planning on using 6×6 x 8′ timber
having “discussion” w/ inspector. Code requires hole to be 2’x2’x2′. No problem.
was planning on full pad 8″ thick…he wants 12″. No prob. I was also planning to put 12″ sonotube on top of the footing to bring everything up to ground level. I want to get the wood out of the ground.
He says that ground contact preserved wood will not rot. My exp. says different. He said to wrap the post in flashing. I think he has been smoking funny cigarets.
I want to sink 12″ sonotube into the footing, & bring concrete up to ground level, get post out of the rot zone. anchor 6×6 post to the column. Inspector doesnt like it. Said something about column rocking.
Thoughts?
Replies
I'd do it your way. I don't usually challenge inspectors unless the fight is worth the fight. And like you, I've seen ground-contact P.T. wood that, probably because of inadequate treatment, rotted from the inside out.
And flashing around the wood below ground level, that really seems pointless. Crushed rock would make more sense in that scenario.
I'm not sure what you meant about sticking the sonotube into the footing.
RE: the inspector mentioning the column rocking. I'd put a square of bar in the footer and ties some up into the tube, anyway.
It doesn't matter how fast you get there, it just matters that you go in the right direction.
I'd put a square of bar in the footer and ties some up into the tube, anyway.
I did omit the bar....was planning rebar between footing & column. and was planning to press tube into the footing while crete is wet.
I avoid pressing the tube into the mud. I think it should just sit on top of the footer mud.
I'd suggest: Pour the footer part very stiff, set the tube on top of the mud, brace it to plumb, fill it up. It's also easy to set a post bracket directly into wet mud.
Another thought: If you are using ready mix and have to buy a minimum amount, just fill up the 2'x2' hole and build a small square form around the top. No sono! I've done it and had it accepted by our inspector.It doesn't matter how fast you get there, it just matters that you go in the right direction.
I don't usually argue with inspectors because its better to just get along with them. What I do is make sure that they just enforce the code and not there opinion. I will do the code the way they want me to but I don't let them tell me how to build, it can be done in a very nice way. Treated wood can rot with ground contact, and wrapping flashing might insure that it does rot. Not only is the sonotube a good idea but it looks pretty good too when finished. Good Luck!!!!!
WOODOC
The way that I do it is to use stand-off post bases that I set atop the column with bolts that have been set in the column while it was wet. That way if there is any pooling of moisture atop the column you avoid the post setting in it. Not a bad idea to treat the post ends anyway with copper napthanate. Be sure to use galvanized bolts. For 6"x6"s I usually use 1/2" bolts. I recently had to jack up a deck that had originally been built (by others) with the posts set on top of the columns. They had changed the landscaping a bit and some of the columns no longer cleared the dirt. Those posts were rotted of at the base and had shortened by a few inches. I jacked the deck up sliced off the rotten bottoms of the posts and poured larger extensions on the columns (12" over 6") then set it back down. Voila!! Good for another ten or fifteen years.
Edited 3/17/2003 11:29:40 PM ET by Clay