Tapcons

JJWalecka

Senior Member
Location
New England
I have to mount some unistrut along a concrete ceiling. I want to use tapcons. Are tapcons list to be mounted on a ceiling? Thanks for your time
 
Tapcons have a pretty impressive pullout strength, depending on size, and 5 or 6 in a section of Unistrut can support a pretty impressive load. However, you should be mindful of the customer requirements, if any. The Port Authority of NY/NJ will not allow Tapcons or drop-in anchors or anything else to attach an overhead load to a concrete ceiling. The support would have to be cast-in during the pour.
 
Not a big fan of Tapcons. Even using thier drill bits usually have problem with some stripping out or not holding. I'm old school and like using 1/4 & 3/8" lead anchors set by the Greenlee tool that threads into it before setting the anchor. Have installed 3/8" lead anchors in ceilings and tied pulling block to it to pull cable up to 4/0 copper. Several times I installed two 1/4" lead anchors to mount a piece of unistrut in a ceiling to hoist a drive weighting over 150 #'s.
 
Some anchors like the "lead nail ins" are not approved for overhead use. Not a fan of Tap Cons myself. They seem to be hit or mis with me. Sometimes good results sometimes not so good.

For concrete I like the steel drop ins

For Block & Brick the block anchors are good

The sleeve type anchors are pretty good for concrete or block but the stud size is smaller than the drilled hole

I dislike the sleeve stud anchors with the small sleeve they just seem to creep when you tighten them.
 
What do the installation instructions for Tapcons say?

R

Some anchors like the "lead nail ins" are not approved for overhead use. Not a fan of Tap Cons myself. They seem to be hit or mis with me. Sometimes good results sometimes not so good.

For concrete I like the steel drop ins

For Block & Brick the block anchors are good

The sleeve type anchors are pretty good for concrete or block but the stud size is smaller than the drilled hole

I dislike the sleeve stud anchors with the small sleeve they just seem to creep when you tighten them.
I was always under the assumption in a fire ALL the overhead lead anchors would fail. Im not a big fan
 
Not a big fan of Tapcons. Even using thier drill bits usually have problem with some stripping out or not holding. I'm old school and like using 1/4 & 3/8" lead anchors set by the Greenlee tool that threads into it before setting the anchor. Have installed 3/8" lead anchors in ceilings and tied pulling block to it to pull cable up to 4/0 copper. Several times I installed two 1/4" lead anchors to mount a piece of unistrut in a ceiling to hoist a drive weighting over 150 #'s.
Appreciate your input
 
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