Anchor fence post to brick wall?

[soparklion11]

I'm replacing a fence. The old fence posts were looser than <insert punchline here>. One of my gates is immediately adjacent to my house. Formerly the 'catch' post was adjacent to the house.

I'm considering anchoring the new post to the house. I would anchor into bricks, not mortar.

Options that I see:
Catch adjacent to house, anchored to house, and double-post opposite side to support the weight of the gate.

Gate hinge on single post anchored to house. Single catch post opposite the hinge.

Thank you,
Brian

 

[nealtw]

I would anchor it to the foundation with a 2x4 spacer.

 

[Snoonyb]

Brick is known as an unreliable anchoring media, so if you have the alternative, anchor the latch side to the brick.

 

[Jeff Handy]

Do not drill the brick.
It is difficult, and can cause a split.
The mortar will hold a screw just fine.

I like to use the blue ribbed plastic masonry anchors.
They are fluted, blue plastic, drill 5/16 hole.
The good kind are two inches long.
Drill the hole carefully, a sloppy hole will not grab at all.

Insert a # 12 or 14 stainless phillips sheet metal screw 2 inches long or as long as needed. Use stainless washers.
Use deck screws if you need longer length.

As mentioned above, you can anchor a treated 2x4 to the wall as a spacer, which gives you a good surface to screw a post onto.

 

[Jeff Handy]

I took another look at your mortar joints down there, they look pretty bad.
It needs tuck pointing asap.

 

[soparklion11]

I took another look at your mortar joints down there, they look pretty bad.
It needs tuck pointing asap.

Thanks, Jeff. Yes, it definitely needs some pointing.

 

[soparklion11]

Should I worry about putting anchor holes in my foundation?

I'm tempted to go through the mortar between the bricks. Near the corner of the house I should be assured of hitting 2x4" lumber in the corner of the frame under the brick facade.

It sounds like you've both done this before. I was going to anchor a treated 2x4 - as Neal suggests - into the block with 3 1/2" anchor sleeves. Then use screws that are 4 1/2" (3 1/2" + 1" = 4 1/2") to go through the 4x4 and 1 inch into the 2x4.

Would I add stability by burying the whole thing in concrete?

 

[kjones1829]

Brick alone could not hold that much. It needs a little bit of help.