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I'm renting a house that was built about 10 years ago. The attached, finished garage is under the master bedroom. It has two large beams running across it, see picture.

The larger one is 6.5" wide x 18" tall, and runs the entire width of the garage. The smaller one runs from the garage door to the large one, about 3/4 of the garage.

I want to hang a "heavy bag" for punching, from the large beam. I tried to drill into the side of it, but my wood bit got about 1.5 in before hitting something too hard (masonry or metal). Tried this in two locations, same thing.

How can I hang this 80lb bag? My current plan is to attach a 2x4 to ten 75lb "E-Z Anchor® Twist-N-Lock(TM)" drywall anchors and attach the hook with some 1/4-20 bolts.

UPDATE: When I check the beam with a magnet, the lower 'edges' are highly magnetic. That's the rounded portions within 1" of the corner, running all the way along the beam. There are also spots mid-height every foot or so where the magnet sticks moderately, the texture looks a bit deformed at these spots.

UPDATE 2: Per @Craig, yes, the edges are metal drywall corner bead. The drilling was sideways. I'll post a pic of the drill hole tonight. I'm not too concerned about the landlord... he's friendly, it's behind the beam and I can spackle it up when I move out.

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The magnetic edge is probably metal drywall corner bead and has no structural value. – Craig Nov 7 '12 at 18:17
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Before you start drilling into a structural support beam I would get permission from your landlord first. – maple_shaft Nov 7 '12 at 19:08

2 Answers

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My guess is that it's either a sandwich beam (wood sandwiching a steel plate) or simply an i-Beam. When you drill, are you drilling through wood or just sheetrock?

If it's an actual i-Beam, you could hang it with some sort of clamping device.

I wouldn't trust dry-wall anchors for hanging a punching bag. Dry wall anchors can hold quite a bit, but not the active load of a swinging punching bag.

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Were it a sandwich beam, the steel would be vertical. A horizontal plate would be useless. This is a concealed steel i-beam, almost 100% certain. +1 otherwise. – woodchips Nov 7 '12 at 11:02
@woodchips I can't quite tell from the question, but it sounded like he was drilling from the side. But yea, odds are it's an i-beam. – DA01 Nov 7 '12 at 18:12
Ah yes. If drilling from the side, and the bit goes 1.5 inches in through wood and then stoops, then this is a sandwich, with wood 2x stock bolted on either side of it. – woodchips Nov 7 '12 at 18:30
@DA01 Yep, the drilling so far is from the side. – Brad Nov 7 '12 at 23:43
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Sandwich beam = Flitch beam. – Tester101♦ Nov 8 '12 at 16:40
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Since this is a rental unit I would have concerns with drilling holes large enough to hang a heavy bag. It could cost you the security deposit when you leave. If you check the website of the bag maker they may offer a free standing frame or you could fabricate an "A" frame out of wood. The advantage of the freestanding unit is it will isolate the house from the vibration hitting the bag generates. I have a bag hanging in my basement. The load is spread over three floor joists and it is very obvious when someone is hitting the bag as the vibration resonates through the entire house.

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Brad could do the same thing as mikes, lag screw a 2x into several joists, then a substantial eye bolt from which to hang the bag. Any holes could be patched and painted over when moving out, to be nearly invisible. BTW, a 5/16" lag is the largest lag you can put into the edge of a 2x before you have to start reducing allowable loads due to edge distance. – bcworkz Nov 7 '12 at 20:18

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