How To Attach A Timber Frame To Concrete Foundation - Pt. 2

What if you don't have an engineered flooring platform, and need to attach your post directly to concrete?

In this second video, Gaius shows two alternate options using metal fasteners to attach your timber frame structure directly to a concrete foundation.

[ShelterInstitute]

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[terryharris]

If you follow the advice in this video on how to locate the three post mounting holes you will be off 1 inch or the thickness of the stand-off.

[jiyushugi]

In traditional Japanese buildings there are four corrosion mitigation techniques that I recall:
1. Wrap the bottom of the post in a decorative copper sheet.
2. Mount the post on a stone (stones don't transmit moisture the way concrete does).
3. Char the bottom of the post slightly with fire.
4. Dip the lower end of the post in a bucket full of potent pesticide.

[tompowers]

I have done many timbers installations using knife plate connections in a floor slab. As these plates are designed so that when the pins are driven into the timber and through the plate holes it creates a snug fit to prevent movement, this can all easily go south if your positioning of the knife plates when anchored to the concrete is out at all. The members of the frame will not square to one another and neither will your joints be tight. Your installation begins with this crucial step and it is not as easy as positioning the plates on the slab, marking the appropriate holes for the anchors then simply drilling away. I have found that masonry bits for this purpose can be notorious for drifting as you drill. You can not simply shift your timber on the knife plate to accommodate this offset. The only allowance you have is if the size of your anchors permits some wiggle room within the pre-drilled knife plate holes so you can properly align your plate according to the plans. Knife plates are a well engineered system but, like anything you build where precision is critical, controls for each stage, that may not be immediately obvious, will determine the success of your build. Hope this helps.

[amandawilcox]

Ty. Half my enjoyment watching you folks work is seeing-almost smelling-such beautiful wood. It's great!

[computerjantje]

2:49 is a MISTAKE in the video. It has to be done with the black spacer on.

[davidbruce]

I've learned over the years when cutting the knife bracket space - cut 1/2" beyond the bracket size and mitigate splitting.

[michaelbertzfield]

I think it would be important to place the spacer on the anchor before marking the three holes. If not please explain.

[Walkercolt]

I was using Simpson Strong-Tie products before you were CONCEIVED! I built mobile homes back in college for a summer job and we installed them and "tied them down" with Strong-Ties to concrete piers. My boss (the company owner) gave a lifetime warranty that our builds would withstand Okra-Homer tornadoes and not tear-apart and blow-away if they were on our installs. We never lost a one, even in an F-5 tornado that leveled EVERY stick-built house in a small town on the block, our two mobiles were FINE! Some interior sheetrock was cracked and wood paneling cracked, but that was all. They said there were 130+MPH straight winds in that gust front. I saw a semi tractor in what was left of about an 80 foot tree-a fridge literally "wrapped around" a tree trunk like a second-skin. A two-by launched thru a brick fireplace like a toothpick thru a piece of cheese, water pipes sticking up thru slabs twisted and squirting like "modern art".

[justincabral]

There are so many builders/framers out there who need to see this. I can’t stand seeing timber just sitting on the slab of a walkout or stuck in the concrete pier when it was poured.

[BrickyardPowerMan]

I am using 2 x Simpson Strong tie (shiny metal option) for 2 - 8x8 Cedar posts supporting a 12x12' patio. During high-wind events, I have observed what I believe is slight lateral movement of the patio roof structure. Believe this is caused by the 2 Simpson strong ties allowing flex at the connector (it acts as a pivot) vs greater structural stability if the posts went into the ground providing increased vertical stability. I've considering adding some decorative corner bracing to counteract this natural force.

[ParniyanKarimi]

This was great and super helpful! Thanks for sharing the knowledge!

[pmf]

Here's the most important thing to consider and figure out - how to cut a 3/16" thick by 4 3/4" (+1/2") deep slot for the plate - a chain saw and jig will work for large posts and 1/2" plate, however, does anyone have any good ideas for cutting in the smaller slot for a saddle post of the size demonstrated in the video? Great demonstration video endorsing the product, but how about some real world examples of how to cut the required slots in oversized materials that cant't be run through a machine!

[willbell]

Really liking all of your videos, I have been watching the series as well as these instructional and the shorts. I currently work for Seagate Mass Timber in BC Canada, we do primarily institutional projects like community multiplex’s, we are going to Victoria in a few days to do the Royal BC Museum as well as the National Center for Indigenous Law. It’s fun and the end product is awesome however I always think about wanting to do residential, it seems more intimate working with a homeowner and I really want to build our home post and beam. We just need to pay off the land and finish saving for the build, this also makes me want to take your course 😁

[geondy]

You forgot to slide the base on the bracket to get the holes in the correct location. They would be an inch off the way you demonstrated. Oops!

[archglobe]

Very helpful video! thank you for posting.

[gary]

When you demonstrated the knife anchor and how to locate the holes in the column you forgot the 1" offset material. If you located the holes as you showed it would they not be
one inch off?

[peterthompson]

I built a timber frame, and missed my 8x8 tie downs by a few inches. But your video helped; ill thru bolt the fix.

[grc]

These are great ideas, but in my experience the guage of steel you are using is approximately 3 times too thin. For large posts that metal needs to be at a minimum, 3/16" thick, 1/4" preferred. In high winds those 'tinfoil' brackets are going give, and no amount of upper gussets are going to hold back the force. Excellent idea, great designs, but WAY too thin of material.

[aelas]

in 2:56 he shows how to find drilling position for 3 holes to mount knife plate. But this will be bad idea if u want separator as shown in 2:37