method is really “dangerous” if thats what you’re used to doing….
Finding studs can be a hard task. I have an old (“charming”, hehe) home plaster walls… and studfinders are useless, and so is knocking. Usually there are clues we use to locate studs. We usually can figure it out from some nail pops, or going into crawl spaces or looking in the laundry shoot (oh, old homes) then measuring..
But that really goes for anything. We had to use the same methods when mounting tvs or shelving.
It’s like we always say you need to know your body in pole… you kind of need to know your house.
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I am not telling everyone to go into their attics. But simply knocking, I personally would never recommend to anyone or at least anyone I like.
I have reinforced the joists when the pole is either being permanently mounted or going in the same location constantly. Like my own pole I move between two houses and take down when people are over who have “other ideas” when it comes to pole dancing. -
Hmmm, I’ve been knocking and using stud finders since I started, I’ve set my xpoles up in many different homes from very old to fairly new, never had a problem. You do need to be aware of how the joists run in your home but it’s not difficult to find out.
I think if you’re feeling that worried about finding a joist then perhaps a permanent pole installed by a professional would be best.
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The knocking trick is fine. but it’s not just “knock until you find the joist”.
First you must establish which way across the room the joists run (usually across the shortest width of the room, but not always). If you can get into the attic to see, that’s helpful. If it’s just another floor above, remember that floorboards run in the opposite direction to joists.
Knock across the ceiling until you find something promising. If you don’t find anything going in on direction, try again perpendicular.
Now this is the important bit; you need to find the others too: so keep knocking across until you find another promising spot, and then in the other direction too. Your 3 spots will be EQUALLY SPACED. (if you can do even more then great!)Also, if you have plasterboard, the nails are sometimes visible through the plaster skim. Nails are always in a joist!
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