Sex Swing

Hey all.

After our fairly recent purchase of an over the door sex swing we were a little disappointed. So we loved the idea of a swing in the bedroom. So went for a removable over the door type. However when we actually went to try it we found it all very awkward. The door was actually getting in the way and stoping the swing from well swinging.

However it has us intrigued and we still haven’t really experienced proper sex swing fun. So after a recent failure of one of our smoke detectors I got busy with the dremmel and gutted it completely.

Next stage is for me to mount an eye through the ceiling with as small a hole as possible so we can always fill it if we don’t get on with the swing.

No im wondering how is best. My plan. Is to go though the ceiling in between to joists. Then use a nice chunk of 4x4 to spread the load across the joists with a welded eye bolt through it to hang the swing from.

Has anyone done this? If so have you got any pics of the instillation across the joists etc? Any pics to show how you done it and maybe the swing in situ (clean pics) would be great. Thanks for the help.

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This is my plan for our next house

I will however say, going between the joists is the way forward but whatever you’re securing Into, make it STRONG. One 4x4 might not be enough as the forces it will take when swinging while loaded will be a lot

I was looking at using some form of steel mount between the joists as a break/fall won’t be fun

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Agreed a fall wouldn’t be fun. However personally I would want the mounting to be weaker than the joists. A decent lump of hard wood timber should be fine.

Normally, if anybody needs any DIY/woodworking advice that I can’t help with, I say check it out on YouTube, because you will always find the answer there - but somehow this may be too niche for that! :slight_smile:

Sex swings can produce a Catch 22 dilemma because you need something that is really strong and safe, but you may need to conceal or disguise what the fixtures are for. A lot depends how much you need to hide it.

We have a large shed with windows that we call a summer house, and I have made that ready for a sex swing, although (for reasons not relevant here) we haven’t had the opportunity to try it out yet.

I deliberately went for a model that requires two fixing points, as I figured it halved the amount of weight that each would need to hold, so is much safer than if it had only one fixed point.

Unless you know how to work out stresses on individual components, the answer is always to over-engineer whatever you build, and that is especially true with sex swings.

Although we haven’t tried ours yet, I have tested it, and I am pretty sure we went for one that’s too basic. It’s awkward and even a bit scary to get into, and I am sure we will end up going for a more expensive one, perhaps one that has more of a seat, rather than just straps.

You may well find the same, so I would say plan for a larger, more substantial one, and how that needs to be installed, rather than the one you actually own at the moment.

Please tell us how you get on!

Following with interest to see how it goes!

Curious to do something like this in the future, but in a rental currently. The problem you had with the over the door swing is what I had always expected would be a problem (never used one myself), but they look like they’d function more like a harness to hold you up rather than having much ‘swinging’ capability…

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Personnally i would place a stud in between the joists to the height of the joists then another beam across 3 joists and ensure the eyebokt goes through the stud and the additional beam. I would look for a main joist to, new houses in the uk i wouldnt like to put the forces on them. The latgsr the atea lin the lift you can spread the weight the better

We have been thinking about trying an install for a while. We have plenty of room in our bedroom so the plan is to locate a convenient joist and put a strap over the top of it, leaving a loop or hook poking out to which we can attach a removable swing. The loop/hook will then be concealed behind a dummy smoke alarm that can easily be twisted off.

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One solution without drilling into anything is to attach the top to a carabiner that you trust and attach that to a pull up bar. One that hooks over a door frame can be put up easily enough

My thoughts exactly. Especially if you drill through it to have the anchoring point secured through that.

Play it safe, go twice as big.

The weight of one of you static isnt much and would be fine I think with 4×4, but once you had some movement, with the drilling hole weakening the piece of 4*4, you significantly increase the risk with the forces of the load.

You’re on the right track, but think bigger. If a small chunk of 8×8 is difficult to secure, you can always glue smaller timber together, so long as they’re square enough for it. It might prove more cost economic too.

You dont really want the mounting to be any weaker than the joists.

I think i get your thinking, you’d rather have the swing break than your ceiling, but you really dont want anything to break at all.
Safety 1st - the swing anchoring would only break loaded (ie: with your wife in it) and the results could very well be catastrophic.

Sorry to sound dramatic, but a fall could potentially result in serious injury.

Hence the need to have a strong anchoring point, and spread that anchoring point across several joist. Not just the 2 nearest, but possibly 3 either side of the anchoring point, as the would distribute stress on the joists themselves.
Next, do consider the joists themselves. In many older houses, 1900s ish they were only put there to hold a ceiling. Our loft conversion has required an additional 4" of joists be screwed on existing ones to strengthen them. Walking on floor boards isn’t as much of a stress to the joists as swinging someone/something underneath them.

I dont want to put you off, it’s all very doable to the average DIYer, but it isn’t straightforward either.

As someone who is a self employed builder you certainly won’t put me off knocking up a timber frame to support the weight. I was more curious as to weather there’s an easier way of doing it like something ready made

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Not for ceiling anchored sex swing, probably too narrow a market!!!

There are some nest type hanging chairs for indoor and outdoor use. Their design allows for swinging, so i assume the frame should support a sex swing equally well so long as there’s only moderate swinging. The only thing to consider is that their frame bases are designed for a vertical load, not the more horizontal load a sex swing would create. That would affect stability for sure.

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Sounds reasonable but definietly over engineer it. If you can weld or know a welder then a nice bit of box section with 2 plates at the end to bolt into the joists would be very strong.

also look at joist holes and where you’re allowed to drill holes, in reality most houses joists will be fine but some newer builds will stuggle with holes in at certian points.

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Just had a quick google for nest chair ceiling anchor point, lots of fixing gear…

But no ready made anchoring structure.
Perhaps im not searching for the right thing.

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When you say over the door swing I envision them baby bouncer swing things you used to put kids in to dangle about to stop them toddling :rofl::joy::rofl:

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The point where you want your anchor bolt, drill through the beam vertically from in the loft.
Now mount a cross beam at right angles to tie 3 beams together GLUE and screw together, where your strengthening bar meets the beam with the eye hook use triangle pieces of wood to reinforce the joint again glue and screw, this is to prevent twisting of the eye hook beam?
You may need to notch the cross beam to allow for the eye hook nut?

@Sensualcouple2016

How did your plan work out?

Also curious for any update!