patio design

Question:

hello , i am wanting to build a paito cover on the rear of my home which is a brick 2 story. will i have to use 4 posts with the two closest to the house carrying the rear weight or is there a way to attach it to the brick without the use of two additional posts. dimensions approx. 27x13 gable design, ridge aprox. 13 ft tall.
Answer:
Hi,
For a 27x13 patio cover, assuming wood frame, the weight of material that each post needs to carry is between 1,300 and 1,500 pounds. If you have snow, each post will need to carry additional 2,600 pounds for a total load of 3,900+/-.

Asking the brick wall to carry 1,300 pounds point load is not structurally safe.

However, if you insist on doing away with the post, you can install a ledger that spans 3 or 4 studs perpendicular to the beam that carries the new patio cover. Install leg bolts directly from the ledger to the studs. For this to work the ledger must be centered at the new beam such that there will be 1 or more studs to the left and right of the beam. From the side of the ledger, install a hanger to accept the new patio beam. The draw back with this approach, part of the ledger will be exposed.

The other approach is to install 3 new studs in the existing house to align with the new beam. Punch a hole thru the wall and thru the brick to allow the passage of the new beam.

If one corner of the new patio is to match the corner of the existing house, there is a very good chance the hanger for the new beam can be leg bolted from the exterior without installing new studs. This is due to the fact that framing at house corners have double or triple studs that can carry the new added load. If this is the case there is only one column to worry about.

If you go with the adding new column route, make sure your new column bottom of footing match the existing house bottom of footing. You don't want to build your new footing on top of soil that were not compacted very well and is not done settling.

Good luck
Tonga