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Smawgunner
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# Posted: 22 Mar 2015 04:21pm - Edited by: Smawgunner
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I'll be building a porch that is roughly 14x6 and 3 foot high. This winter the snow slid off the second story with a vengeance so the porch roof will get the brunt of that. Since I don't have running water, is there a method of burying the posts without using cement that'll give it longevity and stability?
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turkeyhunter
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# Posted: 22 Mar 2015 10:52pm
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tamp some small gravel or rocks with a metal bar to tighten them up
..OR..... it does not take a lot of water to mix concrete for posts...just haul a few 5 gallon buckets of water in for the mix
or use rain water or water from a near by water source.
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Don_P
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# Posted: 23 Mar 2015 07:28am - Edited by: Don_P
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Remember the place for the concrete is under the post, you are creating a wide foot to spread out the load over a greater surface. A # of rebar keeps the post from punching through the footing, make it thick enough that this is not an issue, I usually go for 8-12" thick. Buckets under the drip line fill here pretty well. With a gravel footing the load travels through it at roughly a 45 degree angle. Make it deep enough for the width to achieve that. An alternative is a treated footing. A couple of ~18" pieces of 6x6 with a piece of 2x12 on top to tie them together and then the post on top will do that. For uplift a couple of 2x4's well nailed across the post well down in the hole will engage a larger cone of soil above them forcing an uplift to withdraw that cone of soil rather than just the post itself. Snow guards will keep the snow up on the roof longer so you don't get that big whump all at once. They also help keep gutters, chimneys and vents up on the roof rather than swept down into the yard.
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SE Ohio
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# Posted: 23 Mar 2015 12:04pm - Edited by: SE Ohio
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I too favor the concrete approach.
If you have cabin gutters, one can divert rainwater into a 55 gallon barrel easily enough. Another low effort way to gather a bunch of rainwater would be to string a tarp into a "V" shape between trees, etc. draining into such a barrel. 55 gallons would be enough to mix up a fair amount of concrete.
Columbus OH Pepsi bottler sells emtpy 55's for $5 each. You'll never regret having water on hand. You can gravity drain, siphon or pump water from barrels.
Of course a good-thick rock of substantial area planted below frost line would work well as a post footer, but at cost of extra digging.
Freeze friendly pitcher pump on rain barrel
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