# Sunsetter Awning mount to brick



## johnz333 (May 9, 2016)

Hello,

I want to mount a 17' wide motorized sunsetter awning to my two story brick home over a patio. I am confused about the instructions. My home was built in 1961 and looking at the brick it is one layer of brick so I am assuming this is still considered "vernier" and I should not mount the awning directly to the brick. Is this true? They give you two lag bolts, 4" top and 5" bottom and say to drill into the center of the brick. My concern is will this hold the awning. I am guessing the brick is like 3-4" thick and has a 1" gap between it and the wall behind but not sure. The awning weighs about 140 Ilbs and will have 6 brackets holding it on the wall. Does anyone have any experience that would be helpful? It would be much appreciated. I have a picture I can post of the area to mount the awning. I am planning to mount it about 9' above the patio which is at ground floor level.

Thank you,

John Z.


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## Canarywood1 (May 5, 2012)

Why not call Sunsetter and ask them, i'd imagine they have run into this before.


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## johnz333 (May 9, 2016)

I did call them a few minutes ago but the knowledge they have is limited to the printed materials they have. It is not clear from the installation instructions or their technical papers they have as to what kind of brick is considered "soft" brick or hard brick. I guess I will try a bracket using their masonry lag bolts and see how it seems. I have some photos of a brick install online but it does not show how long the bolts are or if they went into a beam through the brick or not.


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## paintdrying (Jul 13, 2012)

What is your location? Do the bricks freeze? Would be nice to know the amount of force we are dealing with here. Some guys would go into the mortar joints.
Is this has the potential to fall and hurt someone I would be very careful. I might be tempted to drill through the brick into a stud, or header board. I am not comfortable telling you fasteners to use.


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## NJ Brickie (Mar 4, 2009)

A veneer is not designed to carry any loads. Mounting directly to the brick is not a good idea. The weight (140lbs) is not really the issue. It's that you are mounting a 17' "sail" to a veneer.


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## johnz333 (May 9, 2016)

Thanks everyone for the input. I ordered my awning so I have a few weeks to figure this out. I think I will try and find a support between the floors and drill through the brick into this. I will just have to use some super long fasteners.

Here is a mock up of the awning using a photo of my house.


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## paintdrying (Jul 13, 2012)

There is probably a solid chunk of wood right behind the brick where you want to mount the awning


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## jjascoli (Oct 25, 2017)

Hi John, just wondering if you ever found some answers and were able to install your Sunsetter awning. I ask because we purchased an 11' wide motorized Sunsetter that I was going to install on our 4" brick veneer, and now understand that's not recommended. I was under the impression that brick veneer was 1.5" brick so I thought we were fine. So, I'm very interested in knowing how things worked out for you and if you may have some tips for me.
Much thanks, Juan


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

Since the post is a little over a year old, the OP may or may not respond. However, experience with the awnings has led me to know brick veneer is not a good supportive surface for them, alone. Any fasteners will need to extend through the brick and into a structural member of the house. It is easier to drill through the mortar joint and into the wood, so if you can position it so, it would be easier. If not, then drilling the brick is not earth shattering, just a little harder.


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## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

chandler48 said:


> Any fasteners will need to extend through the brick and into a structural member of the house.


But, as mentioned in the first post, there is going to be about a 1" gap between the brick veneer and the framing. That does not seem particularly strong.


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## bob22 (May 28, 2008)

Sometimes you can't do what you want to do in life.


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