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I have a front porch, exposed to the weather, that is about 4′ deep by 8′ wide. I want to semi-enclose it: a roof overhead, two columns at the front corners, and railings between the columns and the front face of the house.
My assumption (perhaps unwarranted; feel free to correct my thinking) is that I want to lay sole plates on the porch, and then build up from there.
If this is the way to proceed, how do I anchor these plates to the 2″ thick bluestone slabs that form the top surface of the porch? Expansion bolts seem reasonable, but I’m leery of either trying to drill holes near the edge of the bluestone pavers, or cranking down on the bolts – either one seems liable to shatter the bluestone.
What’s the right way to proceed?
If I do drill holes, is there a better way to go than using my Bosch SDS Max roto-demo hammer? The impact seems particularly likely to cause damage that near the edge…
Thanks in advance for any help,
TJIC
Replies
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Travis,
If I understand your design correctly, why are you fastening a sole plate to the bluestone? I ask because you mention railings not kneewalls. Your 2 columns will need to be structural to support a properly designed header to carry the roof loads. At the exterior wall of the existing house you'll have to open the walls to "let in" some type of support if you don't want half-columns.
That aside, I have drilled bluestone with a Hilti SDS(TE SERIES). It has a 50% power switch which helps in sensitive spots. I would then use a ceramic type epoxy system(Epcon) to fasten threaded rod. This would eliminate the expansion pressure.
Jeff
*Tapcons
*if you are very, very, very worried about vibration you could rent a core drilling rig and drill out a hole for the rods then epoxy them in.
*Thanks for the feedback.Jeffrey - you're right; it's not clear that I need sole plates, and I was sort of wondering if I should just go with two front columns to carry the load of the roof at the front.If I go with just columns at the front, would you suggest sinking threaded rod in, epoxying, dropping a column plinth on top, torquing a nut and washer down on top, and then build up the columns on top of it?Jack, are tapcons a variety of expansion bolt?James, thanks for the advice; I might do that...but if I go with the column idea, the holes that I have to drill can be set back a decent bit from the edge (more like 4-6", I'd guess, depending on the design of the columns and their placement WRT the edge), so my first thought is to be less worried about shattering if I'm that far back...is it reasonable to be confident, in this case?Again, thanks all for the responses; I've been reading FHB and FWW for years, but this is my first experience with the user community at Taunton.com, and I'm impressed.TJIC
*Travis, I was wondering about the sole plate, too. I would either Tapcon or expansion bolt a pressure treated block to the stone. I would build your posts around that block. I'd put small stack of galvanized or stainless washers under the block, which would have some 1" (arbitrary) holes drilled in it, so air could flow through the column. That means the top of the column needs an egress for the air, too.Tapcons are great. Just set the block where you want it, use their drill bit to go through the block and stone and 'crete, and drive in the tapcon screw with a nut driver. Knock down the torque on your drill a little bit, 'cause you can snap them off.Good luck, BB
*Travis, BB's PT block on SS washers sounds good, especially w/the ventilation. Tapcons are oversized sheetrock screws(better metal composition)that come with a drill bit exactly dimensioned for the screw and it's stone/masonry application. Many varieties also have hex drive heads due to the added stress to drive them to prevent strip out. I like threaded rod w/epoxy. I tend to overdesign at times, but this method won't fail by thread tearout, a chemical bond has to be broken. Don't get me wrong, in the right situation for me(can't find epoxy,rent coring tool), I would use Tapcons. Good Luck, Jeff
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I have a front porch, exposed to the weather, that is about 4' deep by 8' wide. I want to semi-enclose it: a roof overhead, two columns at the front corners, and railings between the columns and the front face of the house.
My assumption (perhaps unwarranted; feel free to correct my thinking) is that I want to lay sole plates on the porch, and then build up from there.
If this is the way to proceed, how do I anchor these plates to the 2" thick bluestone slabs that form the top surface of the porch? Expansion bolts seem reasonable, but I'm leery of either trying to drill holes near the edge of the bluestone pavers, or cranking down on the bolts - either one seems liable to shatter the bluestone.
What's the right way to proceed?
If I do drill holes, is there a better way to go than using my Bosch SDS Max roto-demo hammer? The impact seems particularly likely to cause damage that near the edge...
Thanks in advance for any help,
TJIC