Expert: Cary Simmons - 9/11/2010

Question
I live in a 1 year old home in Saskatchewan, Canada. The floor joists  are those wooden I-beam type. The kind that look like a strip of plywood with a 2x4 on the top and bottom. We have a steel beam as well so we only needed one telepost in the basement.

I want to hang a chin-up bar bar from one of the joists. I was thinking of screwing a 2x8 to each side of one of the joists and then bolting the chin up bar to that with bolts and nuts long enough to go through both 2 x 8's. The chin up bar will be 48" long. If need be I could extend one end of the 2x8's over top of the steel beam. I weigh about 210 lbs. I just want to make sure I'm not going to do damage to my house by hanging from a floor joist so that is why I want to make sure I reinforce it as necessary. Please comment on my idea or tell me where it can improve.

Answer
You're on the right track Ian, but a few suggestions.

First, I assume that your intention with the 2x8's is to avoid bolts bearing heavily on the thin width of the joist web and distorting--thus weakening--it.  To be safe, secure a 2x8 vertically on opposite sides of the web and fitted tightly to the 2x4 top and bottom chords; this stiffens the joist for your point load.

Plan this near the joist supports, not in the middle 1/3 of the span.

Next, do this at two joists instead of one, thus spreading the load to minimize the likelihood of creating localized separation between the joist and the subfloor above.

Last, penetrate the joist webs within a few inches of the top, not near the bottom and make your bolt holes the same diameter as the bolts-no larger.

Good luck.