There's a trellis next to the exterior concrete wall of my garage. The
trellis supports a large thorny bush that is supposed to be up against
the wall. Problem is that the trellis is starting to sag away from the
wall creating a gap between the wall and the bush.

I want to pull the trellis closer to the wall. I was thinking of
installing some fasteners into the brick wall (into the mortar between
the bricks I presume??) and using some stainless wire to pull the
trellis back to the wall.

Is that the best way to go? If so, what is the proper type of
fasteners to use?

Thanks,
Kevin

ONE THING I FORGOT TO MENTION:

There is drywall on the other side of the brick wall (inside the
garage). I can go through it if necessary but would prefer not to if I
don't have to.

Thanks,
Kevin

You should be able to drill into the mortar joints with a 1/4" carbide
drill (any good hardware store) with your electric drill. Then fit some
lead sleeves to fit the holes,and some small "pan head" screws. Take a
turn around the screws with some wire. Galvanized wire will do. I've
also seen some nice fairly heavy green plastic coated wire that works
well. That is the stuff you use to tie small trees to sticks when they
are small. I did this once with a pyrocantha (firethorn) which I wanted
on a brick wall. Worked fine. Just use enough wires -- run them
horizontially, and across the main stems. Stainless steel is overkill..
Simple is good. If the lead sleeves want to pull out, put a dab of
epoxy resin on them (the two part stuff in the two tubes, quick
setting). Let the glue set (see instructions on the tubes), and then
put the screws and wire back on.

" wrote in message
ups.com...
ONE THING I FORGOT TO MENTION:

There is drywall on the other side of the brick wall (inside the
garage). I can go through it if necessary but would prefer not to if I
don't have to.

Thanks,
Kevin

assuming the wall is brick veneer, which it sounds like, and the drywall is
attached to wooden studs in the wall,,,

usually brick veneer is attached via metal straps to the wood framework of
the house for support and stability

depending on the weight load the trellis puts on the wall when attached, you
may want to drill through the brick, or mortar between the brick, and tie
the trellis into the wood framework...seems if the weight on the wall is
enough, tying into just the brick and/or mortar could cause the brick and/or
mortar to crack and worse

you may want to consider finding someone knowledgeable locally to eyeball it
and pass their judgment on it

Thanks. I was thinking I might just go all the way though the wall
(drywall and all) and just have long bolts going through with big nuts
& washers on the inside of the garage (drywall side). That way there'd
be no chance of the fasteners pulling out.

I think the load on the fasteners will not be high except for maybe in
the winter when there's ice & snow built up... I figure if the current
trellis can support that w/o collapsing maybe my idea is overkill...

Thanks for any more feedback...

Kevin

On 5 Sep 2006 14:50:09 -0700, "
wrote:

Thanks. I was thinking I might just go all the way though the wall
(drywall and all) and just have long bolts going through with big nuts
& washers on the inside of the garage (drywall side). That way there'd
be no chance of the fasteners pulling out.

I think the load on the fasteners will not be high except for maybe in
the winter when there's ice & snow built up... I figure if the current
trellis can support that w/o collapsing maybe my idea is overkill...

I was building a lucite vent window (an angle piece to blow the wind
in on me when I drove) and I wanted to measure the wind strength at 70
mph to decide how strong the lucite need be. After a bit of thinking,
the obvious way was to hold a piece of lucite out the window as I
drove 70 mph. The deflection was a measure of the wind pressure (and
it was far from making an 1/8inch thick piece brake.)

The way for you to measure the force t he trellis will put on the
bolts is to go out there and push the trellis back against the wall.
My guess without seeing it is that in the summer it will take 2 or 3
pounds of pressure. With snow and ice, it might be 3 times as much.

Remember that you only have to resist the "moment" of force
perpendicular to the wall. Since gravity pulls downward, the portion
of that force that is horizontal is between small and zero.
Depending on where it rests, where the trellis rests or where the base
of the plant is, whatever is the support and pivot point of the whole
thing. Only when the trellis gets away from the wall, does the
gravity pull down, and in doing so pull to the side, since the thing
pivots at the bottom.

It's like balancing a chair on your finger. If the center of gravity
of the chair is exactly above your finger, there is no force pushing
it to the side.

Thanks for any more feedback...

Kevin

I think this is what I need. Looks really easy. Now, where to get it?

I think this is what I need. Looks really easy. Now, where to get it?

http://www.brickclip.com/