How to Put Up Your Pole
19 Apr 2007
Andrew
3 Comments →
It’s important to find a good location to put up your pole. If you get it wrong it’ll spoil your fun and – much more seriously – could even fall down. Not good if you’re in the middle of a gemini at the time!
That said, as long as you’re careful and follow your manufacturer’s advice everything should be fine.
First make sure there’s enough space around the pole. A good guide is to turn in a circle with one leg fully extended. If you don’t hit anything you should be fine, though a little more room may be useful if you’re planning some really enthusiastic spins!
Types of ceiling
Unless you’re one of the lucky few with a concrete ceiling, you’ll need to find a ceiling joist in the room where you want to put up the pole. Most ceilings are made of plasterboard, which is weak, but the plasterboard is supported by strong wooden joists. It’s very important that you position your pole underneath one of these joists to prevent damage to your ceiling (and far more importantly to you if the pole falls down).
Finding joists
Ceiling joists are typically 30-60cm apart and usually run parallel to one wall of the room. You can usually find a ceiling joist by tapping on the ceiling – when it stops sounding hollow you’re probably over a joist. You may find you can get more accurate results using a stud detector, which cost about £10-15 from DIY shops. If you’re planning to take your pole down, it’s a good idea to mark the ceiling so you don’t have to play ‘hunt the joist’ all over again.
All done
And that’s it! Though it can take a little bit of work to get your pole up for the first time, putting it up in future will be much quicker – it normally only takes a few minutes with practice.
Though most poles are fixed in pretty similar ways, do check with your manufacturer to see if they have any specific advice. And don’t forget to give your pole a good tug each time before you jump on to make sure it’s still secure.
Suspended ceilings
Suspended ceilings aren’t very common in homes, but you may be one of the unlucky few. Suspended ceilings are usually too weak to support a pole. One option is to cut a hole in the ceiling and fit a pole to a stronger support above.
Otherwise you could consider a free standing pole, though unfortunately these are quite a bit more expensive. And because they’re only fixed at one end, they tend to have large, heavy bases too so you’ll need a lot of floor space to stop it dominating your room.
This information is based on personal experience and manufacturer advice, but should not be treated as authoritative – you are responsible for fitting your pole securely. If you have any concerns, please get professional assistance or contact the manufacturer.
3 comments
What about plaster ceilings? I’ve heard that just to be on the safe side (and to avoid having your celing crumble) some people use a good sized peice of MDF to distribute the weight a bit more evenly
Most ceilings are actually made of plaster, and placing any pole against this may cause some superficial marking on the plaster itself.
My pole is up on a plaster ceiling and I have never had any problems with falling ceilings! A large piece of MDF (larger than the pole top spreader) will ensure a better weight distribution (spreading the load over two ceiling joists), but it’s best to check with your pole manufacturer directly to see what they advise.
Whether you decide to use a piece of MDF or not, make sure you first locate a ceiling joist, otherwise the ceiling could well crumble from the pressure!
I have a pole, just wondering if anyone knows of a fixing or plate that I could buy to ensure it doesn’t slip from either end.
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