remove rotten poles from pole building

[sugarloafthree]

I have two pole building on my 5 acres that were built by someone elce. I have found the poles to not be treated and rotten. One building there has been a slab pour so diging the poles out is out of the question. How do I get these poles out? The other building I can dig out as it is a dirt floor. How deep should the poles be in the ground?

Thanks a head of time.

John

[Troy]

Welcome to the forum!

[HayZee518]

As far as digging out the poles or what's left of them - first you're gonna hafta shore up that particular corner so that whatever is standing there stays standing when you pull out the post. If there is a slab then it is going to be at least 8 inches thick. So what you may need to do is dig out the soil around that particular corner and attack getting to the post from the outside, cutting it out and pulling small sections out. One the whole pole is out, I'm afraid your are going to need to chop out some concrete so that you can put in a new pole at an angle and jockey it into position where the old one was. (vertically) once the new pole is secure to the framing, under it you are gonna need to put in some gravel under the pole just to keep it from sinking. good luck

[sugarloafthree]

rotten poles in pole building

Thanks for your info. IN the build. with dirt floor could I shore up the beam and cut off the pole, say one foot above ground, and then dig out the part of the pole in the ground. After getting the rotten part of the pole out could I then install a concrete tube with a pole bracket attached to the pole into the tube, and then port concrete? How deep should this concrete go? With the build. with concrete could I use the old hole as a form for the concrete and do the same?

[HayZee518]

yeah, I don't see why not. use a sonotube about the same diameter as the hole and come up about three inches above the slab. pour the concrete with a L-bolt embedded in the concrete to fasten the post support to - 1/2" bolt, Use a post support for a 6 inch post - a four inch would be too small.

[sugarloafthree]

Because I am going to install rebar in the tube and have the J bolt installed on the bracket and the bracket installed on the above ground pole I thought it would be better to go larger than the pole which would be at least 12" but I don't know how deep I should go. What is code for the post by it's self? That much in concrete should be enought don't you think?

[HayZee518]

I don't know if there is a code standard for setting posts but I do know that utility placements for poles is 6 feet underground. As a rule of thumb I wouldn't go less than four feet unless there is a rock ledge in the way. Why the re-bar in the hole/column? There's no real stress for one pole.

[sugarloafthree]

I thought the rebar would add strength to the concrete. The ground is very rocky and I will be digging the poles out with a backhoe. I am thinking weight of the base will help as well. I have heard from layman that the poles should be 4' in the ground but I am having trouble finding a pole building builder to ask that question.
John

[HayZee518]

I have a friend in Massachusetts that puts up post n beam houses, garages and sheds. his email address is: lamore@post-beam.com. Give him a shout. His name is Bill LaMore and his office guy is Andy Parsons. I'm confident he/they can help you.

[sugarloafthree]

Thanks for the contact in Mass. I sent him a e-mail but not response.

[lw@buyerbewareinc.com]

Replacing post bases where rotted

You don't say how far above grade the rot extends. You need to cut the existing post off above any decay but as close to the ground as possible. Next, you need to remove the rotted wood from the ground under the post being careful to maintain support for the building while you dig.

A back hoe may be excessive because you are going to make a much larger hole than necessary. I would probably dig beside the existing post with a post hole digger and steel bar trying to keep the hole as small as possible. Chase out the old pole so your new concrete support bears on solid ground rather than on the rotting base of the old pole.

I seem to recall hearing that the pole buildings put up in Washington are supported by four feet of pole in the ground.

Once you have the old pole out of the ground, I suggest you use a minimum twelve inch diameter Sonotube form. Bolt a "U" shaped post bracket to the bottom of your existing post. The post brackets I use are made of 1/4" steel and have a horizontal plate half way between the top of the "U" straps and the "U" shaped bottom. The bracket has holes through the straps above the base plate for bolting it to the post.

Bring the Sonotube form out of the ground to just below the base of the existing post. Hang a couple of 1/2" rebar "U"s upside down in the bottom of the post bracket that extend down to the bottom of your Sonotube. Fill the form with concrete and wait a week before taking down your temporary supports for the roof above the post.

This may seem excessive but you need to maintain some of the lateral stability for the building with the bolted connection at the base of the post that you lost when the post decayed below grade. Bolting the post down also gives you some resistance to wind lift if you happen to be in an area where there are high winds or tornados.

If you have trouble locating the heavy guage steep post brackets, let me know and I'll get you a manufacturer and part number when the wholesale lumber yard is open.

lw@buyerbewareinc.com