Steel Post Connection

[OBBob]

Hi All

I have a steel column 89 x 89 x 3.5mm SHS to support part of the roof. Two new wall frames butt up against it. I was intending to drill right through the frame stud and column and bolt them together ... is that the best / easiest way of connection?

[ausdesign]

I'd say yes for a single column.
Long term, it's possibly going to be better than ramsetting, tek screws or the like.
If you had a heap to do - ramset gun.

[silentC]

That's the way I would do it. 3.5mm should be thick enough to do that. The thin walled stuff buckles if you compress it.

[DJ’s Timber]

That would be the best way. At that wall thickness, you will crush the timber before the steel would compress. Another thing to do is stagger your holes to help eliminate any twisting in the timber

[ausdesign]

Sounds like you've been busy over the last few months OBBob. !!

[OBBob]

Glad someone noticed!!

Rightly or wrongly I have designed, drawn and am in the process of building an extension to my period house ... myself. I only have weekends and I have a 3 month old baby, so progress is not that quick but it's getting there.

I have done a heap of reading but have found the hardest thing is to determine what is 'standard building practice' for many items. The AS provides good information but often there are a few options and it can be hard to determine what is common or most appropriate for the situation.

That's where this site has been a heap of help ... so thanks.

[silentC]

standard building practice

Try and find any two builders to agree on that one

[OBBob]

The concern that keeps me awake at night (or one of them) is when the inspector turns up to do the frame inspection and says "no body it does it that way ... pull it down ... start again". Lets hope he's a little more accommodating if I have done anythink 'unusual'.

[ausdesign]

That concern would not be unusual with OB's & DIYers.
We did a survey about 6 or 7 years ago asking OB's who subscribe to our newsletter as to what info they most needed to know.
70 plus percent replied that their greatest concern was that 'how they went about things may not be the way it was normally done in the building industry.'
A couple of points -
If your asking questions such as through this forum you're a step ahead.
A good building inspector will help with suggestions if something is glaringly obvious.
If you strike a 'bad' building inspector and think you are being unfairly judged, ask to speak and meet with the Surveyor.
It's not unheard of to strike a 'would be if they could be' building surveyor and although i've quite a few mates who are good building inspectors there are some that thrive on 'the big man syndrome'.

[silentC]

My uncle came up from Victoria to help build our place. He's built a few houses in Victoria. Needless to say, he did a lot of things quite differently to how the 'locals' do it. In many cases, better I might add.

Not knowing any better, he tied the trusses to the top plate with cyclone straps, which go up and over the truss and down both sides of the ribbon plate/top plate. The inspector thought it was quite amusing, especially when he found the box of triple grips unused in the corner.

You'd be unlucky to have to tear it down. The worst we ever had was a request to add some more bracing here and there. They might roll their eyes a bit, but let's face it, framing isn't rocket science and if you pay attention to tie down and bracing, they are happy, even if your noggings are a bit wonky

[OBBob]

Thanks ... I've got this far, so we'll just plod on and take it as it comes!! Like most things you need to do it once or twice to become comfortable but if you don't give it ago you'll never know ...

[ausdesign]

Hi silent.
I have a big problem with building inspectors who overstep their mark.
Plans are submitted for building approval and assessed by the Building Surveyor.
The details included on the plans & endorsed by the Surveyor are then enforced by the Inspector.
As an example, all plans should be accompanied by a bracing layout showing the required bracing units & location. The Surveyor would check that they meet the required spacings & number to meet the wind load for the particular site etc. and then the inspector would ensure that the requirements are met according to the approved plans.
Many building inspectors have their own quirks - some have a fetish for footings; some for wall framing.
I remember in Frankston [vic] an inspector who ended up in the trench when trying to impose his thoughts on our concretor [when we were builders]
At the end of the day there is an order of things.

[silentC]

We have been very lucky here with our inspectors. One of them is a bit pompous but if you get on the right side of him, things go smoothly. He might ask you to do something extra but still approves the work on the understanding that you will comply. I've found that agreeing to a silly request for extra bracing, rather than pressing the point, often greases the wheels. If it's not a ludicrous request that is.

We came across a guy in Sydney who could not walk off a site without requesting some further action. I got into an argument over the phone with him the first time he stepped on the site because he challenged the layout of the slab footings and gave us a fail. The steel was already in and he wanted us to pull it out and re-dig one of the footings because he determined it was in the wrong place.

I asked him why we had bothered to contract an engineer, have plans drawn up and submitted to the council, when we had him to tell us how it was to be done. That set the tone for the relationship. We had the engineer go in to discuss it with him but he still insisted on a second inspection before we poured, because he had asked us to put a bit of extra steel around a pipe penetration. They gave him the flick in the end (probably promoted him to his level of incompetence) and the guy who did the final was sweet as pie.

[ausdesign]

As a final word for a friday arvo - i'm going out to check the fencing - which is as far removed from the building industry as I can get.
'Oh no' is that 125mm... is that 1000mm above g/l... is that 190 max. rise
aw ....hi honey did you have a good week ? yes i've prepared tea.

[OBBob]

My vote goes to Peter for needing the weekend more than the rest of us ....