We’re adding to the side of our existing brick veneer house, and planned to install a small hipped porch roof across the brick veneer of the combined new front wall. The idea of the porch roof was to visually tie the old and new structures together (and to hide some of the sins of adding across the front of a house).
Since this roof will partially be retrofit to the existing house and its existing brick veneer, my plan was to brick the front of the addition and then just bolt the ridge ledger to the brick veneer and install the roof. It’s only 6′ of run and it’s just an open porch, and believe me there are plenty of porch roofs around here which are merely bolted to the brick veneer. But of course the building department didn’t like that, given that the brick veneer is “non-structural”. So they want me to tie the roof to the wall framing.
The detail they give is doubled common rafters nailed to the side of a stud, supported by double jack studs. They want this every fourth rafter, with a doubled header/ledger in-between these to carry the other three rafters. I understand the framing they want and it’s no problem to construct it- except it will seriously mess up the bricking! The detail looks to be a retrofit detail, to be done by cutting out bricks in the required areas to fit the rafters through and then grouting up the holes afterward.
I’d thought of installing a couple of posts down to concrete piers to support a doubled ledger/header, making the roof structurally independent of the front wall. Unfortunately, unless I revise my roof plan to get rid of the hips at the two ends, I’d need a post running right in front of a window that’s essential to the design of the house and which can’t be moved.
Here are my questions:
1) On the addition, do I frame this they way they want, and expect the mason to brick around/behind this framing? Or do I have to brick the thing, leaving space in the brick veneer for these rafters to be installed later? I have zero experience with masonry and haven’t selected a mason yet- and won’t have the used brick cleaned to even bother with until next year…
2) Is there another way to tie this roof ledger to the frame wall which won’t mess up the bricking as much?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Replies
figure out where said framing is ...
drill thru the brick facade .. and into the wood framing with lags.
3/8th is usually all that's required ...
I usually use 1/2"
for this application ... being longer lags are needed to go thru the ledger ... thru the brick ... across the air space ... and at least 3 inches into the framing .... fatter will be better.
run that drawing past the permit office (at this point, I wouldn't even "ask first" ... straight to the paper work) ... see if they'll OK it.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
Jeff: thanks for that. But with the lag screw going through four inches of brick and an inch of airspace, it's still the brick that'll be bearing the load. The ledger will push inward (i.e. against the brick) and downward under the roof load. The lags will resist the downward (probably by resting on the hole drilled for them in the brick), but the brick ties and mortar will be all that's keeping the ledger from pushing inward.
What about if I go with your lag screw idea, but instead of drilling 1/2" holes I drill 7/8" holes and use some pieces of 1/2" galvanized pipe 5" long and some big washers to sleeve the lag screws and stand the ledger off the studs? That should result in a ledger which can't move either up/down or in/out and which bears entirely on the stud wall. Doubt these building department folks could have a problem with that?! I'll ask the inspector actually- he seems more reasonable than the plan review folks, and if he approves it I'm good to go anyway.