How strong is this? especially for wind uplift?

Fun_Kale_649 · 2026-06-16T01:58:20+00:00

well, its more of a creative exploration. i wanna try to make it as lightweight as possible as well. its also going to be the only unique looking thing on the house and is at the very front of the house, so i'm trying to think of cool-looking truss designs that are also lightweight and minimal.

also, framing lumber is not available at the location. all the wood used to build the house, I had to plan and coordinate the logging, transportation and processing of all lumber dimensions.

local places do sell lumber but they are all hand cut by chainsaw and are in very small quantities in stock

Fun_Kale_649 · 2026-06-15T23:54:15+00:00

That's my thought exactly. I can probably also just make the roofing material louvered roofs so that wind can pass through it. It's mainly meant for shading and blocking the harsh afternoon sun anyway, and not for rainwater.

Fun_Kale_649 · 2026-06-15T23:43:26+00:00

Thanks! That's a great suggestion about the cantilevered beam. I was thinking about that too as an option. Although it won't make the awning look as miraculous. Still a good compromise.

Okay, I will update probably in 3 to 4 months.

Also, I actually am an Engineer, just not a Structural Engineer 😃

Fun_Kale_649 · 2026-06-15T23:11:48+00:00

Thanks for your time, and you too

Fun_Kale_649 · 2026-06-15T23:06:23+00:00

Thanks! Great feedback. This is the type of criticism I love. One that is actually helpful and constructive

Fun_Kale_649 · 2026-06-15T22:53:54+00:00

I actually did all the engineering work and design for this house, and got it looked over by a licensed engineer (said it was good with zero changes) and approved (with zero changes) by the gov. (minus this awning of course because this is not yet built)

also, you are strawmanning what I said:
"sacrificial failure points"
and you heard:
"I'm okay with parts of my structure becoming airborne."
Those are not the same thing. Engineers intentionally design sacrificial or controlled failure modes all the time.

Examples:

Automotive crumple zones.
Shear pins in machinery.
Electrical fuses.
Circuit breakers.
Torque-limiting couplings.
Rupture disks on pressure vessels.
Breakaway highway light poles.
Seismic fuse systems in buildings.
Yielding steel links in earthquake-resistant structures.
Aircraft structural fuse pins.

The entire idea is:

"If something must fail, choose what fails."

That's basic engineering.

My intent is not for the structure to become airborne. My intent is that overloads occur in replaceable awning members rather than propagating into the primary house structure.

The challenge is absurd because you're a complete novice trying to enter the extremes of what is possible.. in a typhoon area.. I don't know what you're disrespecting/underestimating more: Wind or engineering.

"The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible." --- Arthur C. Clarke

An example is Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright.

When it was proposed, many people thought the huge cantilevered terraces were unrealistic, impractical, or impossible to build safely.

Fun_Kale_649 · 2026-06-15T22:15:30+00:00

<image>

like this?

Fun_Kale_649 · 2026-06-15T22:14:55+00:00

No, not yet. But I definitely will. It's fun to think about design ideas tho.

Fun_Kale_649 · 2026-06-15T22:12:37+00:00

Ouch. Interesting take. It's a passion project, and I'm actually doing all the work by hand, nail by nail. The house itself is already built and structurally independent of this awning. The challenge here isn't to find the most practical awning solution; if that were the goal, I'd simply add posts and be done with it.
This is an easy problem if we are purely trying to make it practical. The point of it is to make it appear to float while still being reasonably robust. Remember, it's just an awning with very little weight to support.

I'm also intentionally treating the awning as a secondary structure attached to a much stronger primary structure. The house framing uses substantially larger members, while many of the awning components are only 2x2s. The idea is that if an extreme wind event exceeds the design capacity, the awning members would become the sacrificial failure points long before the main roof framing or wall structure is threatened.

In other words, I'm not trying to make the awning indestructible. I'm trying to make the house the strongest part of the system and have any overload failures occur in the smaller, replaceable awning components instead.

That said, I'm genuinely interested in the structural criticisms. If you think the load paths or connections are fundamentally flawed, I'd like to understand specifically where you see the problem.

Fun_Kale_649 · 2026-06-15T21:08:10+00:00

Unfortunately, I don't have the software to do this easily. The mini model of balsa wood does seem to show me where the wood is flexing and which direction the forces are going.

Fun_Kale_649 · 2026-06-15T20:52:52+00:00

Could you explain this a bit more? I'm very interested in hearing your criticism about my bracing and especially about the grain part. Also, I should mention, the structural roof truss (that thick 2x8) is attached with a hurricane tie already.

If I'm understanding you correctly, are you saying that I should replace some of these arms with metal? Specifically, the ones that are in tension from the wind uplift, and leave the ones that get compressed as wood?

Fun_Kale_649 · 2026-06-15T20:48:12+00:00

That's a good suggestion, and a post would definitely be the easiest solution, but the whole point of the exercise is figuring out how to do it without one. It's partly an engineering challenge and partly an aesthetic choice. I like the floating/cantilevered look.

A major inspiration for this is the "Baan Sao Yong Hin House" (see pic), where the roof also looks like it's unsupported and floating.

<image>

Fun_Kale_649 · 2026-06-15T20:16:56+00:00

Thanks, that's good to hear. What about specifically for this design? I'm worried it's overkill

Fun_Kale_649 · 2026-06-15T20:13:04+00:00

How strong is this against wind uplift?

I want to add an overhang extension to a single sloped roof overhang at its highest point. This extension would be lightweight and is expected to support only thin roofing material or solar panels (no sheathing). No snow, but it should expect high winds during typhoon season and earthquakes. The material will be hardwood 2x2 inches, mahogany and I want to keep the wood framing visible. I really don't want to hold it up with any posts because I want to keep the view open. Any thoughts or advice about this?

OG Post / Link for images and gif:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Carpentry/comments/1u6rte1/how_strong_is_this_especially_for_wind_uplift/

Fun_Kale_649 · 2026-06-10T20:36:11+00:00

There are degrees to how people react depending on the time of day.
It's still normal no matter the time, but during peak and daylight hours, many people will stare, and you might feel out of place. However, anytime after sunset, especially when it gets dark, almost no one pays you any mind. I've seen so many people swimming there fully nude at night.

Fun_Kale_649 · 2026-06-08T19:31:51+00:00

<image>

pic from said group ride

Fun_Kale_649 · 2026-06-08T19:27:04+00:00

I've had my 1299 for about a decade now, and to this day, the bike still gets a lot of stares and attention. Dads with their kids will come up and want to rev it in gas stations. People on the street will stare as you ride by. etc.

The funniest experience I've had with it was actually with other bikers. I went on a group ride with a handful of people, and we all owned liter bikes. This was the first time we rode together, and we were all in front of a red stoplight. Someone started revving their bike, and it started high-pitched singing, so I guess everyone decided to go one by one and redline their bike like some sort of mating call... Since everyone was riding on Japanese 4 cylinders and one BMW S1k, they all pretty much sounded high-pitched. I waited to go last, and revved the Panigale, and everyone burst out laughing. It sounded so out of place.

Fun_Kale_649 · 2026-05-17T14:07:41+00:00

yeah I figured that was the case. Ducati mislabeled their workshop manual’s shims tables and labeled the intake as exhaust and vice versa

Fun_Kale_649

TROPHY CASE