A hammock doesn’t just have to be used out in the wild.
In fact, there are plenty of opportunities to hang a hammock in your own home.
But you need to make sure you do it right, otherwise you could cause severe damage to your own property (and possibly yourself).
So can you attach a hammock to a brick wall? Can you attach it to the ceiling? Can you, in fact, hang a hammock anywhere?
And if so, how?
We will look at all those questions and more in our blog today.
How Do You Attach A Hammock To A Wall or Ceiling?
If you are attaching your hammock to an outside brick wall, then you should use a mounting bracket or plate to spread the weight. If you are attaching your hammock to an internal wall, then you will need to locate and attach it to the wall studs. Likewise if you are attaching your hammock to a ceiling you will need to attach it to a ceiling joist.
Can a Brick Wall Support a Hammock?
If you are looking to hang your hammock on a concrete wall, it can be done, but there are some important things to note.
First of all, it very much depends on the wall, but most brick walls cannot take a lot of tangential force.
They also tend not to have steel reinforcement or grout-filled cells.
And the real problem is, if you attach your hammock directly to a brick wall, the force will probably be centered on a couple of bricks, and if that is the case they won’t hold for very long.
For this reason many people will often drop a couple of 4 x 4 or 6 x 6 posts into the ground, and cement them in, and hang their hammocks from them.
That said, there are ways you can secure a hammock to a brick wall.
How Do You Attach A Hammock To A Brick Wall?
The key to safely and securely attaching a hammock to a brick wall is to use a mounting bracket/plate.
This will go on the wall and spread the force across multiple bricks.
The steps to do so are quite simple:
- Find a quality wall mounting bracket, ideally with a mounting hole in each corner.
- Position on your wall and mark where each hole is located.
- Drill holes that are at least two inches deep.
- Put quality wooden dowel rods into the holes, using wood glue to secure them.
- Put the mounting bracket over the holes and attach them by screwing the screws into the wooden dowels.
- Use an S hook to attach the hammock to the wall mounting bracket.
Can A Ceiling Support A Hammock?
Yes, a ceiling can support a hammock, but it should never simply be attached to the drywall of a ceiling.
The ceiling alone will not be able to support a hammock once an adult (or even a child) is on it, and you most likely end up tearing a big chunk out of your ceiling.
Therefore if you are going to attach your hammock to the ceiling you need to make certain that us is attached to a ceiling joist – a solid wood beam that makes up the framework of your home.
How Do You Attach A Hammock To the Ceiling?
Before you even begin the process of attaching your hammock to the ceiling you need to:
- Determine how far apart you want the two points to be.
- Make sure they are far enough apart that the ceiling isn’t too high to get into.
- Make sure that they aren’t so close that the hammock will sag and touch the floor.
Then you are good to follow the steps below (you can also watch the video above).
- Locate the ceiling joist. The easiest way to do this is to use a stud finder. You can buy these for anything from $10 on Amazon.
- Drill your first hole. Then measure across and locate the center of the joist for the second hole, and drill the second hole. The holes should be ⅜ of an inch deep.
- Screw in ⅜ inch eye hooks into the joist. Ideally these eye hooks should be four inches long, so at least two inches can be screwed into the wood joist.
- Attach the relevant chains, cord or rope to your hammock and attach the other end into your freshly installed eye bolts.
- Adjust the length until you get the necessary tension and sag, and then enjoy your hammock.
Where Can You Hang A Hammock in Your House?
It is pretty simple really:
- Can I hang a hammock in my bedroom? Yes
- Can I hang a hammock in my living room? Yes
- Can I hang a hammock in my kitchen? Yes
You can hang a hammock pretty much anywhere as long as you follow two main pieces of guidance:
- If you are attaching it to the ceiling you secure it to a ceiling joist (as detailed above).
- If you are attaching it to a wall you secure it to a wall stud.
Wall studs do the same job for a wall as a ceiling stud does for the ceiling. They simply provide a structure and support to hold up drywall.
Whether you are hanging a hammock in your bedroom, your living room or anywhere else in your house, make sure you attach it to a wall stud and not to the drywall.
You always want to attach a hammock to wood wall studs, as opposed to metal wall studs.
Wood wall studs provide more support and are easier to drill into, and won’t compromise eye bolts, etc in the same way.
So if you are hanging a hammock from a wall, follow the steps on attaching a hammock to the ceiling, but attach it to the wall studs rather than a ceiling joist.
Can You Hang A Hammock Anywhere?
The beauty of a hammock, and one of the reasons for its enduring popularity, is the fact you can hang it from pretty much anywhere.
Obviously you can pitch it between trees, if you have trekking poles you can use them as makeshift supports for your hammock and you can even hang a hammock between cars, or between cars and a supporting structure, should there be a stable attachment point nearby.
In fact if you buy a hammock stand, then you really can put your hammock up just about anywhere.
But whilst you can physically put a hammock up almost anywhere, you need to make sure you can legally put it up!
For instance, if you are wondering if you can hang a hammock in a public park, then the answer very much is, it depends.
The majority of National Parks allow hammocks, sometimes with restrictions around them, but many State and municipal parks will have different rules.
You will really need to check the rules around the individual park before putting up your hammock, just to be on the safe side.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, with a little bit of planning, you really can put up a hammock almost anywhere.
But we can summarise the three main things you need to remember, depending upon your intended location for your hammock.
- Brick Wall (Outside): Use a mounting bracket to spread the load of the hammock across the wall.
- Ceiling (Indoors): Make sure you attach it to a ceiling joist.
- Wall (Indoors): Make sure you attach it to a wall stud.
As long as you follow these rules, you should be good to go.
In fact if you invest in a hammock stand, then as long as there is space, you literally can put up your hammock anywhere!
Happy Hammocking!