Repairing rotten verandah posts

[BenFiggis]

Hi, the bottom of my verandah posts have gone rotten. I intend to cut off the rotten bit and replace it with a fresh length of timber with a stirrup. Please see crappy illustration.

My concern is that everything will need to be measured and cut milimetre-perfect otherwise the stirrup will be hanging in mid air, or I won't be able to squeeze it into place.

Can anyone suggest a way to improve the chances it will all fit, or to adjust it once in place?

(I realise it might be simpler to replace the whole post, but I don't want to do this because a) they are irregular size b) save $ c) difficult to extract from lattive work above)

Many thanks!

- Ben

[Sir Stinkalot]

How do you plan to attach the new timber onto the old? This seems like trouble to me as they will be loadbearing. I assume that you would be able to find height adjustable stirrup somewhere.

[Zed]

Dont kid yourself - replace the whole post :

put in an acro prop to support the roof
remove the post
use it as a size template
dip the new one in some sort water proofing (tar dip ??)
install it
remove acro prop.

or if your floor is solid enough for a pilllar stirrup use the old one as a template before you cut the new length.

oz hardwood is cheap 2nd hand from recyclers and if you paint it you cant tell its old wood, besides its well seasoned too!

[colh]

if you don't want to replace the whole post you would need to do something like half-house the new piece to the bottom of the existing post. As far as the height goes, use stirrups that set into a concrete footing rather than ones that bolt down on top of a footing. Use a temporary prop to support the balcony at the correct level while you repair the post, fit the stirrup and pour the new concrete footing under it.

cheers]

Colin

[silentC]

You can get adjustable post supports if pouring a new footing is not an option for you. I used one on a veranda post once that was sitting on an existing slab. They fix to the slab with bolts.

[Marc]

If you really must cut and patch, (see others suggestion to change the lot) two ways to do this come to mind.

Prop your veranda up close to the post to be cut. Cut the post at the lowest possible point and then again, this time half way only from one side 250mm higher. Now cut from the centre up with a lot of sweat and grunt possibly using a good sharp saw, until you meet your half way cut.

You post is now prepared to receive the added piece that will make him whole again. Your conundrum is how to get it all right and load bearing again.

If you want to have a dinabolted stirrup like your drawing suggests, you must fix your stirrup to the new post leg, place it in position, mark the half way cut on the new part, cut it, and then place it in position. Dinabolt the stirrup first, and once it is nice and strong in the ground, and before you take the prop off, you drill two holes for two bolts that will hold the old and new post together.

Alternatively, you can use stirrups for concreting in. (They are longer and have the end bent to hold onto the concrete.) Do the same as before only this time you bolt the post addition to the old post first, (nice and straight) and then you will have the stirrup dangling in the hole in the ground and the veranda held up by the prop. Poor the concrete, wait until it sets (24 hours me thinks is safe) and progress to the next post.

I prefer this procedure since I hate dinabolts with a passion.

To get both post aligned properly when drilling the 10 or 12 mm holes for the bolts, you could use two F clamps to hold a 4x2 from the side that will keep all nice and stright and a third clamp between the two holes to hold the joint in place.
Good luck!