Post bracket crooked

[Mark]

I just finished pouring the two piers to support my kitchen porch.
Each pier uses a Simpson "CB" type bracket, which secures a
4x4 post using two 1/2" bolts.

One of the brackets is about two degrees off vertical, about the
axis of the bolts. (The bracket is level along the axis of the bolts.)
So, the post would have to be drilled slightly off-center, but the
bracket would not have to be deflected to line up. The bracket
would visibly be slightly crooked on the post, but it will be
hidden from view. The post will, of course, be level.

Is this two-degree tilt in the bracket reason to remove this pier
and pour a new one?

Also, is the 4x4 supposed to bear down on the metal bottom
plate when I set it into the bracket, or should there be a gap?

Thanks
-Mark

[Bob K 207]

Subject: Post bracket crooked
Date: 12/20/2004 5:32 P.M. Pacific Standard Time
I just finished pouring the two piers to support my kitchen porch.
Each pier uses a Simpson "CB" type bracket, which secures a
4x4 post using two 1/2" bolts.
One of the brackets is about two degrees off vertical, about the
axis of the bolts. (The bracket is level along the axis of the bolts.)
So, the post would have to be drilled slightly off-center, but the
bracket would not have to be deflected to line up. The bracket
would visibly be slightly crooked on the post, but it will be
hidden from view. The post will, of course, be level.
Is this two-degree tilt in the bracket reason to remove this pier
and pour a new one?
Also, is the 4x4 supposed to bear down on the metal bottom
plate when I set it into the bracket, or should there be a gap?
Thanks
-Mark

The two degree off vertical is not worth redoing the work.

According to the Simpson website the bottom of the steel plate is to be
"flush" with the surface of the concrete (ie, in contact).

The catalog page shows the post in contact with the top of the steel plate.

http://www.strongtie.com/products/connectors/LCB-CB.html

I recomend & prefer the EPB44, this base gives the required 1" standoff between
concrete on timber.

I have never understood the Simpson designs that leave the end of the post
within a fraction of an inch of the concrete..........seems like dry rot
waiting to happen.

cheers
Bob

[Mark]

Well, my _second_ pier and bracket came out nice and straight.
But in my efforts to keep the bracket stabilized during pouring,
I made the concrete mix too dry. I removed the sonotube and
discovered more rock pockets than concrete.

At least it wasn't too difficult to bust it apart and retrieve the
bracket. :-)

-Mark

[Roger Shoaf]

Rather than drilling off the axes the post why not just drill out or
elongate one of the holes in the bracket with a file? That way the bracket
will look straight, the post will be straight.
--
Roger Shoaf

About the time I had mastered getting the toothpaste back in the tube, then
they come up with this striped stuff.

Post by Mark
I just finished pouring the two piers to support my kitchen porch.
Each pier uses a Simpson "CB" type bracket, which secures a
4x4 post using two 1/2" bolts.
One of the brackets is about two degrees off vertical, about the
axis of the bolts. (The bracket is level along the axis of the bolts.)
So, the post would have to be drilled slightly off-center, but the
bracket would not have to be deflected to line up. The bracket
would visibly be slightly crooked on the post, but it will be
hidden from view. The post will, of course, be level.
Is this two-degree tilt in the bracket reason to remove this pier
and pour a new one?
Also, is the 4x4 supposed to bear down on the metal bottom
plate when I set it into the bracket, or should there be a gap?
Thanks
-Mark