# Post base for true 6x6 post



## Dustincoc (Sep 14, 2011)

I've got project I'm working on where the sill plate of a Timberframe is rotted out from beneath corner post. The structure sits on a dry stacked rock foundation which was filled in and concrete poured overtop about 30 years ago. The sill plate is below the level of the concrete on the back wall and there appears to be no sill on the end wall. On the end wall, ground level comes right up to the top of the slab and there is a 6"+ drop right around the corner. The ground next to the end wall is mostly rock(old barn foundation) with a layer of mud on top and has no slope so digging it out would only result in a slope towards the building. Water runs around the corner of te building and down the 6"+ drop which puts the water tight on the end of the sill, where the result has been the sill rotting away. 

My plan is to trim the bottom of the now hanging corner post(Weight is on the post next to a window a couple feet from the corner) flat and put some sort of bracket on the bottom of the post and pour a concrete sill under it since putting wood in that location will just rot. I will also be reframing the back half of the end wall(From the middle post back to the corner post) with some 4x4 to help share the load. 

My problem is I haven't been able to locate any post bases sized for actual 6"x6" posts.


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## Joe Wood (Sep 20, 2005)

You could use a regular ABU66 and dado out each side 1/4" for the straps ?
http://woodsshop.com/DESIGNS/Spa/9.htm


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## jlsconstruction (Apr 26, 2011)

Simpson has a whole line for true 2x. I'm not sure about 6x6. I'll check for you though. Give me a few


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## Dustincoc (Sep 14, 2011)

jlsconstruction said:


> Simpson has a whole line for true 2x. I'm not sure about 6x6. I'll check for you though. Give me a few


I doubt it. Posts should be made of PT and you don't get PT in true sizes that I've ever seen.


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## jlsconstruction (Apr 26, 2011)

It's model number is abw66rz


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## Dustincoc (Sep 14, 2011)

Actually it appears they do make one: WUB66RHDG. :clap:

But it appears to only be sold in Canada:sad:


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## jlsconstruction (Apr 26, 2011)

Dustincoc said:


> Actually it appears they do make one: WUB66RHDG.


They have several. Pretty much one for every style. Most of my work is remodeling houses from the late 1800s early 1900s so I've learned you can pretty much get anything in rough cut sizes.


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## Dustincoc (Sep 14, 2011)

Joe Wood said:


> You could use a regular ABU66 and dado out each side 1/4" for the straps ?
> http://woodsshop.com/DESIGNS/Spa/9.htm


That was my backup plan although I was planning on taking the 1/2" out of one side. The 6x6 piece is a patch done in the structures barn days(at least 50 years ago) The original post was 4x4 and was cut off 5' up.(This part of the barn is an addition to the original structure built out of 4x4 as opposed to the 8x8 timbers that make up the main structure although from the outside, you can't tell there was any addition.) The 4x4 sits on one corner of the 6x6 so the 2 sides of the outside wall are on the face of both posts. That joint is very solid and hasn't moved at all. I was going to take the 1/2" out of the sides of the post that doesn't have the upper post on it so the post base is located under the side with the load on it)

My initial initial assesment of the situation, based on my access through a hole in the ceiling and looking over a false wall down at the post was that the post was kicking out at that joint. I was planning on stabilizing until somebody with more timberframing experience could get in and correctly splice a new bottom onto the post. I opened up the false wall Saturday and found my assesment was wrong and have had to regroup and formulate a new plan of attack. 

There is a big rush on this project with the way the end wall sits on grade, wind and the elements come right under. I was living there for a couple months a few years ago when I first discovered this problem. I was opening up the bottom of the wall since snow and ice were coming out of an electric outlet in this corner. I sprayed a 10 pr so cans of Great Stuff into the crack at the bottom to plug off most of the draft. Since the wall is wide open and just covered with a sheet of OSB on the inside with no insulation in the wall at the moment, the lady who lives there hasn't been able to get the temp in that room above 56deg. When I closed it up Saturday night I was going to stuff the insulation back in but was told to leave it out since I was supposed to be coming back the next day(I told her I was planning on being back the net day but it might be up to a week before I got back there). I didn't end up going that day because my plan of attack needed lumber to enact and the lumber supplier I use isn't open on Sundays. I'm not getting payed for this project and some materials are coming out of pocket to get this wall closed up(The lady wants me to frame the wall with cedar posts since she can't afford any lumber.:blink: Not going to be happening:no::no::no:. When I said it won't work she told me that I want everything perfect and that not everything fit a textbook solution. The place is cob job central. I'm going to put a picture of the back of the place up and you can see the "deck" she built that she wants me to finish) The supplier I use is less than half the cost of any other supplier around. I got a call Sunday night from my regular job I've been laid of from saying they had couple roofs to put on so Monday and today thats where I've been. Paying work has to take precedence over non-paying when you might be out of work for months. I'm going back over tomorrow to get this taken care of since the roofs are done and there isn't enough work to warrant me on the other job there doing for a while.

The far corner in the wide angle shot is the corner with the problem. There is a close up of that and a one of the "deck'(she built it as an animal shelter in front of a nonfuctional sliding glass door and now wants me to make it into a deck of sorts. None of the posts are in the ground more than a foot or 2 since she can't do much physical work and her method of putting a post in is to dig a little hole, put the post in and pile a whole bunch of used animal bedding around the base.)


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## RobertCDF (Aug 18, 2005)

Typically the "R" designation is for rough lumber, lots of Simpson stuff has an R option.


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## THW (Jun 19, 2013)

Between this and the deck in the "what size posts" thread, you seem to be doing a lot of work for this lady at cost or out of your pocket. What's going on here?

Just giving you a hard time since others already gave you the answers you needed.


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## Dustincoc (Sep 14, 2011)

THW said:


> Between this and the deck in the "what size posts" thread, you seem to be doing a lot of work for this lady at cost or out of your pocket. What's going on here?
> 
> Just giving you a hard time since others already gave you the answers you needed.


Shes a friend of mine that helped me out a lot during some health problems a few years back.


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## THW (Jun 19, 2013)

Dustincoc said:


> Shes a friend of mine that helped me out a lot during some health problems a few years back.


Now I feel like an ass.

Good for you for helping her out in return.


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