Construction Advice

The header over the window is designed to transfer the roof or floor gavity loads  and the associated  live loads across the window opening.  Lateral loads are ( tension loads)  typically not considered in the design of the header.   I would use the angle that was mentioned and span at least 16 inches to either side of the window.   Also check you play structure in the yard.  Not knowing how it is constructed, there is a good chance that adding a 1500 to 2000 lbs lateral load on the structure will most likely deform it or even cause it to overturn if it is not properly anchored.

No I did not sleep at a Holiday Inn express but I am a structural engineer.

Mike

I was going to put a post hole around 5 ft deep and 12 ft high and counter anchor with two cables on opposite sides going into concrete and run the line over the play structure so that there wouldn't be any stress on it.

really worried about the window idea though.  I can just see ripping a window out of the house and the look on my wife's face.  May have to youtube it.

Well I'm trying to figure out if I can do it without ripping a whole out in my wall first.  But yes, I have thought about those.  My neighbor directly behind me reported my play structure (because he's the neighborhood rep and is supposed to, so I don't hold it against him) to the Home owner's association, so there's no getting around that.  And yes I thought about insurance but I don't want to throw up any red flags unnecessarily.

On a separate note, I looked at it last night and I'm not sure I can use the window frame at the top.  While on the inside I have about a foot or so of wall space before the ceiling, on the outside I have about 3 inches between window and overhang.  I don't think I can get the support I need right next to the window because I won't be able to spread it out over enough studs.  And to put it where I do have enough studs, it wouldn't be close enough to the window for the kids to tie off onto it.  I'm not willing to do any major structural reconstruction for it either.  I'm having a feeling I'm going to have to either A) chalk this up to just a really fun idea or B) move it to somewhere else in the yard and basically change the whole concept of it.

Bummer.

I am an insurance agent...

What we don't know won't hurt us.

Now of course they are going to want you to take it down the first time one of the neighbor kids breaks his neck, but until then it shouldn't be a big deal insurance wise. 

My fist thought was insurance rates...  Heck, they don't even like trampolines much less a zip line.

Civil engineer and dabble in structural.

Even though houses can handle WAY over a 2 kip (2000) shear load (horizontal).  Wind design loads are usually much higher.  Those are distributed loads and not a concentrated load.  The distributed load is taken up by all the members of the house and shear walls.  A 2 kip point load is bad news unless the structural member is specifically made for it.  The other problem is, houses are generally NOT structurally engineered so there is really no way to analyze is either.

No way I would do it unless a specific support was designed for it.  Even if the house can handle the load without failing, the vibrations transferred to the house during use could start cracking and other cosmetic damage.

If I were to do it, and do it right, I would probably sink a steel column next to the house in a concrete foundation.  Some quick calcs could tell you size of steel member and depth of footing.  That would take the bulk of the load plus isolated the vibrations from the rest of the house.

Just my 0.02 - which is double what my opinion is worth but .0001% of my billing rate.  It took me 10 minutes to write the post, so that's 25 bucks.  Invoice is in the mail.

I'm with Kido here -- fab up a separate steel structure so that it's not attached to the house. Truss it out so that it's solid.

But it sounds like an absolute blast.

Gotta be careful on the HOI aspect.  If you ever have a claim that is even not related to the zipline they can deny it due to "unsafe conditions".

Also you'd be a complete fool to allow anyone other than your kid to use it.  You're just asking for a lawsuit at that point.  And then your HOI is going to deny the claim.  You'll be on the hook for the damages.

I don't know of an "unsafe conditions" exclusion on a homeowners policy? Got an example to share for an inquiring mind?

If a pipe were to break then no... they probably cannot deny you.  However if you have a roof leak I can easily see how they could say it was due to the strain put on the structure by the zipline.

"Unsafe conditions" was my term.  Not a insurance industry term.  And probably the wrong choice of wrods.

Structural/Civil Engineer here.  I'm not so concerned about attaching it to the window/house that can be done with work but how do you stop at the post buried in the ground at the bottom?  Neat idea.

And as someone mentioned, you had better talk to your home owners insurance agent before doing this because if you kids and friends get hurt doing this you had better pepper your angus when they lawyer up and they will lawyer up.

If you could post a picture, even a hand sketch, of the dimensions, I can take a look at it.  I work with cables on a daily basis in my business. 

I can look at the loads applied and suggest anchors based on that. 

Do you have a cable size in mind already? Are there any definite components you already have to work with/around?

PM me if you feel more comfortable that way.

Oh gotcha, I thought you were referring to the liability portion of the policy ie the neighbor kid or that perhaps you had an experience were "unsafe conditions" were cited. Got me a bit curious. 

Take a bungee cord and anchor it in place on two sides, have the cord go through a block of (whatever material you want) that sits on the cable and as the trolley hits it, it slows until it stops.  Kind of like stopping a plane on an aircraft carrier.

(Zip line.jpg)