Need to replace rotten wood support post on porch

RYANINMICHIGAN

Actually this is probably true. That post is not unnder any load from above.

cdnNick

What makes you say that? The contractor that looked at it certainly thought it was load bearing and I feel the same.

Ravenworks

I am glad you realise the seriousness of this project, because I have seen people get into trouble too many times guessing.

RYANINMICHIGAN

It could be. I am not there to look at it. What is under the soffit? What does it connect to on top? Is it resting on the pad or is the porch wall under it?

hand drive

there is a second floor directly above the post! It seems that there is weight bearing onto that post from the floor above , unless the porch ceiling cantilevers out into space from off of the house in all directions - not likely.

to the op, you can rebuild a post that looks just like the one you already have that is made out of pressure treated lumber. Also, you might want to look at the outside corner of the house above the post(2nd floor) and make sure that the roof is flashed correctly so that water is not getting into the insides of the post. maybe the post wicked water up off of the porch floor but it looks like a lot of damage, so possibly a leak from above?

cdnNick

Got more photos, I removed a section of the soffit and pulled back some of the metal trim, sadly I couldn't get my head up there because of a beam so I stuck my camera in and got some pictures.

In this picture you can see the top of the post it seems there is a cut 2x10 on it's side that sits on top of the post. Then I think there are a few 2x2 or something on top of that then the beams coming out of the house and garage.


These are from below, unless I am missing something it looks like everything is just resting on the post. It doesn't look like they are attached, does that even make sense?




I couldn't see any signs of water damage up there, the closest gutter is one solid piece so there are no seams for water to leak out of and the top of the post looks to be in perfect shape.

We replaced the roof last fall and the roofers never mentioned any rotten wood or issues in this area. We haven't had any rain since I discovered the issue but I have never really noticed any water running down the post or pooling at the bottom.

I was talking to a co-worker that lives on the same street and he has the same problem as we do, he was actually planning on replacing it this summer. Our neighbours have already replaced theirs.

meanindirectory

I also think that pressure treated lumber is the best material for your job.

Ravenworks

That shouldn't be to bad of a job to do,from the looks of it you will have to shore up in two spots to carry the weight.
I would pre build the post( a tad long) ,jack one area and shore it,then the same for the other.
You may want to crib out with some 4x's on the bottoms and tops of the shoring post to help spread the load.

__________________
U.S.M.C. "80-84" E.O.D. 1369

hand drive

it does not require a lot of fastening at the top of the post because of all the weight sitting on it, there are probably only a few toe nails up through the edge of the post up into the framing above.

obviously the 5- 2x10 to house is the heaviest load spot as it holds up the majority of the weight from the floor and walls and roof above it and will be a major factor to consider when replacing old post.

that is water wicked up off of porch floor for sure. a new post and your problem is solved!

cdnNick

I think the plan right now is to use a jackpost then build a PT box around the outside. I'm thinking I may lay something down on the concrete as a barrier between it and the wood. Of course this might all change if the wife wants to do something different with the railings.

Duckweather

If you go back to your first picture of the outside, (after the post picture), your post does not look like it is under the second floor wall. The inside of the post is more in line with the outside of the second floor wall. I would take a couple panels off the ceiling to see just what the beam is supporting. Maybe it is just the camera angle but something just looks off to me. From the picture it may be load bearing, but doesn't look like it is bearing the right load.

hand drive

the outside wall sets back some ( not much) from being directly over the post and the weight is transferred to that 4 or 5 member support beam.

cdnNick

So this is what I can figure out, I can see the end of the two beams (porch roof & end of 2nd floor) in the garage. The porch roof sits about 12-18" lower then the 2nd floor so I figured that was resting on top of the 5 - 2x10 beam that comes out the end of the house.

I'm at work so I can't get any more pictures plus I would have to remove all the soffit and some plywood to get a good picture of everything. I really only had about a 6" hole to stick my camera in.

AdamOttawa

Hi cdnNick,

The pictures you took looked exactly like my situation (17 yr old house in Ottawa) - probably same builder! How did you finally resolve it?

AdamOttawa

cdnNick

Hi Adam,

We ended up placing a temp support post on a 6-ton jack and cut the bottom of the post out and knocked out the old post. It had about 6 nails at the top and nothing on the bottom holding it to the porch so it was just the weight of the house holding it onto the porch. Once it was all removed we installed a jackpost and anchored it to the porch then we build a pressure treated box around it. A few months later we painted it white to match the trim. The box is a bit bigger then the previous post but it basically looks the same as before and my wife was happy with it.

It took my father-in-law and I about 1.5 days to do everything including replacing some of the rotten railings, and it was record breaking heat that weekend so I think we did a pretty good job.

** Added: it turns out it was just regular dimension lumber that was painted on the outside, so no wonder it rotted from the porch up.