On Jun 23, 10:56*pm, "Steve B" wrote:
"jamesgangnc" wrote in message

...
On Jun 23, 9:12 pm, Some Guy wrote:





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.

You're wasting your time, the dude seem to think he needs a couple
tons of concrete to hold down an awning.

reply: *As stated, digging footers is not an option because of caliche. *The
climate eats wood. *The bases sit on TOP of the soil, and are not down in
it. *We have very high winds. *If I make them large, they double as seats
and places to put plants. *What's your problem with what I want to do? *I've
seen you do dome pretty stupid stuff.

Steve

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I admit I've shared the occasional thing on here but overall I'd say
not very much. What did I build that was stupid?

Won't it be a challenge to get anything close to the same shear
resistance in your plate attachments to an existing piece of sidewalk
as you will have in your posts embedded in concrete cylinders?

How about a smaller concrete cylinder with a nice wooden circular
bench on top of it? Cheaper, less work, and more attractive than
concrete. Plus you get some leg room under it. Appropriately stained
with solid stain suitable for your harsh environment. Just a thought.