I have a pole ,4x6, that is showing rot and needs to be replaced. Came across a product,PermaColumn, that is rebar welded to a "u" shaped piece. This is bolted to the good portion of the post. This does require removing the old part of the post via digging. Then the hole is filled with concrete to tie in the new connector.
Wondering if anyone has had any experience with a pole replacement?
The worst part will be the digging! Also I have access to house jacks for temporary support.
I had one 2-story pole in my old barn (maybe 80-100 years old) that was rotting at ground level and below causing the barn to sag in that spot. All the poles in this barn are trunks of cedar trees.
I used hydraulic jacks to raise that area, cut off the bottom 3-4’ of the pole, and replaced it with a section of heavy-wall square steel tubing, maybe 4x4 or 6x6, can’t remember. I dug down to solid ground, poured a concrete footing, welded flat 1/2” steel plates to the top and bottom of the steel section, set the bottom plate on concrete and added more concrete, then lowered the area and fastened the upper steel plate to the cedar posts with long lag screws. This was almost 15 years ago and hasn’t sagged a bit.
On the other side of the barn I reinforced one post with PT 2x8s and made a new central post with multiple 2x8s fastened together to make a 2-story 8x8 post. Set the bottom on/in concrete. Then replaced the roof. The ol’ barn never had it so good.
Both methods work, but for me, steel is the easiest solution for short section repair, a two-story post easier with wood.
Just looked up PermaCoulmn on the Google. Interesting product. I spent maybe a minute doing deep research. Looks like it would work well. Seems they want you to cut away 18" of the post. That makes sense. Difficult for water to migrate much higher than that. It evaporates out the faces before it reaches the top/bottom of the wood. This means you should NOT seal the faces of the concrete above grade. Follow the manufacturer's directions but it might be smart to set the post on a concrete pad with an impervious cap and then backfill with gravel.
Steel reinforced concrete has a life expectancy of about fifty years but I'm guessing that's long enough for most of us.