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I live in a house built in the mid-60s. I bought a wall mounted pull-up bar (this: https://www.titan.fitness/strength/strength-accessories/pull-up-bars/titan-wall-mounted-pull-up-chin-up-bar/400510.html), with the intention of mounting it on an exterior wall (there are no indoor walls - including the garage - with a high enough ceiling to be able to do muscle-ups).

However, right as I was about to drill, a thought occurred to me: is this is a bad idea? Will drilling into the stucco "break" some kind of weather seal, & exposing my house to mold, mildew, etc?

I'm in Los Angeles, so we don't get that much rain, but the concern still applies.

Edit: I'd be mounting it on the studs behind the stucco, obviously. My concern just had to do with "breaking the seal" of the stucco or not.

wi

Criggie
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J23
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  • What were you planning on drilling *in*, under the stucco? The stucco itself won't hold your weight ;-) – Jeffrey May 04 '20 at 19:12
  • Of course, I'd be mounting it on the studs behind the stucco. My concern just had to do with "breaking the seal" of the stucco or not :) – J23 May 04 '20 at 19:37
  • What if you were to lift your feet , or start from a sitting cross legged position. Could you then mount it lower, indoors and have enough clearance above the bar? – Billy left SE for Codidact May 05 '20 at 03:44

2 Answers2

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The bracket bolts would need to penetrate the stucco and then embed nicely centered into the studs directly behind the brackets. There will be no safe mounting trying to use plastic anchors, lead expansion anchors or toggle bolts that just deal with the stucco alone.

This pullup bar with its 32" extension out from the wall will place tremendous pullout force on the anchor bolts, especially the upper ones, when an person applies all their weight on the pullup bar. The forces would be even more if there are impulse loads such as occur if the exercise activity involves any motions other than slow steady load in the downward direction. Expansion anchors mounted right in the stucco will surely work loose and pull out. Toggle type anchors that would just bear against the inside of the stucco wall would likely crack the stucco around the mount points.

If you do mount over studs using proper lag bolts with correct pilot hole into the wood can have the actual holes in the stucco sealed with good quality caulk or silicone. Just make sure to blow out all the stucco debris. I would fill the hole with the sealing agent before pushing the lag bolts through the bracket and screwing into the studs.

Michael Karas
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  • One question: the bar came with 4" lag screws. Do you suppose that's enough, or should I buy my own 6"? I will definitely be applying impulse loads (explosive pull-ups & muscle-ups) – J23 May 04 '20 at 19:41
  • Really hard to tell if 4" is enough. Stucco can be quite thick. You may want to go with 5" bolts because the default bolts were probably selected for stud mounting over something like thin 1/2" drywall. 6" bolts seems overkill particularly of you just have 2x4 studs. You do not want the bolts coming all the way through the other side of the wall. – Michael Karas May 04 '20 at 19:52
  • Hmm...then perhaps I just do 5" for the top 1 bolts, & the included 4" for the others? – J23 May 04 '20 at 19:56
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    we don't have stucco were I live. How strong is this stuff in compression ? The bottom part of the mount will be applying pressure towards the house. A fair amount of it. Any chance the stucco will crack under this compressive load? – Jeffrey May 04 '20 at 20:47
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    @Jeffrey has a very good point. There is a potential of crushing the stucco at the lower bracket area. You should consider distributing those compressive forces with a pad of wood (wider than the stud, obviously) under the vertical bracket face. Varnished/painted or otherwise made weather resistant, of course. And fasteners proportionally longer too. – Jimmy Fix-it May 05 '20 at 02:49
  • Consider structural screws. Lag bolts are comparatively primitive in their pullout resistance and load capacity. – Billy left SE for Codidact May 05 '20 at 03:38
  • Thanks for all the tips - I bought 1x4" wood to put under the brackets, 5" galvanized lag screws for the screw holes at the top of the brackets (the kit included 4"). I figured I didn't need the longer screws for the bottom of the bracket. And silicone sealer :) – J23 May 05 '20 at 03:49
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The stucco itself is not going to be strong enough to support this.

What you're going to want to do is to locate the wall studs behind the stucco, locate the bar so that the mounting strips are lined up on the studs.

Then drill some pilot holes through the stucco and into the stud that will accommodate an appropriate fastener, like a lag screw. Then use lag screws to fasten this to the wall.

Use some silicone sealant around the screws to prevent any water from infiltrating into the wall or behind the stucco.

jwh20
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  • Also a great answer! I accepted the other just because it had a bit more detail (if I could accept 2 I would), but upvoted nonetheless :) – J23 May 04 '20 at 19:39