We have an old barn and the corner poles which are made of large tree trunks are starting to rot on the bottom. It's a cement floor. I was wondering how we can re-enforce the poles without having to remove them and replace them. Any ideas?
In my opinion, there's not a "good" way, but the "best" way I know is to dig or drill another post hole right beside each of the existing poles, then set a new treated pole, in concrete, right against each original and fasten them together by drilling through them and using all thread long enough to go through both. And of course, with a concrete floor, you'll have more work because you'll have to break up part of it to make the new holes.
Do these poles sit on the cement floor or a footing of some type or are they buried?
One method may be to attach a temporary support to the existing pole to support whatever the pole is supporting. Then you can remove the rotted portion, dig in and build a proper cement base, replace the rotted section and finally remove the temporary support.
This type of approach may/may not work depending on the specific situation.
As the others said, it is unclear from your post if the poles sit on the floor or are buried. But, without more info, I'd suggest that you could cut off the post at a point that you have solid material above the cut. Then replace the bottom (rotted) portion with either a solid timber or several pieces of 2x? stock. Then add 2x? stock on either side of the repaired post with bolts or threaded rod through the "sandwich". Make sure that the pieces on the side extend a "goodly distance" up the side of the "good" portion.
Of course, the fact that these are corner posts complicates it because one of the "sandwich" sides would extend beyond the wall.
ok, with the posts going into the ground, this is the way I'd do it.
Temporarily, brace the walls (from headers to concrete floor) on either side of the corner post.
Cut the post off to where you have good wood above ground. but I'd do it at least a couple of feet above the floor. Then, I'd bust up a small area of the floor around the post. Enough so I could dig down to get out the rotted post and pour a footer pad of 12"x12"x4" concrete (with rebar) directly underneath if there's not a pad there already. Chances are, if it's an old barn, there's none or it may be a rock. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] If you were lucky and you could attach something to the bottom portion, maybe you could pull it out without digging a huge hole. In any case, make sure you have a footing at the bottom if there's not one already.
As you can see, the plan will probably evolve as you go, depending upon what "surprises" you find. However, I usually plan for the worst case scenario. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]
Measure for the new bottom section and be sure to take into account the fact that the bottom of the "dangling" corner post may not be where it should be because the walls have been braced and may have dropped a little. Put in a new treated bottom piece and fasten the treated "sandwich" boards as a splice to the bottom piece. (I'd extend the sandwich boards all the way to the bottom of the new piece.) It may be easier to do this before you put the new bottom piece in the hole. Take out the braces and see if shims are needed between the top & bottom pieces. Install as necessary and then fasten the sandwich boards with thru-bolts to the existing top section of the post. Finally, I'd brace the corner post with braces from near the bottom of the next line post on each wall to a point near the top of the corner post. (Like you would on a corner of a fence).
The concrete made the poles rot. Concrete holds moisture right against the wood and we all know wood and water don't go together.
Nit sure how to replace a pole without seeing what it's supporting, but if you did a hole you can put in a gravel base, or a concrete base and sit the pole ontop of that...I have heard folks putting the poles on pieces of rubber, tire chips, pieces of treated lumber etc., to keep it from contacting the concrete, but if you get 30-40 years from a new pole...does it really matter?
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