"Carport" roof design

[kebwi]

Assuming I go with an igloo enclosure and not an actual building of some sort, I'm not convinced any form of stucco, including modern surface bonding cements will be sufficient in Seattle's weather. I want something a little more rigorous. I'm considering something along the lines of the designs shown below.

I would like to try to keep the southwest corner as open as possible (as opposed to putting a vertical post in that corner) since it is sort of in the middle of the yard. Thus the curved braces on the west side...but I'm unsure where to get piece of woods that shape.

I have absolutely no idea how to attach the eastern posts to the hearth. I have drilled a few tapcons into my hearth and have quickly come to respect the rigidity of solid concrete. I can't imagine drilling out a half-inch hole for a "pin" that could be half inserted into such a hole and then protrude into the bottom of a post.

Any general suggestions on this design are welcome. I'm not sure how I want to proceed.

Is this a crazy direction to go? Should I just make an igloo and assume it will be weather proof enough for Seattle's weather? Or should I force myself to make a building of some sort? I have many thoughts on that topic, but I'll save it for another thread...or a followup in this thread if it comes up. There are "issues" with regard to a building enclosure which is why I'm veering away from it.

Thanks.

[nissanneill]

Re: "Carport" roof design

Hi Keith,
from your pics of your base and oven build together with your planned roof structure, I see a few alternatives that you could pursue. It appears that you planned square vertical posts at the rear of your base and rolled pipe front posts
Option #1
Using a good 'rotary hammer drill', drill a hole (one in each corner) in from the rear corners a litle to prevent the cement fron braking out of your cement top. Use a 1" or 3/4" long drill bit that a 6" to 9" long chemical bonded shaft that is welded into the base of your posts through a 3/8" plate which is welded to the bottom of the posts.
Option #2
Cut a section out from the bottom say 9" to 12" leaving only the 2 adjacent sides which will be located over your nice clean sharp cement corners and then dynabolt them to your bricks and your cement top.
The cut that you make through the square section (what we call rectangular hollow section or RHS) will sit on the slab top. A very easy and simple securing method.

Option #3
Using a masonry drill, drill 4 holes and chisel out the infill between the holes allowing the post to protrude through into the 'cinder blocks' where it is cemented into place. That is providing the corner blocks have m=not been cement filled already.

Neill

[dmun]

Re: "Carport" roof design

You could simply bury your back posts in a cylinder of concrete behind the oven. Is that a retaining wall behind the oven? You may be able to attach them to that.

[kebwi]

Re: "Carport" roof design

Thanks for the input. That does give me some ideas. Since neither of you mentioned the front end, it must have looked from the diagrams like a sufficiently supported structure without a true vertical post. Of course, I'm not really sure where to find wooden 4x4s bend that shape. Is that what you meant by pipe-rolled? Is that a method of permanently bending timber?

I have some ides now. Thanks.

[dmun]

Re: "Carport" roof design

You could go for the rustic look and find appropriately bent branches. You could also glue up strips of thin wood to the exact curve you wanted. You could also go to a metal fabricator and have them bend tubing in the shape you wanted.

[fxpose]

Re: "Carport" roof design

.....or keep it simple and use straight posts in the front as well with crossbeams above.

edit: oops I didn't read the part about your reasoning for the bent posts.

[nissanneill]

Re: "Carport" roof design

The normal way to bend timber is to steam it for many hours and then bend it to the required shape. It takes ages to steam and only minutes to cool making it almost impossible to bend properly.

Whilst bending bar stool backs for our kitchen renovation, I found the best and quickest way to bend timbers is to put them into a microwave oven for 1 minute or two. They get rather hot but then bend beautifully but you would need one hell of a big oven for those posts.
The other option is to laminate then from 1/2" pieces of timber and a good quality waterproof adhesive. I suggest that you make them double the width and then cut them in halves after it all dries.
But then again, I would get some thicker walled steel pipe and use a hydraulic pipe bender. Mark out the areas that you want to bend or mark it out on the driveway with chalk, bend a section, move the pie and bend the next. It is surprising how quick and accurate you can do them, even mark your poles, bring the former up to the pie (you will feel this in the handle), and then give it 2,3 or however many pumps you need to get the bend required.

Neill

Neill