What's the Best Dance Pole for Apartment Living?

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What is the best dance pole for apartments? I want to do fitness pole dancing at home but I'm renting my place and I'm worried about damaging the ceiling if the pole has to be screwed in.
~ Maryann

• There are 3 main alternatives to a permanent dance pole for apartment dwellers who are worried about ceiling damage: Friction Fit, Removable, and Platform.

• Friction fit dance poles leave no trace on your ceiling or floor, but can slip off the ceiling and come down if not installed correctly or checked frequently, potentially causing significant damage.

• Removable dance poles offer more security than friction fit poles, and are almost as safe as a permanent pole, requiring only one screw hole in your ceiling.

• A platform dance pole may be an option if you have a very spacious apartment or you rent a house, but the standard height is usually a little over 10' so you'll need high ceilings as well.

Introduction

Those who rent, whether an apartment or a house, are rightfully concerned about not causing damage to their rental premises. After all, who doesn't want their damage deposit returned in full when they move out, right?

It's true that installing a permanent pole dancing pole that requires multiple heavy duty screws into both the floor and ceiling can potentially cause significant damage to your apartment. If you'd like to start doing home pole dancing workouts, but you live in rented accommodation, you likely have some serious interest in finding out which is the best dance pole for apartment living.

The good news is that dance poles have come a long way since the early days of home pole dancing, and there are now several options that can work for apartment dwellers. But there are a few caveats and important consideration to be aware of.

Ready to learn more? Here we go...

Friction Fit Dance Poles

One option for pole dancers who live in apartments is a friction fit pole. These poles are installed without the use of screws or other hardware that go into your ceiling or floor. As the name implies, this type of dance pole stays in place through the use of friction.

These poles have either a heavy duty spring mechanism inside, or they use a large threaded piece of steel that extends the pole to the correct length.

Both the top and bottom of the pole are fitted with a plate, to which the dance pole itself is attached, as shown in the picture below.

A close up of the bottom (left) and top (right) of an X-Pole, which is an example of a friction fit pole

The mounting surface of this plate is typically coated with rubber or silicone. Together the plate and it's coating serve three purposes:

• The size of the plate spreads the force of the installation over a larger area

• The coated plates protect your floor and ceiling from marks and damage

• The silicone or rubber mounting surface helps to increase friction or the "grip" that your pole has on both the floor and the ceiling once it's installed.

You can think of a friction fit pole as a "no-trace" pole because once you take it down there's no evidence it was ever there. Because of friction mount design, they won't cause any damage. At least in theory.

A very important piece of information to keep in mind when considering a friction fit pole is that this type of dance pole is inherently less safe by virtue of its design. Although everything has been done design-wise to make these poles safe, the fact is that the friction fit design is not as secure as the design of a removable pole with a bolt-in ceiling mount.

That means there's a greater chance that a friction mount pole could shift under load, causing the ceiling mount to move, which could result in your dance pole crashing down.

This fact is rarely mentioned in reviews of friction fit poles, but it's a very good idea to give it some consideration. If your friction fit pole comes down, there's a chance it may do more damage to your living space than the single screw hole in your ceiling that's required for the safer removable type of dance pole.

More on this in the next section where we'll discuss removable dance poles.

For now, let's get back to our discussion of friction fit poles and whether they're the best choice for apartment dwelling polers. There are a few instances where a friction fit pole won't be the best choice for your apartment. These have mostly to do with ceiling type, as there are some kinds of ceilings that aren't suitable for installing a friction fit pole.

Acoustic tile or any other kind of removable panel that creates a false ceiling is definitely not safe for use with a friction fit pole. That's because these types of dance poles must be installed over a ceiling joist to provide a suitably strong backing. Installing a friction pole on any ceiling that does not provide adequate support is a sure recipe for extensive ceiling damage, not to mention injury to the user.

The other type of ceiling to be concerned about is a popcorn ceiling, or any other heavily textured ceiling. The finish on these ceilings can easily be damaged due to the pressure the pole exerts once installed. Although this type of damage is not structural and can be repaired, it might not be easy to find someone who can do a professional job that your landlord will approve of.

The other issue with heavily textured ceilings is that it's very difficult to find a joist over which to install the pole's ceiling pad. For safety reasons, it's critical that your friction fit pole be correctly installed over a joist. If you can't locate one, you can't be sure your pole is installed correctly. An an incorrectly installed pole is much more likely to cause damage.

It's also important to check the flooring requirements for the specific brand of friction fit pole you're considering. Many can be installed on either hard flooring or carpet, but some have restrictions as to the type of flooring for safety reasons, so the pole base won't slide out once the pole is installed.

One final factor when considering whether a friction fit pole is the best dance pole for your apartment, is that they do require a certain degree of physical strength to install. A typical installation involves using a tool to turn the threaded steel piece that extends the pole to the correct height. Especially if your pole may be going up and down a fair bit, this is something to consider.

As you can see, there are a few pros and cons to consider when deciding whether a friction fit pole is the best pole for your apartment. These poles are certainly a good option, and depending on your ceiling type and how confident you are with your installation skills, they may be right for you.

Removable Dance Poles

Many people think immediately of a friction fit dance pole as the only type of pole that's suitable for use in apartments and rented homes. This is because the first thing on everyone's mind is avoiding ceiling damage.

However, the ceiling of your apartment isn't the only thing you should be concerned about damaging. As alluded to above, a friction fit pole has the potential to damage much more than your ceiling if it's not installed correctly.

Before you decide for sure that friction fit is the best dance pole for apartment dwellers like yourself, take a look around and see what other parts of your living space might sustain damage if a pole were to come down. Do you have windows or a glass sliding door in the room where you plan to install your pole? What about light fixtures? Built-in cabinets? A glass-front fireplace or a mirrored closet door?

It's important to consider what the cost would be to repair or replace any of these, vs the cost to fill a single small hole in your ceiling from installing a much more secure removable dance pole.

"Wait a minute," you say. "What's this about a removable pole? And how is that different from a friction fit pole"

Yes indeed, Your Pole Pal brings good news in the form of the Lil Mynx removable dance pole!

Removable poles are almost as safe as permanently installed poles. This is because they are more securely attached to the ceiling via a small mount over which the pole sits, greatly reducing the chances that the pole will come down if it becomes loose.

As discussed above, the ceiling plate of a friction fit pole can potentially slide out of place if the pole is not installed correctly, or if it's not sufficiently extended and tightened. With a removable dance pole, even if the pole shifts at the base, it's very unlikely to come down. This is because the top part of the pole slides over a small mounting fixture screwed directly into a ceiling joist, which helps to keep the top part of the pole secured.

Your Pole Pal can attest through personal experience that even if the pole is not tightened as much as it should be, and the pole base shifts out of place on the floor, the ceiling mount helps to keep the pole from falling down. In fact, if the floor base ever does slide out of place, you'll definitely notice that your pole is no longer straight, giving you ample opportunity to realign the pole and re-tighten it.

While friction fit poles also require the top of the pole to fit over a small mount, this won't keep the pole from coming down, because the friction pad can also move out of place. With the bolt-in ceiling mount used by a removable pole, this isn't possible. The ceiling mount is not going to move, and a huge amount of force is necessary to move the pole completely off the ceiling mount.

As far as Your Pole Pal is aware, Lil Mynx makes the only truly removable (non-friction) dance pole. And they've been making this model for over 20 years, so they must be doing something right.

The mounting system is deceptively simply, elegant and effective. It requires only one small lag bolt into a ceiling joist. If you move out of your apartment, simply unscrew the ceiling mount and pop a small bit of Polyfil or spackling paste into the hole, much as you would fill nail holes from picture hangers.

In fact, the hole left by the Lil Mynx ceiling mount is no bigger than the hole that would be left from installing a ceiling hook to hold a plant, a swag lamp, or anything else you might hang from your ceiling. The ceiling mount even comes with a plant hook that you can put into the mount when you're not using it. That way if your prudish aunt is coming to visit, just take your pole down, pop the plant hook into the mount, and she'll be none the wiser!

It's worth mentioning here that the ceiling mount also comes with the required lag bolt, as well as the correct size drill bit to install it, plus an Allen key to properly tighten the bolt.

And in case you're wondering, Lil Mynx also offers a special ceiling mount just for vaulted ceilings. They've thought of everything!

Your Pole Pal enthusiastically recommends Lil Mynx dance poles as the safest, most flexible and all around best dance pole for apartment dwellers.

Platform Dance Poles

If you'd prefer not to have to deal with the ceiling issue at all, a platform dance pole might be an option for you as a renter. A platform pole is sold with an integrated base or "stage" into which the bottom of the pole fits. The base may be weighted, but today's more modern designs often rely more on physics for stability, with added weights an option if you prefer some extra insurance.

Below are two models of platform dance pole, the X-Stage on the left, and the X-Stage Lite on the right. The X-Stage has extendable "legs" that increase its stability. Weights can be added to the base of both models to increase stability even further if desired.

X-Stage platform dance pole

X-Stage Lite Platform Pole

The main drawback is that platform dance poles take up quite a bit more space than other types of poles. So if you live in a small apartment, this probably won't be the best type of dance pole for you. If you rent a house that has sufficient space however, you might consider this possibility.

Another consideration to be aware of is that these poles are taller than the average 8-9' for friction fit or removable poles. At about 10', you'll need high ceilings to accommodate a platform pole in your home. However, they can be ordered with a shorter extension pole, to accommodate lower ceiling heights.

On the upside, platform dance poles can be used almost anywhere. So if you want to set up on your deck or in the back yard, no problem! Platform poles also come with carrying cases (with wheels for the heavier components), so if you want to take your pole to another location to do a demo, a performance, or just to play with friends, it offers that flexibility as well.

Of course, platform dance poles are a more expensive option, though X-Pole does offer a Lite version of their flagship platform pole, the X-Stage.

Summary - What's The Best Dance Pole for Apartment Dwellers?

So, what's the best pole for apartment living? If you've read this far, you'll see that the answer is "it depends."

If you don't want to install a permanent pole, either because you don't have enough room in your apartment to leave the pole up all the time, or because you don't want to damage your floor and ceiling with multiple screw holes, you have several alternatives.

Which one you choose will depend on:

• your available space (a platform pole means no holes anywhere, but takes up a lot of room and requires higher ceilings)

• your confidence in your ability to do a safe installation (a friction fit pole leaves no trace, but has the potential to come down and cause a lot of damage if not installed correctly and checked frequently), and

• how important it is to you to have no holes at all in your apartment (a removable pole is much safer than a friction fit pole, but does require that you drill one small hole in your ceiling, which can easily be filled at move-out time).

Hopefully, with the information in this article, you'll be able to make the decision that's right for YOU.

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