I am building a porch that has a lot of 6 x 6 pt post the support the roof. Is there any way to keep them from warping or twisthing. I feel like I remember someone telling me to drill 3/4 ” holes in the side of them about every 4 feet. Is this true or is there a better way.
commonwealth const
Fredericksburg, VA
When deck posts exceed what the prescriptive code tables allow, it's time to consult a structural engineer for post sizing and possible bracing.
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Replies
I have never heard of that method. Honestly, I can't see how it would help prevent twisting the 6x6s, either.
AFAIK, the only way to prevent wood from twisting or warping as its cellular moisture leaves it is to have it locked in a straight line during that time. When framing a house with green lumber, particular care must be taken to install firestops, blocking, cross-bracing, etc., so that the 2x's can't twist as they dry.
But 6x6's (and other square-cut post lumber) are particularly prone to twisting, both because the heart generally runs right down the center, and also because they are so massive compared to simple 2x planks.
The only suggestion I can make is to forget using the PT 6x6s you mentioned, and replace them with CVG cedar. These will be just as rot resistant as the PT (if not more so), and they will be bone dry and bar-straight when you buy them. So they won't twist once you set them up.
Dinosaur
A day may come when the courage of men fails,when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship...
But it is not this day.
If you want to go to the trouble, laminate your posts out of smaller pieces. If it's paint-grade, then even consider some water-resistant ply in your laminate layers.
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario
common.... we buy our posts about two weeks before hand... put them in the garage on stickers on blue tarps and build a tent over them.....
then put a dehumidifier in the tent...
most of the twist will occur during that period..
also... we hand pick our posts from the yard and buy about 10% more than we need
For that application I buy laminated posts. Pricey, but well worth it. There are a few lumber yards near here that specialize in PT lumber who sell them in various sizes. 4x4, 5x5, 6x6 in 8', 10' and 12' lengths. Maybe 8x8s too. They are laminated from 2x stock. I think they use that Resesional (sp?) glue (dk brown stuff). The 4x4s are solid, and the ones larger have a square hole down the center meaning they are basically a box post. It appears that they are laminated and then plained down to nice 'crisp' square profiles. The actual sizes are a little odd: 4x4 = ~ 3 1/4" x 3 1/4", 5x5 = 4 1/4" x 4 1/4", and 6x6 = 5 1/4 x 5 1/4. Not only do they not twist or warp at all in my experience, but they don't check (split) hardly at all.
I've had a lot of trouble with solid sawn square lumber. For example on my own screened porch I used #1 4x4s. Out of maybe 8 or 10 posts one warped very badly. As luck would have it, it is one that serves as a door jamb on one of the screen doors. What a bummer... Would have to rip about 1/2 that side of the porch off including screen to fix it. Need scaffolding too. (don't have any). DW says: what do "we" do? I say - Leave it!!! Wish it didn't happen!! - the shoemaker's kids have no shoes ;-) On a customer's jobs I had similar situation and replaced it though.
I've also used Mike's approach (minus the dehumidifier). Let it dry out some in a controlled environment (as opposed to in the elements) and then just return the "culls". That is not always practical though. If you can find a place that sells very dry lumber that helps since a lot of the warping/checking/twisting has already occured when you cull it out at the store.
You should hand pick your posts, and choose ones that don't have the center of the tree anywhere in them. If you can't hand pick them yourself and need to order them, then specify FOH (free of heart). The best grain direction for a square piece of wood is on a 45, then there's straight grain on all 4 sides.
I hear ya, but I find that if you want to produce a superior product, at least in this case, you need superior materials. Keep in mind that the PT lumber we get on the east coast is an entirely different animal than what you get on the west coast. Also, we don't have FOH. You all get that "incised" stuff - right, and I guess it is doug fir or something, whereas all our PT is SYP.
Matt
joe... as matt says.. no such animal as FOH here..
we typically get 60% #2 & 40% #1 SYP in a lift... if we want good posts we hand select every one and then sticker them
here's a deck we did with some help from the Auzzie
Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
geeze, you mean that if you go and hand select thru a stack you can't find any FOH ? and, you can't Special Order them FOH ?
we are blessed with some pretty nice softwoods' out in the West coast, most of the PT I get is doug fir ..
Everything is crooked in Ohio, even the government.
Thats not true. Taft is ok. Well except for the email deal. And we know Voinovich was great. Except for the no bid contract thing. Celeste, yeah he was ok. Except for the affairs thing. Well, ok maybe they all are. DanT
You're right. I don't think Taft is crooked, just out of touch and incompetent for the job. I have been having a hard time lately with employment and the Dayton area is particularly hard hit.
James Traficant is gone. :(
Rumor has it that Bob Walker is next in line after Dennis Kucinich.
"Preach the Gospel at all times; if necessary, use words." - St. Francis of Assisi
Ahhh Dennis. The flaming king of Cleveland. Miss him every year at election time lol. DanT
no... i can find FOH.. it's one of the things we look for... but all PT is SYP .. no DF..
SYP is a much smaller tree so when you cut a 6x6 out it , it's hard to get FOH..
and no, you can't special order FOH.. you can special order .60 retention
anyways.. with a little planning, we manage to get some pretty straight posts that don't twistMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Nice looking job, Mike. As usual. But, man, those are looooooooooong scaffolding platforms! How do you carry them around? You got one of those power-company trailer-dollies they use for hauling utility poles?
View Image
Dinosaur
A day may come when the courage of men fails,when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship...
But it is not this day.
24' pics go on a 12' truck rack..... so they stick out 6 ft. on each end
Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Edited 8/2/2005 11:13 pm ET by Mike Smith
I gather those platforms aren't designed to lock onto standard scaffolding sections. What would one of those beasties weigh?
Dinosaur
A day may come when the courage of men fails,when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship...
But it is not this day.
TH... those are the pics that Alum-a-Pole makes... we have the 24' x 20"
and the 24' x 14" .. i can pick up the 14" ( barely ) but only one end of the 20" at a timeMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
I had to scaffold a job with 7' sections the other month; usually we use 10-footers, which is the standard around here. The 10'x20" platforms are a bear to shift up the frame unless you have a helper. (Which is why I normally use planks instead of platforms.)
But I discovered to my delight I can hoist, carry, and shift a 7'x20" platform with one arm. So now I'm thinking about getting some seven-footer X-braces and a couple of those short platforms.
Working alone as often as I do, I don't even wanna think about those 24-footers....
Dinosaur
A day may come when the courage of men fails,when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship...
But it is not this day.