Attaching a wood bearer to a metal post at an angle

[brynk]

Here's what you need: http://www.onesteel.com/productspecs.asp?specID=3087

I've got one section of sub floor held up with it because it was too high for brick piers. Bearers and joists are all Hyspan LVL. The verandahs and decks are all framed with Duragal. The guy up the hill from me has the whole subfloor made from Duragal, including bearers and joists. No problems thus far. We welded ours but the guy up the hill has tek screwed everything according to the Onesteel guidelines.

One thing that you need to be aware of, they don't recommend Duragal within a couple of kms of the coast, so if you're on the beach, it's no good for you.

a gem - added to my collection, thanks! the only prob is if the the deck was existing, which might pose a difficulty getting the sleeve over the post in one piece. spose you could just cut it in half anyway.

yes the backplate Doog mentions is definately better than individual washers. if you used the same 90x90 ea you could use a piece of the angle cut in half.

[silentC]

the only prob is if the the deck was existing

I've got that exact situation right now. I've decided to add a deck and one of the posts is already in place holding up the verandah roof, so I'm planning to slit a sleeve up the middle and weld it back together around the post.

[Dirty Doogie]

Hi silent,

wouldn't you be a bit worried about the heat from welding damaging the zincalume/gal coating on the column?

Doog

[silentC]

There's a Duragal welding guide on the OneSteel site too. It's just a matter of setting things up right, using the right electrode and watching the heat. We also paint on some cold gal over the weld and surrounding area. We used a stick welder last time but my BIL is bringing his MIG this time.

Edit: But I see what you're getting at in this case. We'll run a bead around the top and bottom of the sleeve as well, so the outside face of the column will be sealed up. Any heat damage to the zinc will be inside. Even if you're just tek screwing, they still recommend a sealant at all joins to exclude moisture.

[WA_decker]

Silent C, congrats on the 10K posts. I went through the whole metal subsurface thoughts and came to the conclusion that is was extremely expensive. You can send a plan through to bluescope for the same type that One Steel do and they give you a ballpark estimate. For a 72sqm deck it was around $7000 just for the substructure!!!! But I have guestimated structural H3 MGP10 pine at around $2000 for the same deal.
I found termites about 6 months ago about 1 metre from the house where my deck is going. Hence I am extremely worried about termites. (As doogie has commented about in earlier posts). The whole concept of attaching piers, bearers and joists looks very appealing to me from the onesteel brochure that you may have been referring to above
http://www.onesteel.com/images/db_im...20Brochure.pdf
when looking at the Verandah Sleeves. Do you happen to know if prices are as outlandish in the One Steel area?
Some posts are good and bad...after deciding that I couldn't have a steel deck and started down the path of wood, you have just re-fired the dream...so Silent C is steel outa this world compared to the price of wood and using stirrups onto bearers or have I hugely miscalculated costs here and steel could be an option...?

[silentC]

It's definitely more expensive than say treated pine or F7 hardwood, as you already know. It's a bit more expensive than LVL, but you wouldn't be using that for a deck anyway.

I bought the steel for a 2x2 deck last week and it cost $470 for the joists and bearers. It only comes in 8 metre lengths. I already had the posts and the sleeves left over from the last job.

I haven't got current prices for anything else because it's a couple of years now since I bought it all. I bought all the stuff for a 16sq.m deck late last year and it cost about $1,500.

When I built the house, I saved quite a bit, more than 50%, by buying seconds. Seconds are usually where the coating is a bit rough or it has some damage. Because a lot of mine is not seen or will be painted, I got away with it. You can also get the non-internally painted stuff quite a bit cheaper, but I wouldn't recommend that unless you are going to weld on end caps.

I think there are basically two indications for using steel: termites and bush fire danger. I think if you start looking at fire-treated timber it can get quite expensive (although I didn't quote it). It's also quite easy to work with. If you're not going to weld it, you don't really need any special tools - just a screw gun, caulking gun and an angle grinder or cut-off saw. I bought a GMC cut-off saw for about $90.

I find it easier to work with than hardwood, which was probably my only other alternative. It doesn't bow or twist. The wind up pillar connections make it dead easy to level but they are pricey and once you've levelled it, they're useless.

Best thing I can recommend is that you use the flooring guide I linked to earlier to work out what you need and then ring OneSteel and see what price they can give you. Ask about the seconds, it makes a huge difference on a big job.