I am working on designing a second deck. I need to have the plan in place so I can plan how to install the backdrop. The backdrop decison allows me to complete the first deck (need to add some sort of spacer to the back of the layout sections to set the distance so that the backdrop doesn't impact the shelf brackets). The thickness of the shelf brackets determines the thickness of the bacdrop spacer. The back drop spacers combined will allow me to finish the first deck (currently there is an approximate 6" gap between my two sections of benchwork that needs to be filled in).
The engineering question is this:
Along one wall I have a 99" window opening where I cannot put any shelf brackets or supports. What is the best way of constructing and supporting this section of layout?
False wall of 1x4's vertical, with a couple horizontals tied into the wall on either side. and maybe an L girder under the 1st level.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
Most windows have a bit of an inset. you can constuct an L shape peice to go insine the inset out of 1x4 or other and instll it upside down and let the blind rest on the shelf (this is my solution on my layout).
99'' is a bit over eight feet long.
Just use 2 10' 1x4's laid horizontally at a vertical spacing that supports the shelf bracket screw holes. Another 1x could be laid 24 inches above. Make the backdrop out of 1/2 inch plywood to give the whole structure some stiffness
If you have the space along the glass to "spline" each 1x4 with a 1x2 to make a T out of each (then the T is attached on its side horizontally along the window), that would help keep the structure from bending in towards the window if bumped.
Sorry for not using a diagram to explain this.
- Douglas
BMMECNYC ... Along one wall I have a 99" window opening where I cannot put any shelf brackets or supports. What is the best way of constructing and supporting this section of layout?
...
An L-girder. I would get two 1X4's ten feet long, if you can get some that aren't seriously twisted, rip one of them to get the flange, and then screw 'n glue the strip to the top of the other 1X4, clamp, and when it's dried it will be very strong over that distance.
while an old thread, Girder Span suggests that a 1x4 with a 1x6 top can span 12'.
i think completing the I by adding a 1x2 on the bottom would make is stronger
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
My first attempt at this has ended with new knowledge about how homes built in the late 1990s were constructed. There is a 10" space above the window that I figured had 2x4s every 16" or so that would come down and rest on a plate. My plan was to screw 1x3s to the outside of this and a 1x4 which ran down to the first deck on that. 1x2s would stiffen the 1x4 on the facing side of the layout and provide an attachment point for the first deck backdrop. The second deck would be supported by 12x14 pressed shelf brackets capped with 1x4s cut to the width of the 2nd deck.
The first one at the edge of the window went in okay. I measured 16" off and made a couple exploratory drills..no wood. Continued about 5" either direction, nothing. I then cut a chunk out and found that there is a vertical beam 1.5" behind the drywall, with air space behind. The drywall appears to be attached at the top and bottom of the beam to a piece of wood that is either the cap on an engineered beam (the center portion is solid wood, not any type of particle board or plywood) or a piece of wood attached to the edge of the beam that runs the full length.
I've also been instructed that I cant block the windows permanently (permanent magnets will be used to hold the backdrop in place during normal operations).
It seems my options are attach something to the inside of the window frame (not thrilled about that) or cut sections out of the drywall and install a piece of lumber to allow me to go forward with the orignial design.
Can you gin up some elevation and cross-section sketches so I can be sure of what's there? I think what you're discussing is adding a whaler of something like 1x10 tied back into the webs with appropriate spacers for the fasteners, faced to where drywall thickness will match existing when patched.
I trust you now see the value of a good electronic stud finder...
I'd consider extending some of the fasteners used to tie back the whaler so they will serve as attach points for whatever bracketry systems you want to use. A partial alternative is to put T-nuts into the back side of the whaler where you expect brackets will subsequently go, then put points in these to mark the back side of the new drywall and then drill through to the front before installing. You can just paper over the holes before painting to make them easy to find later...
Overmod I think what you're discussing is adding a whaler of something like 1x10 tied back into the webs with appropriate spacers for the fasteners, faced to where drywall thickness will match existing when patched.
Nothing so drastic. Basically going to add a true 1x3 (its only 1" deep vice 1.5") or a ripped down 2x4 to fit the space every 32" above the window. This will require two cuts to install the wood spacers. Then I'll attach drywall to the wood, mud it and install a piece of 1x3 on the outside of the drywall so that I can mount my second deck supports.
OvermodI trust you now see the value of a good electronic stud finder...
I've got one. It kept telling me there was a screw (all of them are basically metal detectors) near the ceiling or near the window trim (which makes sense if you think about it). It also kept telling me there was AC wiring, which I assume is actually on the outside of the header (raised ranch house, second floor overhangs on the front by a foot).