[secondnature]

Hello, I have a ligistical and porportion questions regarding a wood trellis.

The face of the back of the 3 story house is huge. Attached to the side house is a large deck that is accessed from the second story. The face of this deck is flush with the face if the building. Beneath the upper deck is a patio area.

In order to give the building some dimension, I want to suggest a wall-mounted trellis that runs the length of about 35 feet. It will need to be built out of some pretty large lumber to be proportionate with the house size.

It would be supported by numerous brackets placed at regular intervals. Some would be attached to the already existing vertical posts below the deck, and some would be attached to the building face.

Is 3 feet too much to have it extend out from the face of the building?

I do not want to utilize any more vertical posts in my endeavor, just use wall brackets. How far out could I go w/o using posts?

Any thoughts on what would look (and work) the best for width?

Thanks, woodworkers!!

[Ston Wurks]

I would like to give you a better answer, but I can't really tell what the house siding material is. I would think this material would have some bearing on how far/how close you can be from the house.

Most true trellis work is considered to be attached to the wall it is fronting-if that helps . . . as opposed to being supported by posts.

Plant material? This should also be of consideration to your dimensions.

Around those windows . . . now we gotta consider shade/sunlight into the equation.

I hope this helps some with what you are considering.

[papercutter]

First off, what are you considering for brackets- wood? Metal? If you're doing wood for the trellis and brackets, cedar would actually be pretty lightweight, so not a bad choice, and you could get a really cool look joining the wood bracket parts with the architectual series parts from simpson-strongtie (I think that's what they're called).

The biggest issue I see is knowing what you're lagging into with the brackets. If you can mount them high enough to catch the rim joist between the first and second floors (walkout basement and first floor?), you should be fine with a lightweight trellis coming out three feet. But if you're aiming a little lower and you're only catching sheathing and the occasional stud? I wouldn't do it.

What's the siding? Vinyl, hardiplank, wood?

The back of the house is fairly contemporary; don't know if it goes with the front or the aesthetic you're going for, but even something modern with steel cables could be pretty cool.

[agla]

Design the concept and leave the construction method "to others" if it is mot something that you are responsible for building. Leave it up to the sub when it makes sense.

Sometimes it is risky business to design things that are really not in your area of expertise. I would leave it for a carpenter.

[papercutter]

I'll agree up to a point... but I'm all for learning more to try and make sure your idea works and will stand up. Stupid gravity!