We are thinking of hanging heavy punching bags from custom made steel brackets on the inside of an exterior brick wall, securing them with through bolts to a metal plate on the outside. We plan to use 1x12 as a washer between the interior bracket and the brick. The bags will be taking a lot of abuse, kicks and punches, a lot of violent swinging. Has anyone tried this? Will it hold, and the metal plates serve to dissipate the wiggle, or will it damage the supporting brick wall?

My two-bedroom bungalow, built in 1948 has polished concrete floors, dyed? stained? an oxblood red. Six years ago I ripped out the carpets and painted the floors a faux mahogany with watered-down porch paint and sealed with saltillo tile sealer (as recommended by HD "expert"). Floors turned out great, but sealer was not adequate and floors are scraped in a variety of places throughout the house. I'm looking at different flooring methods. Laminate won't work because I have pets who have occasional accidents. I understand the paint will need to be removed, if I choose to tile. I have about 600 sq feet to cover. House is in Arizona. When the carpet was removed there were islands of a white substance (salt? water?) that cleaned up with concrete cleaner and have not returned in six years. Took a knife to the paint this morning and the paint scrapes off down to original oxblood-colored concrete very easily. This oxblood color is impossible to scrape or mar. Even divots in the floor from the carpet tacks show the oxblood color. Questions: Does the paint need to be removed with solvent or sanded off? What was the original concrete stained/dyed with, that the oxblood color is so deep in the concrete? I'm looking for a low-maintenance durable flooring option. If I remove all the paint, can the floor be re-stained? acid-stained? dyed? If I decide to repaint or stain, what should I use to seal it? What parts of the process can I do myself? Whew! Thanks for any help you can give.