Thread: Carport post rotted in stirrup

Bracket extension would be the easiest fix. An H shaped bracket that fitted over the existing and bolted through the existing holes would solve the problem. The height of the H would be determined by the height of the rot.

Guess that's why I came here - I hadn't considered an H shaped bracket but that sounds like a good solution. Would you know if there is a commercial product for this or would I have to get it made up myself?

You could repair the bottom of the post, use a piece of h5 treated hardwood and make sure as far as possible the new piece is well painted before putting it into the stirrup make sure the piece fits the stirrup without rubbing the paint off bolt it together with 2 galvenised 1/2'' cup head bolts you can counter sink the nuts and washers and make it look pretty good ,it a cheap quick fix.

They are available, but in large sizes for heavy posts. Long and thin is what you need and would depend how much post needs to be removed as to what size bracket would fit. I guess it would be just as easy to fabricate rather than running round trying to find something. Probably the easiest way to make them would be two pieces of U channel joined back to back. After all, you would require two different sizes for each post, one U to fit over the bracket and another U to fit the post which is thinner by the thickness of the existing bracket sides.

There a couple of joints you can take from Japanese joinery.

The second one, from Osaka Castle's Gate, is made in timber 22" square.

Good luck cutting those jap joins, the lower part you could do on your bench but may have to stand on your head to do the upper part.

I'd make two steel rectangles to extend the current stirrup. These would go on the outside of the current stirrup so you would also need two spacers of the thickness of the current stirrup metal.

I'd cut the post square, removing the rot, and fit a new section to replace what I'd cut off. I'd glue it to the old post with epoxy so when it was sanded and painted the joint would be invisible. This new section would be bolted into the existing stirrup, but leaving clearance from the ground of course.

I'd also put a couple of those boron sticks into the joint to kill any residual nasties as well as in the bottom of the new bit.

I would replace the post. Cut the sides off the existing styrup and replace with one which has a flanged base. Drill through old styrup base and dynabolt new styrup in place.

Just my 2 bob's worth.

Splicing load bearing posts is not good practice and doesnt meet the building code. If the post is damaged to the extent that an oversized bracket can't solve the problem, then the post should be replaced.

Thanks for all the suggestions - I will post back with my results. One more question though....

The post at the moment is obviously not bearing any load. I can't see how I get any solution to truly bear load at completion. Sure if the beams above sag they will ultimately bear load but not with what I do.

Is this a problem?
On this point then would it be better to use coach screws rather than bolts as they may transfer the load to the stirrup more effectively than a bolt. The original post used coach screws.

See if there is any sag in the beam of the roof of the carport (the "verandah plate") . If there is, get a car jack and a length of wood and jack it up where it's sagging so everything is straight to the eye, and then do the repair. Release the jack and the post will now be bearing weight.

It is not only down load but also up lift due to wind that needs to be accounted for.

When my posts got to that stage it wasn't only the wood that was rotten. I'd do a good whack with a mallet to make sure the stirrup is still ok as well. I'm guessing that its rusted out at the very bottom as well.

I have the same problem starting with the veranda posts on my house (They are load bearing). The house is only 5 years old, would it be covered by the builders warranty or insurance?