Round Porch..?

ecooke21

I need to frame a porch that is round..I have some ideas, but I am hoping there is a tried method for perfect results. any ideas?

the radius is about 14' I will be attaching the ledger board to the house and framing perpendicular to the ledgerboard..thanks

Tom R

Not sure exactly which part you're asking about, - - but I guess I would lay it out on paper first, - - then once the beams (parallel to the ledger board) are in just let the joists run at least a few inches wild, - - then pencil-in the radius (minus the rim-joists or fascia) across the tops of the joists, - - then cut 'em plumb and install your (layered?) fascia and start deckin'.

IHI

What Tom said is about the easiest method. When we did the 1/2 round stairs for a deck we built I drew it up on paper so I knew what size loumber I needed to stagger it back each side of the center and installed all the joists letting them run wild. Found my half way point and with a string tied round a pencil drew the radius.

If you dont want a perfect half circle you can run a string at the end and leave it as loose as you need to then just push the pencil up against the string and the string itself will oblong out towards the center but come back in one the ends with a nice gradual curve. That does'nt sound realy easy to understand for the oblong look, sorry about that but in reality it is very easy.

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ecooke21

sorry, i should have been more specific..I am having trouble figuring out how to instal a curved rim joist..should I just lay out my 2x's "wild", cut them plumb and install one section of straight rim joists, one at a time? Then bend my fascia?

sorry about the confusion

Tom R

Not something I've done, - - and maybe someone knows better, - - but I think once I got the wild's cut plumb, - - I'd install 'individuals' between (like blocking) right at the ends of the joists. Then I would 'shim-out' to at least two equally-spaced intervals on each block (out to the radius), - - and then apply my curved fascia.

maj

That would work. But what I would do & have done is make a series a saw kerfs on the back side of the rim joist. The kerfs are about half the thickness of the joist (3/4" for 2x) and cut about every 3" - 4". This allows you to "bend" the rim joist to the curve of the deck.

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maj

Actually........ With some of the crap lumber we get these days...... you could prolly find a precurved 2x at the yard!!!!

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Tom R

Should be right on top of the pile at Home Depot!!

Tom R

This is a good suggestion, too.

How about some more details on the 'finished' product.

Treated??

Cedar?? Redwood?? Ipe??

Composite??

Picture-framed decking??

ecooke21

I am using a 5/4 x 4 Mahogony, with a composite fascia(to bend easily)

Tom R

Either way will work, - - sounds like maj's way will give you a more solid backing for that very flexible (1/2" thick?) composite fascia.

maj

ecooke.....What's the framing? Treated?

'cause with the method I described, you could do away with the fascia. Get a good looking rim joist, kerf it & bend it..... you're done.

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Tom R

See, - - I picture-frame all my decks, - - so the rim joist could only work as a backer for me, - - or the kerfs would be in the finish.

maj

Gotcha there Tom. I didn't think about that. I've been doing that lately too. Makes for a cleaner looking edge.

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RobertCDF

Sorry I did not notice this thread before.... For a curved rim joist rip 1/2" PT ply into strips as wide as your framing lumber ex 9 1/4" for 2x10 and then just bend it into place and add 2 more layers of ply to make it 1 1/2" thick.

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IHI

What are you using to fasten them? Granted I initally tried bending with water logged ply on my curve steps and found the radius to be too tight and it'd either break the plywood layering or give notchy type radi instead of a nice flowing curve. For a porch I dont see a problem due to size, but the steps we did it was pretty tightly bent so we had to move to lexan...nobody locally carried any composite type material at that time so we used what was available, plus he was talking about back lighting the risers anyways in the future.

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A+Carpenter

First of all how big is your radius for on your porch? Reply back to this thread with your dimensions. Your rim joist can me manipulated to some extent.

There are a few methods to do this. TAKE IT FROM A REAL FRAMER

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Tom R

Ummm, - - maybe re-read his first post??

Tom R

By the way, us fake framers are real interested in what you have to add here, - - tell us some real tricks, will ya??

Like ya' always do?? . . .

ProWallGuy

Tom, I knew it. I had you pegged for a fake framer all along.

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