Hammocks are most often enjoyed outside, suspended between two trees or mounted on a hammock stand, but they can also be hung in your house. A porch, sunroom or even a bright bedroom can be a great place to relax in a hammock, and some people even find that hammocks work better than traditional beds for nightly sleep.
The most common mistake when installing a hammock indoors is failing to anchor it securely to wall studs or ceiling joists. You're in for a rude awakening indeed if hammock hooks collapse and send you tumbling to the floor, and this can easily happen if you don't install it carefully. Such accidents can be avoided if you attach your hammock to the proper heavy-duty hardware driven securely into framing members inside the walls or ceiling.
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Here's how to do it:
Step 1
Determine where your hammock will be located. The hanging points need to be about 15 feet from one another if you want the hammock to lie relatively flat, as it would in an outdoor hammock stand. If you want the hammock to hang in a more basketlike shape, the ends can be somewhat closer together. Your hammock can be suspended from the ceiling at both ends, or from the walls. Or you can suspend it at one end from the ceiling and from the wall at the other end.
Step 2
Use a stud finder to locate the ceiling joists (or wall studs) for anchoring the ends of the hammock. Mark the exact center of the joist or stud. Once you locate the framing members, use a drill with a small bit to bore a small hole to make sure you've located the stud or joist. Inspect the spiral grooves on the bit — if you bored into solid wood, you will notice small wood shavings in the grooves.
Step 3
Drill a 3/8-inch pilot hole for the heavy-duty screw eye. Screw in the screw-eyes as far as they will go. It is critical that this hardware is securely anchored into framing members to safely hold the weight of a person lying in the hammock. Your screw eyes should be long enough so that at least 2 inches of the shank is embedded in solid wood.
Step 4
Attach carabiners to the ends of the hammock chains, and hook the carabiners onto the screw eyes to hang the hammock. Test the height of hammock, and lengthen or shorten the chains to adjust the height. You can also use additional carabiners to extend the length of the chains.