I am considering building a porch for the front of my house and have a
question that I hope you all can help with.

The front is brick. My question concerns attaching the ledger board
that supports the roof to the house through the brick. Presuming the
ledger rests against the brick and is attached to the 2nd floor rim
joist via holes through the brick is there a risk that any sagging
could damage the brick and possibly cause the brickwork above the porch
roofline to come loose? Or is it best to somehow remove the brick
where the ledger goes and attach it directly to the rim thereby having
the brick for the upper portion rest on the ledger for support?

As always, thanks in advance.

Geo

Since most brick is applied as a brick veneer, how about supporting
the ledger on posts to support the vertical load? The posts can then
be covered in half-columns to hide them visually. The half-column
facades would match the freestanding posts at the front of the porch.
Without being able to cantilever the ledger support into the second
floor joists, I would not recommend supporting it on a brick veneer
and adding a few bolts into the rim joist.
A porch like this amounts to a sail mounted horizontally. Need to
tie down the back edge so that wind forces don't rip it off the face
of the house. Steel posts set into concrete piers is the way to go.

On 16 Sep 2005 06:29:15 -0700, "Geo" wrote:

I am considering building a porch for the front of my house and have a
question that I hope you all can help with.

The front is brick. My question concerns attaching the ledger board
that supports the roof to the house through the brick. Presuming the
ledger rests against the brick and is attached to the 2nd floor rim
joist via holes through the brick is there a risk that any sagging
could damage the brick and possibly cause the brickwork above the porch
roofline to come loose? Or is it best to somehow remove the brick
where the ledger goes and attach it directly to the rim thereby having
the brick for the upper portion rest on the ledger for support?

As always, thanks in advance.

Geo