mobilehomerepair.com

Hi All,
Quick questions:

1.) I need to attach a ledger board to the house, so I can run boards across a 10 foot span that will attach to a board, so I can lay the new awning.
The problem is attaching the ledger board. I enclosed a picture. I can't find the attachment points for the ledger board to the house, so was thinking this might work. The corners of the house MUST have a 2x4 in them. So from every corner would there be another 2x4 every 16 inches when measured from the outside side of the house? I need to hit structural beams to attach the ledger board.
I have a stud finder. It must be one of the most useless toys I've ever bought. Don't waste your money on them, they are junk.

2.) The ledger board: I'm thinking a 2x6. The ledger board is needed to put up an awning structure. The awning isn't fabric. It is going to be made of plywood.
The structure is 10 feet X 22feet. 2 sides will be attached to the trailer. The other 2 sides are supported by three 6inch X 6 inch posts.
The 10 foot span will be crossed by 2 X 4s. I will attach the 2 X 4s using rafter hangers.
I was thinking the ledger board would be a 2 x 6. It can't be a 2 x 8, because of gutter placement.
Will the 2 x 6 be strong enough for the ledger board?

Thanks in advance for your help.
Dave

It's anybody's guess where the studs would be. I would try a good stud finder, or pull the fascia off and get a look.

It sounds like you only real choice you have is a 2x6. It should be fine.

Greg

can you get up on a ladder and look for evidence of nail heads where the ledger board would go?

I would advise against attaching it to the home. No matter how good your footers/peirs are, there is always a chance that the addition (the awning would be the addition) will shift differently as compared to the mh. If that happens, there WILL be damage to the home and/or the addition.

Make it free standing then you can attach a piece of flashing to the mh and have it lay across the gap between the mh and the addition.

Now it's free standing AND the gap won't allow water through.

And if it's free-standing you won't have to search for those studs!
Free-standing is the best way to go...

UmpJJ

Have to agree about not attaching to the house. Previous owners here did just that - and the facia rotted in no time. That cardboard stuff likes to breathe! They also thought it would be a good idea to silicone the top edge of their ledger so that rain water wouldn't get in behind it. I'll spare ya'll the adjectives used in removing it when the facia rotted out. And, because they nailed their ledger into the rafter tails - most of them were lightly rotted and/or split out - making the facia replacement even more involved and tedious. I am 'assuming' the water got to the rafter tails via absorption through the facia as it was soaked.

I would also question using 2x4's to span 10 ft. Again, previous owners did just that - and it sagged better than 3 inches in the middle. It was covered with the ribbed metal roof material with 1x2's intersecting the 2x4's to from a top grid. It didn't last very long and looked like a hillbilly housing project. I tore every drop of it down and enjoyed the bonfire.

If your dead set on an awning - plant some posts right up next to the house - but not on the house. Give yourself a couple inches for later maintenance. Cross brace the upper corners - and you got it. You will be very glad you did. You can paint the posts out (same color as house) or wrap them on three sides for more of a "grand post" look. A 1x4 between a couple 1x6's works well for the wrap - and leaves an indented area on the back of the post to hide any wiring for maybe some low voltage lights.

adapt a free standing pergola to your patio

https://www.google.com/search?q=FREE+ST ... B419%3B237