Car Port Construction

Any suggestions/comments would be appreciated.

I"ve replaced more than a few rotted-off PT post ends here, not even 20 yrs old. Like you, I also didn"t think much of the flimsy-looking post feet. Used them a couple of times and they didn"t fail, but didn"t feel good.

Then I went to using 6" lengths of 6" I beam. Works great. And now I can avoid PT wood that I don"t like to be around anyhow. Gotta trim the post feet to fit inside the flanges, but that doesn"t take long.

If you"re near Albemarle county, come on out and see a 2 story post&beam building sitting on them. They rest on a 2 story concrete foundation.

What the guys said about diagonal bracing is very true though. I dovetail my bracing into the posts and beams. Plywood would work just as well, a whole lot faster, just not look the same.

As far as the frost line why shouldn't a guy set his post on a concrete peer that goes that low?

So first drill hole with phd. Pour a concrete pad. Install peer with sonatube. Place post on top.

Treated wood posts in the ground have a max life of 30-35 years.

They make them strong enough to support thirty foot light poles, so yes, you can find them for your project. But like the guys have said, you would be better off dropping the poles in the ground below the frost line. That is how I built my barn and it it soid as a rock. Used 4x6 posts, went three feet deep and spaced them 3 to a side. My barn was also 24' by 24' with a 10 foot clearance.

I'll try to post a pic after church.

Dug