Our home has a 12x12 patio/porch in the backyard. The porch is attached to the home on one side. There are two 4x4 posts on the side attached to the home/roof close to the walls and there are 3 4x4s on the other side. I have read somewhere that 4x4s might not be enough in some cases. Can...

We are going to be building a 16x24 cabin with a loft and will be using sonotube concrete forms for the footings. How far apart should they be spaced, how far below the frost line (10 inches), and how far above the ground would you recommend? Also, we are plannig on renting either a bobcat...

So I have 4 pillars on my front porch. These pillars seem to have an aluminum decorative casing around the 4x4 which I assume is under them. My question is, How do I remove the aluminum casing? There is a peice on the bottom and top that will slide up and down, but the main casing peice goes...