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?
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.
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.
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...
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.
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