Engineering and construction help needed Pics added

[Bubblingbrooks]

Along one side of our house, the roof overhangs enough for a there to be a 4 foot wide deck all along that side.
The roof and the deck are not attached at all.

The rafters are the kind that are made out of plywood and edged with 2x2s? I think. Have to run out and check for sure...
Fascia is just a a rough cut plain board.
House is over 25 years old.

I have a dream of hanging a clothesline from said roof.
It would solve issues with rain, and not having proper yard space, never mind that it would take all day to dig the holes for poles, due to all the fill.

We are planning on using the old dog run wire that was here, and is more then ample to run at least 3 lines the full length.

So we are wondering how to make this work.
The roof structure certainly cannot handle the side to side weight and tension.
There is some thought as to adding posts from the decking to the roof. Just not sure how to go about it.
Also, we will need the lines to be lower then the lowest point of the roof, as I am not tall enough to reach lines that would be all the way up there.

 

[Wannabefree]

Can not visualize what you are talking about...need pics

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Can not visualize what you are talking about...need pics

DH took the camera on his guide trip today

 

[Lady Henevere]

Can you mount it on the wall of the house, like this: http://www.clotheslinesource.com/cl...s/hillsfr71003monofoldingframeclothesline.cfm

 

[justusnak]

Is there a way to attach a 4x4,( on each corner) with those meatal L brackets to the deck....then to the roof? This would give you the stability you need for hanging a line.

 

[patandchickens]

Perhaps this is too much "lateral thinking" to address your needs, I don't know... but does it NEED to actually be a long tensioned clothesline, or would shorter "saggy bits" of clothesline *suspended from the underside of the roof overhang* do the job?

Simplest thing would be to take your clothesline and tie it to a series of eyebolts/screws that you install into the undersides of the rafters (trusses), every few trusses or so I suppose. So you would have this slightly loopy/saggy line attached to the underside of the soffit, that you could pin clothes to.

If you want the line straightish, which would be understandable, you could run wooden or metal droppers down from the soffit at that sort of interval, each dropper maybe a foot long, with a hole in the end that the clothesline runs thru. Again, I'd suggest knotting the clothesline at each dropper, so that there is minimal sideways pull on any one part of the clothesline. The vertical load would be small (b/c distributed among eyebolts or droppers) and unless you are trying to drip-dry grizzly hides or something it shouldn't excessively stress your house.

Just a thought anyhow. If that's not suitable, any chance you could post pics, as I'm not sure I'm envisioning all the details correctly but can think of a number of possible solutions to putting a "normal" clothesline in.

Pat

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Perhaps this is too much "lateral thinking" to address your needs, I don't know... but does it NEED to actually be a long tensioned clothesline, or would shorter "saggy bits" of clothesline *suspended from the underside of the roof overhang* do the job?

Simplest thing would be to take your clothesline and tie it to a series of eyebolts/screws that you install into the undersides of the rafters (trusses), every few trusses or so I suppose. So you would have this slightly loopy/saggy line attached to the underside of the soffit, that you could pin clothes to.

If you want the line straightish, which would be understandable, you could run wooden or metal droppers down from the soffit at that sort of interval, each dropper maybe a foot long, with a hole in the end that the clothesline runs thru. Again, I'd suggest knotting the clothesline at each dropper, so that there is minimal sideways pull on any one part of the clothesline. The vertical load would be small (b/c distributed among eyebolts or droppers) and unless you are trying to drip-dry grizzly hides or something it shouldn't excessively stress your house.

Just a thought anyhow. If that's not suitable, any chance you could post pics, as I'm not sure I'm envisioning all the details correctly but can think of a number of possible solutions to putting a "normal" clothesline in.

Pat

Hmmm, I like the idea of the boards dropped down with eyes in the bottom. Leaving the line a bit loose is a good idea too.
That could work well!

 

[Boogity]

I think Pat has offered the best ideas for your situation. I don't think there is enough weight in a typical load of laundry to worry about the roof structure. Those engineered trusses are designed to support enormous loads vertically. But you are correct that they are not designed for lateral loads. It looks like your roof structure is designed to handle very large snow loads. I did not think you guys got much snow in that area. But unless you are drip-drying very large grizzly hides.

Anyway, the amount of load you would be adding to the structure would be negligible.

Does this little "porch" see much foot traffic? If so you could design the hangy-downy brackets to swing up and out of the way when not in use. The eye bolts that Pat mentions would make the load vertical and eliminate almost all of the lateral (side-to-side) load.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

I think Pat has offered the best ideas for your situation. I don't think there is enough weight in a typical load of laundry to worry about the roof structure. Those engineered trusses are designed to support enormous loads vertically. But you are correct that they are not designed for lateral loads. It looks like your roof structure is designed to handle very large snow loads. I did not think you guys got much snow in that area. But unless you are drip-drying very large grizzly hides.

Anyway, the amount of load you would be adding to the structure would be negligible.

Does this little "porch" see much foot traffic? If so you could design the hangy-downy brackets to swing up and out of the way when not in use. The eye bolts that Pat mentions would make the load vertical and eliminate almost all of the lateral (side-to-side) load.

No foot traffic. And very little snow? 'scuse m a minute....
We do get several feet per winter. And we do not get the winds that blow it away either.

Ok, the area will actual provide enough area to hang 2-3 loads. And no, no drip drying of grizzly hides