[Giules85]

Up late, concerned about the safety of what I’m building. Recently laid new pavers and I’m now building a yardistry gazebo for my little ones to enjoy some shade in our desert of a backyard, but I’ve run into some issues. It appears that some of my post are not exactly plumb the bubble on the level For three posts is touching one of the lines they all appear to be sloping in the same direction the ground is sloping. I was hoping this wouldn’t be an issue because I dug and poured piers that I thought would be flat and level, but I’m guessing they are not. There was also A minor miscalculation that resulted in not being able to fully set the posts on the pier and as a result I can only anchor 1-2 tapcons per post.

My question is, should I be concerned about the lean? And is 1-2 tapcons per post sufficient, as it’s really all I can do.

Attaching additional pictures tomorrow, as this one doesn’t should the lean all that well. It’s leaning towards the left most post away from the house.

Thanks to anyone who can offer some help, just really worried about this think twisting or coming down because of something I did or didn’t do.

 

[Nealtw]

There are things that can be added for more anchoring which would require more trim around the bottom.



My procedure for what you have and you can compare that with what you have done.

Locate the posts position so that the bases of the end post match both sides are matched and the 4 positions are all square with each other.
Stand all four posts with bracing and set plumb.
Check the distance between the tops match the distance at the bottom.

Cut the tops off the posts so they are all at the same level.

Add beams and joists, add nee braces and remove the construction bracing.



Did you do it differently? In which ways?

 

[carpdad]

Is this factory made parts assembled diy? If yes, were the bolt holes drilled exact or over sized? Were there embedded nuts? Not sure how the posts can be plumbed now with 2 bolts each connection and the braces installed. Try removing the braces, remove one bolt each connection, loosen the remaining bolt and pushing/pulling the posts and see if they can be made plumb. Remove pier screws and you can square the bottoms of the posts with lumber (screw or clamp), then maybe tops can be adjusted without the bottoms moving along. Maybe temp x bracing, tops to bottoms, can help with squaring and plumbing. Just some ideas depending on the situation you have. Can't say anything specific.



I'm not sure what kind of pier you created. Posts should have post bases or other anchors and one or two screws will not do much. But it is a light structure and you can live with the structure as is, without better anchors to the piers. If you missed the mark, maybe you can use heavy duty L brackets.

 

[3onthetree]

I can see a large slope down in the patio towards the fence, so those two left post footings should be higher than the patio blocks to match level with the two on the right next to the table.

Your kit should have a dimensional layout to check square and your post footings.

What I would do, is disconnect all post bases, then plumb all posts with the upper structure based on dimensions, not a bubble in a level. Once solid (even putting a temporary tie across the bottom of opposite posts) Then shim under the left posts as required to level the pergola.

Is this Canada? Note that screwing into the paver will not do much with a good wind under your roof. If your post footing locations are that off, once you square it up then the collective mind power can see where they land with better pics and description of what you have there.

 

[Giules85]

Hey Guys, can’t thank you enough for the quick responses. I’ve since removed all the braces, loosened bolts and I’ve been able to make all the posts plumb but I’m now off by 1/2-3/4” in terms of the diagonal distance from one set of posts. Do you guys think it’s worth it or is there ever enough allowances for 1/2-3/4” variance(i.e. requires 167” but it’s about 167 3/4”.

I will definitely look into some heavy duty L brackets with some slip/screw anchors into the piers. May only be able to affix one per post. Any thoughts on what else can be done.

Silly question, but do you guys have suggestions on how to brace the posts? I have an idea but it’s obvious that you’ve all done this before and doing this work alone is a bit of a challenge.

Thanks again

 

[3onthetree]

The good thing is you got the posts plumb. Don't know how much they were off, but if it visually concerned you all is good now. As for the diagonal check being off, that just means it is a parallelogram rather than perfect rectangle. There are construction tolerances in everything, nothing can be perfect. It may give you some tiny pain when you put up the roof structure and getting metal panels to fit the kit-o-parts. But it all depends on the give of the predrilled holes and fitment alignment carpdad eluded to.

One general trick when putting any prefitted kit of anything together is don't permanently secure the connections. Tight enough to keep it together and safe, but loose enough to make corrections as needed. As far as additional bracing, get it all together first and see how it does, I would assume because of liability any kit would be adequate in their designed and supplied bracing.

 

[Giules85]

Thanks for the tip on dealing with a prefab kit. Next time I may just ask for someone to come and give me hand lol. Doing it along proved to be a bit of a pain, but I’m glad I got it to where it needs to be. Your comment around tolerances gives me some piece of mind. Thanks again to all of you for your advice. This forums helped me a ton.

 

[EddieS220]

Thanks for the tip on dealing with a prefab kit. Next time I may just ask for someone to come and give me hand lol. Doing it along proved to be a bit of a pain, but I’m glad I got it to where it needs to be. Your comment around tolerances gives me some piece of mind. Thanks again to all of you for your advice. This forums helped me a ton.

Hey Guys, can’t thank you enough for the quick responses. I’ve since removed all the braces, loosened bolts and I’ve been able to make all the posts plumb but I’m now off by 1/2-3/4” in terms of the diagonal distance from one set of posts. Do you guys think it’s worth it or is there ever enough allowances for 1/2-3/4” variance(i.e. requires 167” but it’s about 167 3/4”.

I will definitely look into some heavy duty L brackets with some slip/screw anchors into the piers. May only be able to affix one per post. Any thoughts on what else can be done.

Silly question, but do you guys have suggestions on how to brace the posts? I have an idea but it’s obvious that you’ve all done this before and doing this work alone is a bit of a challenge.

Thanks again

Hello Sir,
I am in the same boat, my patio has a slope and I can’t get the gazebo straight it’s leaning towards the slope direction, can you tell me what worked the best for you, I am in a fairly windy conditions and I am afraid it would fall apart even with tightening the screws and bolts until I figure out the leaning problem.