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Construction advice, please & Thank You
Tech141
Member Posts: 3,787 ✭✭✭
I'm building a outdoor cooking area on some property I have in Missouri. I have 4 8x8x8 posts set 13.5 feet apart left to right, and 11 feet apart front to back. (i can post pics if you want...). The roof will slope front to back, and will be supported by a beam running across the front (and back) of the cooking area. There is a 13 foot span that will need to be bridged. The roof will consist of painted metal barn siding screwed onto 2x4's front to back.
What type of beam will I need to use to span that 13 feet gap across the front (and back)? I want it to be strong enough NOT to sag under it's own weight (plus the weight of the roof). I need to keep the costs down, so no structural steel or anything.
I'm considering using a 2x10 cut to size and glued/screwed with 1/2" thick plywood cut to match the 2x10. Will this be strong enough?
What type of beam will I need to use to span that 13 feet gap across the front (and back)? I want it to be strong enough NOT to sag under it's own weight (plus the weight of the roof). I need to keep the costs down, so no structural steel or anything.
I'm considering using a 2x10 cut to size and glued/screwed with 1/2" thick plywood cut to match the 2x10. Will this be strong enough?
Comments
But you'd be better off without my help on the other two dimensions. [;)]
I would notch the 8x8 to accept the 2 bys. Much stronger than any nails, bolts or hangers.
Like this....
Not a carpenter but it doesn't sound like you will be supporting much weight if it will be metal siding and 2x4's. I would think the 2x10 would be plenty on its own. Do you have to figure snow load in Missouri?
Well, the roof will probably consist of reclaimed 2x6s from the old rodeo bleachers that are on either side of where we have the cooking area. As far as snow load, well it does snow there. I would hate to find out the roof caved from the weight if there is an unusually heavy snow.
I'm trying to make this an "under $100 project", but won't ease up on safety. I want it to be as beefy/strong as possible. This will eventually be our primary cooking/eating area when we start building our house. It will have to last a while. I'm not worried about aesthetics so much as function.
Got the posts set today, and only ate into my budget by $8.00 for the form tube. Had the concrete left over from something else. The posts themselves used to be 18 foot tall, 8x8 light posts around the arena.
Pic of the firepit we finished off yesterday.
Your 2x10 is more than enuff. I would use 2x8's and don't forget to crown them.{find the high side in the middle and that goes UP}
I would notch the 8x8 to accept the 2 bys. Much stronger than any nails, bolts or hangers.
Like this...
+1
If it was me, I'd use a 3 1/8" x 10.5" Glulam beam with Simpson saddle brackets on each post that the beam would set in. You should probably step your rafters up to 2x8's also. If you over-build it, you'll never know it.
++++,,[;)][;)]
[:0][B)]
Last time I priced them he would be looking at about $230 for the
2 16' long beams.[V]
simple NO COST skil saw work!!! simpson hangers are for nail bangers that don't know how to use a saw.[:D]
Snowed more than usual.
In 1992 we got a 3 foot snowfall here in the NC mountains, and I bet y'all occasionally get a 3 foot snowfall in Missouri. Wet heavy snow.
I'd rather be safe than sorry. I would use two 2x10s, front and back. Be sure to nail, or screw them together well.Also they type of wood is important. Make sure you use Southern Yellow Pine, it is twice as strong as spruce. If you are not sure if the 2x10s are SYP, then use pressure treated, virtually all the PT wood is SYP.
I would make the rafters no smaller than 2x6, spanning 11 feet.
13 feet is a long way to span a main beam, and 11 foot rafters are pretty long. Furthermore, a real steep roof will shed snow pretty well, looks like your roof will have a shallow pitch and will hold the snow.
Here is a carport I built two years ago. Four 6x6s, like yours.
My main beams span 16 feet, they are made of 2 SYP 2x10s.
Rafters are spruce 2x6s and purlins are 2x4s. Rafters, actually, I built trusses and raised them up, are 2 foot on center, and purlins are 2 foot on center.
My posts are not set into the concrete, they set atop it and are bolted into the concrete with those little steel chairs. So, I had to add those diagonal braces so it doesn't wiggle side to side.
The diagonal braces that go up to the main beams also considerably strengthen the main beams. Sixteen feet is a real long way to span a main beam, these diagonal braces come in 3 feet, so the main beam is in effect spanning only 10 feet.
Have some brick that a neighbor didn't want to lay for the floor.
6x6 post, 8' centers, 2x12 Headers
48' trusses spanning the width, 4/12 pitch, 24" centers
2x4 Purlins, Metal roof.
Never did get photos of the finished product with the Metal gabble ends and all. And have two more to build just like it this Summer.
==============
I honestly do not understand the reasoning behind setting the post at 13' 6" on center for the sides and 11' front to back.
Oh well.. No bigger than it will be. You will be fine with a single 2x8 or 2x10 Header BOLTED to the post (with or without notching) for the joist to sit on.
We built it at a local Fairground as a "multi purpose" building. portable corral panels can be installed for the FFA's livestock shows mainly. Then it can be used for everything from a weekend farmers market to whatever sales like a flea market or auctions. The fair ground is rather new and is still a work in progress. Everything except the large white building on the property has been built by volunteers.
We have plans for another 48'x80' or 96 "barn" that will most likely be inclosed and two 24' x 48' picnic shelters for this Summer.
It does not look like it. But that barn has a 12' ceiling. The other will most likely have a 16' one if I have my say.
Glulam beams are pressure treated/ okay for OUTDOOR use??
[:0][B)]
Yep.
http://www.aitc-glulam.org/faq_general8.asp
quote:Originally posted by babun
Glulam beams are pressure treated/ okay for OUTDOOR use??
[:0][B)]
Yep.
http://www.aitc-glulam.org/faq_general8.asp
I read that and it says that the glulam should be protected from rain.
It is not treated in any manner.
That Faq states it is the same as normal wood.
""The portions of glued-laminated timbers that form the structural supports of a building or other structure and are exposed to weather and not fully protected from moisture by a roof, eave or similar covering shall be pressure treated with preservative or be manufactured from naturally durable or preservative-treated wood." AITC Standard 109-2007 explains preservative treatment options for glulam.""
TREATMENT OPTIONS!!
quote:Originally posted by NeoBlackdog
quote:Originally posted by babun
Glulam beams are pressure treated/ okay for OUTDOOR use??
[:0][B)]
Yep.
http://www.aitc-glulam.org/faq_general8.asp
I read that and it says that the glulam should be protected from rain.
It is not treated in any manner.
That Faq states it is the same as normal wood.
""The portions of glued-laminated timbers that form the structural supports of a building or other structure and are exposed to weather and not fully protected from moisture by a roof, eave or similar covering shall be pressure treated with preservative or be manufactured from naturally durable or preservative-treated wood." AITC Standard 109-2007 explains preservative treatment options for glulam.""
TREATMENT OPTIONS!!
Where I live it is very common to use glulams as supports under decks and carports. We get, on average, less than 17" of precipitation a year so it's a pretty dry climate. Many folks will treat with Thompsons (yuck!) or any of a number of different stains/sealers. My personal favorite is SuperDeck sealer/stain. I get the beam cut/routed/sanded and then apply the stain prior to installing the beam. Superdeck says it only requires one coat, but I always wipe on a second after the first has dried. In areas where the top of the beam may get moisture (under decks) I put a metal cap on the beam that has a drip edge to prevent moisture from setting on top of the beam and use Simpson H1's to connect the joist to the beam to avoid penetrations in the cap. Joists are always pressure treated with the cut ends treated with goop ( the name eludes me at the moment!) that is a preservative.
On top of that I will nail 1.5x1.5s that I'll rip from the bleacher wood as well. Then, opaque corrugated plastic panels as a topper. The opaque plastic panels on top to allow light through, but will channel rain to the gutter I will hang on the back. The gutter will feed 2 or 3 55-gallon food-grade barrels we will use for a non-potable water source.
Should be a fun build.
Thanks for all the info and advice. I really appreciate it.
You must think of a flat roof as if building a 12' x 16' floor for a room. You would not want 2x6 floor joist spanning 12' for it would not hold much weight at all. The same applies to a roof. It must bear the weight of the purlins, roof panels and anything else that happens tp land on it from snow to leaves.
Gonna use 2x2 purlins? Spaced what distance on center?
2x2s are not big enough for the job, you need 2x4s.
I appreciate all the input. I'm definitely beefing up my original plan.
Bleach it first on a very warm sunny day and see how it turns out. If it bleaches nicely let it dry and spray or brush on a coat of hydraulic oil. You will not have to worry about rot for many many years.
If you truss it you can use recycle wood certainly.
Anyway, here's a few pics.
I hope you don't have the boring bee troubles we have here in Ohio. Unpainted wood pine or poplar gets destroyed, even weathered treated wood gets torn to bits.
Paint does not stop those buzzards down here. I had to replace all that wood with Hardi Plank to get them to stop eating my house. Flying termites and then the woodpeckers tear the rest out looking for the grubs.