Porch Swing Support

Question

I have a 12' deep by 46' wide porch off the front of my house.

The porch rafters are 2x6 8" OC with 2x4 laid flat on the bottom sides of every other joist.

My wife would like to hang a porch swing, but I'm concerned that a single bolt through a 2x6 (one for each side of the swing) will not be supported enough.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to do this?

long view of house and porch

The flat 2x4's serve 2 purposes: (1) Add stiffness and strength to the 2x6 joists and (2) create a "drop" ceiling so the electrical inspector can pass it as is, without needing to drill holes through the 2x6's (and weaken them every so slightly) to run the wires. — JosephNY, Aug 24 '21 at 13:39

MonkeyZeus · Answer 1 · 2021-08-23T18:54:42.520

2

TL;DR

Attach a 2x6 flat across the rafters and use oversized eye hooks and washers to secure into the flat board.

If the porch swing will be perpendicular to the rafters then attach a 2x6 perpendicularly on the rafters which is 2-4 feet longer than the porch swing. Attach it using 2 screws per joist.

Now attach eye hook bolts to the flat 2x6 using oversized washers and double the nut to prevent unthreading.

If your porch swing is planned to run parallel with the rafters then attach 2 shorter 2x6 boards perpendicular to the the rafters and attach eye hook bolts.

Paint it white and it will be practically invisible once the shiplap ceiling goes around the board(s).

If you want it to be more invisible from the get-go then you could attach a 2x6 between the rafters and secure it using metal brackets. My concern would be whether two 2x6 rafters will be able to sufficiently withstand a fully loaded porch swing.

edited Aug 23 '21 at 18:54

answered Aug 23 '21 at 12:37

MonkeyZeus

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Attach the 2x6 directly to the rafters, not to those 2x4s that are nailed on, and use *suitable* screws. You can hide the end-grain of this board by making it about 8 inches longer at each end (first, "longer" as instructed in this answer, then 8 inches longer still) and beveling the last 8 inches down to the thickness of the ceiling boards. No screws in the beveled ends, they are decoration. – jay613 Aug 23 '21 at 19:17
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@jay613 Actually, if you cut away sections of flat 2x4 to make room for the flat 2x6 then that actually solves the issue of needing to paint it because it will be hidden behind the shiplap. – MonkeyZeus Aug 23 '21 at 20:04
Ooh, this is exciting. So, attach 2x6 flat against the bottom of the rafters (having cut away enough of the flat 2x4 to fit the 2x6 directly against the rafter) and running perpendicular to the rafters? Then, eye bolts through the flat 2x6 (through the 1.5" depth of the 2x6)? That will mean the 2x6 with the eye bolts will be secured to many 2x6 rafters (with structural screws) and the swing chain/cable will be attached the eye bolts through the 1.5" depth of those new 2x6, right? This will be capable of holding a 3 or 4 person swing without developing sag over time? – JosephNY Aug 24 '21 at 13:45
@JosephNY The rafters shouldn't sag since you're distributing the weight across so many of them. Add in the fact that they're 8" on-center and I can't imagine a force powerful enough to make that roof sag. If you're worried about the flat 2x6 sagging then you can add a short 2x6 above the main 2x6 and between the rafters and secure it using [metal corner brackets that have a reinforced corner](https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-2-in-Zinc-Plated-Double-Wide-Corner-Brace-2-Pack-15051/202033994). Once you have your 2x6 sandwich then send the eye bolt through both. – MonkeyZeus Aug 24 '21 at 14:46
@JosephNY Also, since your rafters are sloped you should consider countering that angle so that the washer and nut don't bite into the wood easily. Hopefully my paint skillz are sufficient =) https://i.stack.imgur.com/jZ1F6.png – MonkeyZeus Aug 24 '21 at 14:53
@MonkeyZeus So good I might just hang it on the wall (;-) I don't know if I should worry about the single 2x6 with bolt through the 1.5", but I like this solution because I can decide now how far from the face of the house to run the 2x6 (cutting out the 2x4 where the new 2x6 will run) and then later after the ceiling is in place know exactly where it is. Problem is, I will won't be able to get behind it with a washer and nut once the ceiling is in place. – JosephNY Aug 24 '21 at 18:22
@JosephNY Sorry, that's the trade-off. I recommend installing the eye bolt, washer, and double-nut before the shiplap; these eye bolts will be fairly permanent so make sure you get stainless steel. This way you can try to butt one piece of shiplap up to the eye bolt and cut a notch in the next piece; or cut half a notch out of both pieces. If your shiplap varies in length then the result should look seamless. If your shiplap is say 12 feet long then the short piece between the two eye bolts could be noticeable. Aside from that I wouldn't trust a "screw-thread" eye bolt for a swing. – MonkeyZeus Aug 24 '21 at 20:00
I've been looking for 3/8" stainless eye bolts, between 3 and 4" in length, with a large eye diameter and am having difficulty finding them. – JosephNY Aug 24 '21 at 21:53
@JosephNY Like these? https://www.amazon.com/Besthouse-Permanent-Antirust-Stainless-Capacity/dp/B07SW2Z7L5/ref=asc_df_B07SW2Z7L5. If they're too long then just cut them to the desired length. – MonkeyZeus Aug 24 '21 at 23:27
@JosephNY The Google search I used was "porch swing eye bolt" – MonkeyZeus Aug 25 '21 at 12:09
Good thinking regarding doubling and flattening the attachment points for the eye bolts. Given the angle of these rafters the swing will create a partially horizontal force pulling the porch roof away from the house. We can't see how the rafters are attached to the house or to the porch beams but would it be worth considering reenforcing those attachments for the impacted rafters? – jay613 Aug 25 '21 at 20:08

Porch Swing Support

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