Whats the best timber for carport posts ?

Hi All,

The carport I will be building soon has 8 posts.

I was thinking of using Cypress Pine (they will be in ground)

Is this the best choice or is there a more prefered timber to use ?

Any special preservative I can use as well ?

Thanks

Chris

Chris,
as a carpenter who enjoys working with timber my recomendation would be supagal or duragal steel posts set in concrete.:eek: If you really want to go timber in the ground I'd recomend treated pine.

Mick

With you there Mick,
Well nearly.

I'd use Purpose made Gal Steel brackets for the Timber, in the Ground/Concrete Footing

Careful with the Cypress,
the Sawdust is a NASTY!!!

Though I do like it myself.

Ivan,
in Cypress Country

I reckon gal posts are the way to go as well. I thought about using cypress in ground as well for a job I was planning and ended up deciding on gal for the ease of it all.

Another vote for Duragal.

brick piers anyone ?

Only need four ...


JR

Read again, he needs 8!

I'm pretty sure that brick piers higher than a metre have to be reinforced, so you might as well just use steel posts and be done with it ;)

Thanks boys for your suggestions.

I did some research re duragal and I was thinking 125 x 125 would be the go.

But how do I attach the carport beams to the top of them.

As you can see. I'm a bit nervous when it comes to metal !!!!

Thanks
Chris

You need to weld some flat bar or angle to the top of the post and bolt through it.

Mick

Quote:

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Originally Posted by buzza1

Thanks boys for your suggestions.

I did some research re duragal and I was thinking 125 x 125 would be the go.

But how do I attach the carport beams to the top of them.

As you can see. I'm a bit nervous when it comes to metal !!!!

Thanks
Chris

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G'day Chris

125 x 125 should be heaps, but can't really say as you have not told us what size the carport is. 100 x 100 would normally be ample for a double carport.

As for attach your beams, you need to get some cleats welded onto the post so can sit the beam on top of the post and the bolt thru cleat. See attach diagram

this is what we did with our carport/deck using duragal posts

bolted the wooden beams straight on top

I used 90x90 for mine (6m square, 7 posts). I welded an L shaped bracket to the top of 5 of the posts to take the beams. The L shape closes off the opening (very important), gives the beam somewhere to sit and gives you something to bolt to. The two posts at the front, I welded a flat plat to take an I-beam which spanned 6 metres so there was no post in the middle at the front. I welded plates to the ends of the I-Beam to take the timber beams from the sides. I welded some reo to the bottoms of the posts before setting them in the concrete footing.

The builder of our extension used mostly square steel stumps. He used the angle grinder to cut off 3 sides of the top of the stump down to the depth of the timber, then sat the timber on top of the stump and used big tek screws to attach through the steel to the timber. Simple, solid and stable. Might work here too.
And I agree about the cypress dust - it is bulk unpleasant!
Jeff

If you are going duragal.. 75 x 75 will be heaps. They use them when they raise houses up and a house weighs a hell of a lot more than a carport. Just use a 170 x 75 flat bar with 2 holes for bolts drilled either side and weld that to the top. The beareer can then be laid on top and bolts drilled vertically through it.
Make sure you also get a plate welded to the bottom so the posts doesnt sink. Wherever you get your posts from they normally have onsite welding service so they should do the job for you.
If using timber why do the posts have to be inground.. I used stirrups on mine ands the posts sit about 50 mm above ground.. I used 90 x 90 laminated kwila for appearance purposes but would normally go 100 x 100 17 hardwood. Never used pine for posts and never would.