Post base for wood porch

Quercus

I'm rebuilding my ~100 year old porch. it stands 3' above grade on cement-filled pipe posts. I have replaced much of the understructure including new 4x6 beam at the front edge, am working on the flooring, and then the new PT4x6 posts go in (to be wrapped in 1x later). The old posts were pretty rotten at the bottom, so I want to raise the new posts an inch or so off the flooring, but all the stand-off post bases I find are designed for use on concrete (like Simpson CPS46). They are designed to set an anchor bolt in the cement, nail the base to the bottom of the post, then epoxy onto the anchor bolt.

This must be an incredibly common situation - what does everyone else do??Is there a base out there that can be nailed to the bottom of the post AND has angled toe-nail holes to attach it to the porch floor/beam? Or should I just give it up and rest the post directly on the flooring?

As a last resort, I'm thinking about using a lag bolt driven vertically into the floor/beam, leaving 3" above the floor; cut off the head; nail a composite base on the bottom of the post; and drill a similarly positioned hole in the bottom of the post, through the opening in the composite base. But the hole in post will have to be pretty loose, as the post would have to be tilted to slide onto the bolt, then plumbed under the ceiling beam. With some liquid nails in the hole and under the base, maybe it would be tight enough. Does that sound like an OK idea?

thank for any thoughts.

Daniel Holzman

I do not quite understand your situation, perhaps you can post some pictures. I am not clear if the posts will be supported on the sill beam, or will be supported on the concrete filled steel posts. If you plan to support the wooden posts on the concrete filled steel posts, you can drill into the concrete and epoxy a threaded rod in place, which in turn will anchor the Simpson or equivalent galvanized bracket in place.

Quercus

Thanks Daniel. It is your basic beam resting on posts, flooring on beam, post on flooring, directly over beam.

I came across Simpson ABA46z, which, in addition to the large hole for an anchor bolt, has two smaller holes. I'm just going to screw that bracket through the flooring into the beam, set in the post and side nail it in through the plates, as directed; and "toe-screw" it at the top. Don't tell Simpson, but I might drill an extra hole or two in the bottom plate, as the holes provided are very near the edges.