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Wooden Balcony.


AlanUK

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Hi all, 

I have attached a rough (very rough) drawing of the balcony I want to put on the end of my garage that is currently being built.  The garage has a room above, and the balcony will have a spiral staircase going up to it.  Basic frame is to be oak, with joists (pine), and floor boards/decking of some kind on the top.

 

Does this look like a practical approach?  Any comments on what I've got wrong?

 

Thanks.

Alan

Garage Balcony Rough Drawing 1.jpg

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I did originally think about four posts, but the builders said I could go into the wall instead, and save the cost of two posts.  They may have been envisaging someting a bit smaller than what I've drawn though.

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I will watch this with interest as I will be doing much the same but I doubt my budget stretches to Oak.

 

I will be going for a 2 post design, with the 2 posts supporting 99% of the weight, and the attachments to the wall just to stop it falling over, nothing more.

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1 hour ago, AlanUK said:

One thing I was worried about was the beams expanding, and cracking the wall, but they said they could go into expansion joints.


very unlikely. 
 

Best way would be to get a T-plate made to bolt to the wall, then slot the oak beam around it and bolt through. If the plate (probably best as stainless) has an oval slot rather than a hole for a bolt it will allow a little movement. The oak frame will then move and you can use an oak rear beam between the two attached beams. 

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3 hours ago, PeterW said:


very unlikely. 
 

Best way would be to get a T-plate made to bolt to the wall, then slot the oak beam around it and bolt through. If the plate (probably best as stainless) has an oval slot rather than a hole for a bolt it will allow a little movement. The oak frame will then move and you can use an oak rear beam between the two attached beams. 

 

Don't know much about oak. What about coping with lateral expansion of the rear oak beam i.e perpendicular the ridge direction?

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21 hours ago, Tennentslager said:

Nice drawing by the way

why oak if you have pine joists? 
Are you treating/painting it

I would stain the joists to darken them, but they would be more hidden than the main frame, and so wouldn't be so noticeable.  That's the idea anyway.  I'm also intending having a shed under the balcony, that would hide them further.  The oak would be either untreated, or linseeded.  (any idea which is best?)

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With the spiral stair you will need to account for the entire diameter of the staircase being lost from the balcony.  1/4 for the landing and 3/4 cut out for headroom and protected by handrail.  1500mm is a sensible minimum.

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15 hours ago, Mr Punter said:

With the spiral stair you will need to account for the entire diameter of the staircase being lost from the balcony.  1/4 for the landing and 3/4 cut out for headroom and protected by handrail.  1500mm is a sensible minimum.

Are you assuming there that the staircase goes up into the balcony, rather than connecting at the edge?   I want it to connect to the edge, but I'm not clear in my mind at what angle the staircase will need to meet the balcony. The drop will be about 3m or so, but I'm not sure of the exact height yet.  I'm assuming the central pole of the staircase will have to be away from the balcony by some amount (I'm guessing maybe half of the radius of the staircase).  Would that be about right?  Where would I find more info on that? 

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It will be easier to have the stair either completely outside or completely inside the balcony, otherwise you will need to cut through the main balcony framework.

 

image.png.67451e26bb07f96eee458f3ccb2eaf1e.png

 

To connect at the edge the stair would need a small landing at the top.  The stair people can  make this to form the top tread as a quarter landing with some holes so that you can fix it to your balcony.  Get them to also provide for the outside handrail to return to the centre post at the top.

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Mr Punter, would something like this work? The finishing angle (and starting angle) can be chosen to provide the sufficient headroom under the balcony.  That way some of the staircase is under the balcony, saving some space.  This is fairly similar to your upper drawing, but with the central post moved in towards the balcony itself.  I was imagining it would be around a 360° twist.

 

Onoff, that's an interesting simple design.  I suspect something rising around 3m might need something more substantial. 

Spiral staircase from above, showing finishing angle.jpg

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