As part of a porch enclosure I am building a small awning over a new exterior door. I am replicating the design seen elsewhere on the house. It is a shed roof, sloping at about 12/12. It’s small — the run is only about 36 inches, width is about the same. Rafters will be attached to a ledger with pressure blocks. It will have a wood shingle roof.
My question concerns the corbel/strut member that runs up from the wall at an angle to support that plate on which the rafters rest. These will be made of 10/4 redwood and shaped to a template that will match ones that already exist elsewhere on the house. These members will be around 4 feet long.
At first, I thought I’d slap these redwood struts up against the king studs of the door and nail and lag bolt them. But a builder friend said I would be ‘penetrating the wall’ with this method and I would be inviting water intrusion problems. Instead, the plan is to install some flat blocking between the king stud of the door and the next stud over… and butt the redwood strut up against the flat blocking and attach. It will still need to be flashed, but I guess it doesn’t technically ‘penetrate’ the wall.
But I’m wondering about the connection — The corbel/strut will be fashioned out of a 12 inch wide plank and there will be plenty of beef at the base of the strut where it meets the flat blocking. I figure I can toe nail it with about eight to ten, 16 penny’s. The only opportunity to lag bolt seems to be from behind the flat blocking into the end grain of the strut.
Is my plan to attach the strut to the flat blocking — toe nailing and then lag bolting from behind — a good idea? Will this be secure?
Is my overall plan okay? Thanks very much in advance.
Replies
The strut will be pushing in toward the house as well as down, so flat blocking is not a good idea. Better to push againt something solid that runs from plate to plate.
When I do this I usually run a vertical trim board to attach the strut to, or even make up a three-piece bracket and install the whole thing as a unit. Flash the sides of the upright as if it was a window or a door, and don't worry too much about a couple of lags penetrating the wall.