"Some Guy" wrote in message ...
Steve B wrote:
I want to pour some Sonotube bases for a metal awning and use the
weight of it to hold down the 3" x 3" x .120" posts.
You mean the posts are 10-feet long, right?
You can get 3"x3" posts that are 10-feet long?
The posts come 20' long each, and I can cut to length.
When someone says "post", I think of wood. Rectangular wood posts. Not
metal pipe.
I live in a very dry climate. Exposed structures made of
wood don't do as well as metal because of the freeze/thaw
cycles. Wood dries out and cracks here really bad.
Cracking I can understand, but if it's so dry I don't see how there can
be freeze-thaw cycles without some humidity or water getting into the
wood.
I live in the great-lakes area. We have lots of humidity and
freeze-thaw cycles in the winter. Exposed wood (like fences) don't seem
to suffer cracking or dammage from freezing and thawing (but fence posts
and fence runners do seem to warp over time - probably because of post
movement below grade).
I did the last Sonotube bases out of 30" tubes.
That's insane. I wouldn't have thought that sonotube cardboard was
strong enough, but I guess it's a function of height more than width or
diameter.
I used a total of 2 cubic yards for the three bases,
That's insane. That's about 6600 lbs. I would never want that much
concrete to hold an awning up. Expecially above grade. What an eyesore
that must look like. Lots of wasted space taken up by that concrete.
For someone who thinks they know a lot, you don't really know much, do you?
You moron, it's not holding the awning UP, it's holding it DOWN.
You also know a hell of a lot about a place you've never been. Our
temperature range here is about 100F. It gets down to 15 in the winter, and
115 in the summer. Surface temperatures soar above that. Wood does not do
well on exteriors here unless you paint it endlessly. That is why we use a
lot of stucco and brick. Duh.
You also seem to be a vocabulary Nazi. What is called one thing in one part
of the country or world is incorrect because it is different than your part.
I can see you know absolutely nothing about Sonotube, and its capabilities.
You can make some big round posts with Sonotube. This site lists it up to
60" diameter and 20' high, with additional sizes on request.
http://sonotube.com/sonotube_round_size_chart.html
FYI, the round bases, along with the steel spacing and bolt pattern give me
a 104 mph wind rating, something that really impressed the local inspector.
We regularly get 60 mph winds.
I wouldn't know about them being unsightly, as we have filled in between
them with Windsor wall blocks, and only about 1/3 of the bases are visible.
We filled behind them with potting soil for decorative plants. The visible
part will be tiled, and plant pots put on the tops of them, making them
actually invisible.
I was a steel erection contractor in Las Vegas, and I used to specialize in
carport erection and repairs. I once saw a carport 9' wide by 108 feet
long, stripped off and carried in one piece across US 95 at Rainbow and land
on the other side of the freeway. Another time, I saw two steel double four
car space carports ripped out of the ground, metal 3 x 3 "posts", 12" 14 ga
Zee purlins, and all and carried in the air to the other side of the
property and dumped.
Now, I have only seen what I have seen, and it in no way compares to what
you have seen, or what is in the inside of that massive brain of yours.
But, do you actually DO anything? Build anything? Repair anything? Or
just make "insane" comments to those of us here who actually "DO" things.
I'll post some pictures on flickr of my awning, and tell me what you think.
Not you, igmo, you, the group in general.
As for you, igmo, you are history. You may leave.
Steve
visit my blog at
http://cabgbypasssurgery.com watch for the book
A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult.