[bhar]

I hired a contractor to build a deck about 2 years ago. He clearly used very green wood and didn't use carriage bolts to attach the posts to the beam. As the post dried, it twisted and pulled away from the beam. See attached photos. I have a few questions:

1. How worried should I be? I assume it's done drying/moving and so won't get any worse, right?
2. Do I need to replace the whole post?
3. Should I add carriage bolts now?
4. If so, how many? Just one or two per post?
5. Is my goal to tighten the nut down enough to pull them back together, or just prevent them from separating any further?

 

[Nealtw]

It likely has finished warping and it looks like you still have enough support. So you could put a bolt there to hold it in place. It will not pull back in unless you can drill oval shaped holes and twisting the post is doubt.

Treated posts are always wet so this can always happen so if you change the post you may want to buy it and let it dry first or just use 4 2x6s for a better chance of them holding each other straight.

 

[de-nagorg]

Welcome to the group.

That is probably done warping, I would get 2 bolts per post, and large square plates for each bolt, and install the bolts where they get the most meat to pull together.

Do not over tighten them, this might cause the thing to split, but tighten them enough to add a bit of secure leverage to holding this together.

This is common with PT wood, which is why I use REDWOOD, or CEDAR, most of the time.

ED

 

[Clutchcargo]

Assuming the post is sitting on a post base, you could loosen the base and twist the post back into place with some bolts through the beam. This would move the twisty part to the bottom.
Or another option... you could swap it out with a new post.

 

[bhar]

Thanks for all the advice. I installed 2 carriage bolts (with 2 nuts each). As expected, it didn't pull the wood back together, but I can sleep better now.

 

[de-nagorg]

Thanks for all the advice. I installed 2 carriage bolts (with 2 nuts each). As expected, it didn't pull the wood back together, but I can sleep better now.

If you slowly, over the summer, re-tighten those nuts, most of that gap will be taken away.

Remember SLOWLY wins the race.


ED