Expert: Daniel Humphrey - 1/10/2009

Question
I am building a new patio to come off the existing double
brick house. I am planning on taking the eaves off and am
faced with the following problem:

From the top of the outer leaf of the house to the top of
the rafter is around 400mm so if I take the eaves off and
attach a ledger beam to the rafters to tie the patio to I
will have a large gap. Is this a normal design for double
brick houses and how do I go about getting around it?

Answer
Dear Stuart,

If the house were not brick, it would be a simple matter to drop the portal ledger down a bit and leave the eaves intact. This dropped Portal feature is quite nice, and perhaps you may be able to do that anyway by using posts to support the upper ledger, or plate. But since the attachment to the house itself would be minimal, the portal frame would need to be self-supporting.

But looking at tying into the roof structure itself:

It would be best if the portal rafters tied neatly into the existing rafters. What I have done when there is a change in pitch or in rafter depth is to align the roofs, of course, and carry the house soffit neatly into the portal ceiling, creating a vaulted appearance. Even if the portal ceiling remains unsheathed, with framing members exposed, the horizontal soffit frame looks nice.

Daniel