How to Repair a Damaged Trellis

• woodworking
• wood
• repairs
• DIY

We had a fine old trellis on the side of our house that rotted apart, caved in and damaged the climbing rose on it. The steel nails driven into our house’s brickwork were mostly rusted away as well. Where do we start this repair? Should we call a mason?

First, prune away any damage to the rose. When you’re finished, there shouldn’t be any ragged stumps or twisted canes. Next, salvage what you can of the old trellis, not for use, but to help you design its replacement, which should be built out of cypress, cedar or pressure-treated lumber cut into slats on a table saw. Fasten all parts, using hot-dipped galvanized nails or stainless-steel nails and screws.

You mentioned that the original nails driven into the mortar (or the brick) had rusted through. That’s bad. Get up on a ladder and inspect those spots. Rusting steel expands with enough force to crack bricks and mortar, and this will need to be repaired. Unless the damage to the brick and mortar looks severe, you probably won’t need a mason. Pull out any remaining rusty nail stubs.

Now the challenge is to attach the trellis so that corrosion won’t damage the wall. To fasten the new trellis, use stainless-steel Tapcon masonry screws or Zamac Nailin fasteners, also known informally as mortar plugs. The latter is a two-part fastener consisting of a nail and a body of Zamac alloy—a corrosion-resistant metal formed from zinc, aluminum, magnesium and copper. To install this fastener, use a hammer drill and a masonry bit or the new Bosch multipurpose bit, and bore through the lattice into the bricks or mortar behind it. You blow the hole clean, then hammer the Nailin through the lattice. The head on the Nailin body holds the lattice firmly in place as the steel nail expands the body, firmly wedging the lattice to the masonry. There are different types of this fastener. Make sure to use the one with the mushroom head and a stainless-steel nail. The carbon-steel nail version will rust.

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