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enter image description hereI have a bonus room on the 1st floor of a 2-story home with a crawl space. When the floor above was framed the architect and the truss designer had a mix-up and I ended up with the open web floor trusses spaced 16" on center instead of the designed 24" on center (which is good for me). Attached is a copy of the actual truss drawing with specs and a picture of the bare framed corner showing the trusses above. Here are my questions:

  1. Can I hang a punching bag between truss locations 13 and 14 (see attached drawing) but very close to 13, from the ceiling below by using six GRK #10x3-1/8" screws to hold a 24" 2x6 flat against the drywall ceiling spanning across 2 truss bottoms with an eyebolt in the center of the 2x6 for the punching bag?

  2. If I can't, would a corner wall option be preferred and/or less likely to cause any structural issues? I attached a picture I found on the internet of an example of this backup option showing a punching bag supported by corner walls instead of the ceiling above. Truss Drawing

bare framed room showing trusses

wall hanging example

key1cc
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2 Answers2

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You can, but you should span three trusses--at least out one each way from the load point. You want to spread the vertical weight load and the horizontal impact load, mostly so you don't jostle the trusses enough to loosen your drywall. There are probably crosswise stiffeners at 16 and 17, but you're out a ways from there.

I'd also use a 2x8 for better flat stiffness. A 2x4 is a bit of a noodle, even at just 4' long.

isherwood
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  • I have decided to follow your recommendation and span 3 trusses with the load point at the center one. I decided to span using two 2x4's 16" apart to accommodate my new shock absorbing FirstLaw Mount (a picture of the mount is attached above). – key1cc Feb 25 '24 at 20:08
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The bottom of the truss is not designed to carry vertical or sideways loads, but this can be remedied.

Reinforce the bottom of the truss between "13" and "14", (regular 2x4 or 2x3 framing timber is fine here) and also reinforce between the attachment point and "9" on the neighbouring trusses with more framing timber

Jasen
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  • The ceiling is finished. Are you proposing that a large hole be cut in it? – isherwood Feb 13 '24 at 14:14
  • My original intent is to use a 36-inch 2x8 plate attached to the 3 trusses through the drywall ceiling.... but if I need to cut a hole between the trusses to feed the 2x8 through, so that it rests on top of the bottom plates, I am open to that as well. The room is currently used as a gym. – key1cc Feb 13 '24 at 17:26
  • Resting it on the bottom chords doesn't really change anything. That's not the issue raised here. The issue would be deforming the truss member or tearing it out of its gussets. That's why it was suggested that you do some reinforcement. – isherwood Feb 13 '24 at 19:31
  • Got it, but is the suggestion of reinforcement involve sistering 2x8’s to the 3 open floor trusses and attaching my 2x8 ceiling plate to the new sistered members? – key1cc Feb 13 '24 at 22:55
  • There's diagonal bracing to the two adjacent trusses to take the sideways load, and sistering to take the vertical load, the truss is inherently strong in the lengthwise direction. – Jasen Feb 14 '24 at 03:13
  • I really appreciate the comments but as I struggle on the best way to avoid opening up my ceiling to much, I have found this contraption called a "Firstlaw fitness mount" that seems to absorb all the punching forces so they are not transferred to the structure. I have attached a picture, but the video can be viewed at amazon.com. Is it possible I could use this and attached across the 3 trusses and avoid the re-enforcement of the trusses since this unit is absorbing the punching forces? – key1cc Feb 21 '24 at 02:33