[tonybrown32]

Hi all,

Looking for some advice.. we had a Sams club pergola on our 4" thick stamped concrete patio, and hadn't secured it quite yet to the patio (it comes with 4 resin "feet" that were supposed to be secured with four 1/4" tapcons each).

We had a freak severe straight line wind come through (70-ish mph) which pushed it/slid it just off the edge of the patio and it toppled over.. so I'm rebuilding it... and securing it this time.

This was not a normal wind.. it took out trees and power lines in my neighborhood, but the resin square feet this pergola comes with are only secured to the 5.5" cedar posts through their 1 inch cedar facing (inside the post is a 4x4 for support in sections, to make the overall weight and cost less I'm sure)

Instead, I purchased some Ozco post brackets so I can secure the side plates with screws into the meaty 4x4 centers of the posts, rather than just the facing...

What I'm wondering about, is if I should secure the post bases to the patio using one 1/2" or 5/8" tapcon/titen bolt in the center of the standoff plate, or use four 1/4" tapcons to secure the standoff to the patio/slab.

The Patio is 4" thick concrete with mesh. I am not going to cut it out and built piers or footings. I'm going to secure it with the Ozco base plates. With the slab being only 4" thick, most of the larger tapcons/titen bolts that are 1/2-5/8" diameter, are too long and I would be drilling through all of the concrete, and wondering if just securing with four 1/4" tapcons in each base would be just as effective given the thickness of the slab..

Thoughts? The Ozco OWT bases allow for either method of securing to the patio... one large bolt or four 1/4" screws..

Any advice on which method is preferred for a 4" slab would be great... Pergola has corner bracing so I'm more concerned with keeping wind from sliding it along my patio or uplift than I am with it scissoring down in an wind..

Thanks all!

 

[Nealtw]

I would use a 3/8" by 3" HDG wedge anchor. They are not a common size it might take some searching for them.

https://www.confast.com/product-3-8-x-3-hot-dipped-galvanized-wedge-anchor/

 

[tonybrown32]

Thanks for the suggestion... just one 3/8" wedge anchor in the center, or four of them to replace the 1/4" tapcons at the corners?

 

[de-nagorg]

This'll get it. 4 each is overkill.


https://www.homedepot.com/p/Simpson...-Wedge-Anchor-50-Pack-STB2-37300R50/300591972

ED

 

[tonybrown32]

Thanks.. the Ozco standoff base plate is sized for a 5/8" bolt/tapcon in the center, will 3/8" allow too much slop/play? Assume I'll also have to likely get a more appropriately sized washer to cover the 5/8" hole better?

I would get a 5/8" Titen HD or 5/8" anchor bolt, but both seem overkill for this application, and have a hard time finding either in lengths shorter than 4", which will then be too long given the 4" depth of my patio.

So far options look like a 3 inch 3/8" anchor bolt in the center of each post base... or four 1/4" tapcons/small anchor bolts in the corners of each base plate...

 

[Nealtw]

Thanks for the suggestion... just one 3/8" wedge anchor in the center, or four of them to replace the 1/4" tapcons at the corners?

Yes.one for each post.

 

[de-nagorg]

Thanks.. the Ozco standoff base plate is sized for a 5/8" bolt/tapcon in the center, will 3/8" allow too much slop/play? Assume I'll also have to likely get a more appropriately sized washer to cover the 5/8" hole better?

I would get a 5/8" Titen HD or 5/8" anchor bolt, but both seem overkill for this application, and have a hard time finding either in lengths shorter than 4", which will then be too long given the 4" depth of my patio.

So far options look like a 3 inch 3/8" anchor bolt in the center of each post base... or four 1/4" tapcons/small anchor bolts in the corners of each base plate...

On those TAPCON bolts.

I have used them, I don't like them, they are so brittle, that I break many, then that position is ruined, and I have to move the plate over.

The idea is good, but the TAPCON is a piece of junk, and should have been made better.

I would go with the ones that I showed a link for.


ED

I just checked, and at $2.00 per bolt, and 3" long, you should be well anchored.

 

[Nealtw]

On those TAPCON bolts.

I have used them, I don't like them, they are so brittle, that I break many, then that position is ruined, and I have to move the plate over.

The idea is good, but the TAPCON is a piece of junk, and should have been made better.

I would go with the ones that I showed a link for.


ED

I just checked, and at $2.00 per bolt, and 3" long, you should be well anchored.

Ed, those are the right size but they really should be HDG:wink2:

 

[de-nagorg]

Ed, those are the right size but they really should be HDG:wink2:

If Simpson is selling them as concrete anchors, they should be good for it.

After all Simpson has a reputation to keep.

ED

Isn't HDG, just another name for ZINC plating?

 

[tonybrown32]

Awesome guys, I'll just make sure I have a big enough washer on the 3/8" anchor placed in the 5/8" hole of the plate..

You guys are the best voices of reason in all my reading.. most posts/replies I've read through any forums I can find, pretty much insist on cutting out a 12"x12" section of my patio for each post, and putting 36" footings in...

All that seemed overkill for an $899 pergola that comes with the hardware and instructions to secure to the patio with plastic resin feet/post bases that are secured with 2" long 1/4" concrete screws.

I just wanted to improve on the resin feet that don't really secure very well to the posts themselves, aside from one 1.5" long drywall type screw on each side, which only screws into 1 inch thick cedar facing... the Ozco OWT brackets are also probably overkill, but they will at least allow me to set 2 screws in each side of the post that will go through both the 1" cedar facing and into the 4x4 post in the middles...

Now.. it could all be just an effort to make me feel better, and it'll get blown over anyway in the end.. lol.. it is an $899 chinese made pergola from Sams Club.. but I was impressed it held together after being blown over and toppling upside down.. just a few boards and 3 of 4 cross braces were cracked from the impact of toppling over.. sad part was, I could order replacement pieces for about $280 pretty easy... but the shipping for those parts was $800!! I just got a new one instead at that point.. and learned a lesson for not securing it right away...

At 500lbs, didn't seem like it would go anywhere, but those resin feet are pretty slippery on my freshly sealed stamped concrete..

 

[Nealtw]

If Simpson is selling them as concrete anchors, they should be good for it.

After all Simpson has a reputation to keep.

ED

Isn't HDG, just another name for ZINC plating?

There is a big difference between plated and dipped, we use the plated one inside the house.

 

[de-nagorg]

There is a big difference between plated and dipped, we use the plated one inside the house.

Plating is done electrostatically, and dipped are dunked in a bucket.

But both are ZINC, the plating is thinner, and might not last as long if erosion happens.

6 of one half dozen of the other.

ED

 

[de-nagorg]

Awesome guys, I'll just make sure I have a big enough washer on the 3/8" anchor placed in the 5/8" hole of the plate..

You guys are the best voices of reason in all my reading.. most posts/replies I've read through any forums I can find, pretty much insist on cutting out a 12"x12" section of my patio for each post, and putting 36" footings in...

All that seemed overkill for an $899 pergola that comes with the hardware and instructions to secure to the patio with plastic resin feet/post bases that are secured with 2" long 1/4" concrete screws.

I just wanted to improve on the resin feet that don't really secure very well to the posts themselves, aside from one 1.5" long drywall type screw on each side, which only screws into 1 inch thick cedar facing... the Ozco OWT brackets are also probably overkill, but they will at least allow me to set 2 screws in each side of the post that will go through both the 1" cedar facing and into the 4x4 post in the middles...

Now.. it could all be just an effort to make me feel better, and it'll get blown over anyway in the end.. lol.. it is an $899 chinese made pergola from Sams Club.. but I was impressed it held together after being blown over and toppling upside down.. just a few boards and 3 of 4 cross braces were cracked from the impact of toppling over.. sad part was, I could order replacement pieces for about $280 pretty easy... but the shipping for those parts was $800!! I just got a new one instead at that point.. and learned a lesson for not securing it right away...

At 500lbs, didn't seem like it would go anywhere, but those resin feet are pretty slippery on my freshly sealed stamped concrete..

You're lucky that it did not get airborne, it becomes a 500 pound dead weight then, that will smash anything that it lands on.

I had a 1200 pound shed become airborne, and crash land in the neighbors field, broke nothing but my shed, but it was a lesson.

Now all my sheds are anchored to the ground.

What are your plans for the remnants of the broken one?

Might make something else from those parts.


ED

 

[tonybrown32]

You're lucky that it did not get airborne, it becomes a 500 pound dead weight then, that will smash anything that it lands on.

I had a 1200 pound shed become airborne, and crash land in the neighbors field, broke nothing but my shed, but it was a lesson.

Now all my sheds are anchored to the ground.

What are your plans for the remnants of the broken one?

Might make something else from those parts.


ED

Yikes!! I wish I had seen it blow over.. but it was literally a 40 second wind that came and went.. I heard some wind winding up like a train when in our bedroom, and heard the wind against the house.. by the time I walked from our bedroom to the kitchen, the strong wind was done, and the pergola was gone..

A couple weeks prior we had a decent storm blow through as well, and it pushed/slid 2 of the pergola feet off the edge of the patio, so I started looking into how I wanted to anchor it... didn't expect another strong storm yet this early....

I measured it out where some of the impact holes in my lawn were compared to where it was on my patio, and have a pretty good idea based on the prior experience, that it got pushed enough so 2 feet slid off the side of the patio pretty forcefully, and it tilted it enough to tip it over, then it rolled onto it's top side.. It's also possible it got airborne I suppose, but I think it probably would have traveled further..

The first set of indents in the lawn measured about 8 feet from the edge of the patio which is how tall it was, from there another 10ft is where it landed upside down, which is the width of the pergola.. I figured the wind would travel much easier through the pergola than say a roofed structure, so wasn't in a hurry to secure it... again, lesson learned, just glad it didn't hit my house, or the neighbors.

I have most of the remnant parts stacked up along the house... just in case I have any bad boards in the new kit. That way I don't to wait for replacements, which by the way will ship for free if found damaged before assembly, just not after a dumbass mistake..

Good idea on doing something with the remnants other than the dump.. really not sure what I'd do with them though.. hmm..