Made a right mess trying to mount a pull up bar on brick...

[charlie2k]

Hey all.

I've been trying to a get pull up bar mounted on the wall outside my flat so I can work out a bit while all this virus nonsense is going on. I've made a right mess of it.

The right hand bracket feels secure (although in my mind in warey of it). I'm not sure if I'm being a total dunce but I have these metal anchor sleeves that came with the bar and I'm inserting them directly into the holes I've drilled into the brickwork.

The left bracket has not gone well. The top hole, when I came to drill it, went into the brick like butter, and now the hole is too loose. I got the bar up and hoped that even though the top hole was probably not solid, i hoped the sleeve would expand enough to get some purchase, and i hoped the bottom two were good enough to hold it overall.

But after giving it a good test yank, it did indeed come loose. Can I recover these holes and make them strong? Should I be buying some larger plugs? Should I be hammering wood into the holes? Or plastic plugs? Should I fill the top hole and redrill it? I'm totally clueless.

Pictures attached.

Cheers, Charlie

 

[Nozzle]

You need chemical bond and threaded rod. The hole must be clear of dust for it to fix correctly.

https://www.toolstation.com/polyester-resin-chemical-anchor/p74884

Something to consider though, is the dynamic load of you pulling up and down on the thing is much higher than static load. I've no idea how to do the calcs.

Nozzle

 

[oldbutnotdead]

You'd be better having the thing a bit further away from the window as well, there's a good chance you'll pull a brick or 2 out. Is that a communal area and/or is your flat leasehold. If either answer is yes you can expect some grief from your landlord/leaseholder.
EDIT Yes chemical anchors are the way to go. Dynamic load is rule of thumb double the static load- so if you weigh 100kg you're putting 2 kiloNewtons into that bar which gives some major pull on the top fixings.

 

[charlie2k]

Thanks for this! Will look into chemical anchors.

I'm guessing I should do all 6 holes as such? (Not just the borked hole, or just the top 2?)

Flat is share of freehold and this is not communal. I'd def rather not have to drill the holes again so hopefully these bricks won't tear out. I'm about 85kg. I'm thinking this is probably fairly low risk though? The bolts are 3 inches in from the brick.

Out of interest, if this is the way to go, why would they supply the bar as such with these anchor sleeves? In the pictures the bar was fixed to breeze blocks that were more uniform than my bricks, and they probably drilled the holes better. Or is it common place that one will buy items that come with insufficient fittings?

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Yes do all 6. Risk of bricks pulling is lower with chemical anchors (you're not using an expanding piece of metal) but the holes have to be the correct diameter, they have to be clean and you have to be fairly quick.
Those anchors do look fairly pathetic though again they might do the job if your wall is dead flat, the holes are the correct diameter and you don't end up in a mortar course or in a brick frog. With the resin jobs, you need to be careful how deep you drill the holes- if you go through the outer skin there's a risk the resin will just drop out the back of the hole. Again resin won't work particularly well in a mortar course.

 

[Nozzle]

I'd be tempted to get another steel welded in there, parallel to your pull up bar, and on the same plane. More holes in it the spread the "pull out" load across more fittings

Nozzle

 

[Nozzle]

Also--- be sure to "shim" up to take account of different brick projections. Otherwise the risk is over-tensioning one rod over the expense of the others and applying shear to the mortar

Nozzle

 

[catlad]

You have been to careless and drilled the holes too large, and as old and dead said too close to the window.

 

[noseall]

As said, people massively underestimate the huge forces imparted by moving mass (dynamic). I'd be surprised if chemical anchoring will work. You'd have been better off with a ground based 'A' frame like a garden swing.

 

[charlie2k]

Hello! Thanks for all the help.

Nozzle, you said "be sure to "shim" up to take account of different brick projections.", can you give a little more info (or direct to where I can read)?

Also, I'm trying to make the right call on the type of stud to buy. The threading on the sleeve anchors I was provided with is about 80mm long, and so the holes I've drilled is about to that depth. The holes I've drilled are probably just over 12mm wide (the worst hole maybe more like 14mm). I think I read a suggestion that the hole is to be approx 4mm wider than the rod. Given all that it sounds like probably want these?

https://www.toolstation.com/a2-stainless-chemical-stud/p62545

Some studs have a break in the threading. I'm not quite sure what that's about but feels like it may make things more complicated for me? The studs above are just plain threaded which feels like I can't go far wrong in terms of getting the depth insertion right...

The hole diameters are definitely not going to be perfectly to specification, but reading some of the specs about what kind of loads these anchors can hold, I'm thinking I'll be ok if the stud in the looser hole has a bit more resin around it than would be ideal, or am I really playing with fire here? Guess I'll find out...

 

[cdbe]

Looks like a solid wall - I'd consider drilling straight through (the joints) if you can hide/patch up inside - you'd probably only need to go through with the top two - M10 threaded bar, 13mm drill bit and big washers (against the brick, not the plaster) on the inside. Try the chemical first, I've never used so can't comment on them - but 2 bars straight through will not fail!

By shimming, he means pack any gaps between steel and brick (washers or similar) so all the fixings are sharing the load.

 

[noseall]

The forces imparted may even pull out a single brick - regards chemical anchors. Drilling right through, whilst severe, would yield better results.

 

[elisa123]

I cannot help you with your question but want to raise two points.
Have you considered a pull up bar which can be put up inside a door frame? Our son had one of those. He bought it at Aldi/Lidl when it was on special offer.
I recently took it off and the paint work on the door frame needed touching up a bit easy work.
How often would you use the outside bar over autumn/winter months?

 

[^woody^]

Stick to push ups.

 

[charlie2k]

Just wanted to say thanks for the useful advice! Resin, threaded rods, and a few washers around the back to "shim it up" has worked well. It feels solid, even with a dynamic movements.
Hopefully it'll hold and I won't pull a brick. (I'm not doing any crazy inversions on those rings or anything).

Cheers, Charlie.