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I am building a pergola, which will be supported half by the garage with a 2x8 ledger board and half on 3 posts. I poured the 3 footings, without thinking too much and they only had 8" form tubes at the store. I really want to use 6x6 posts, because I like the look, even though it's a complete overkill. (The span between each set of posts is 10', which will be supported by a pair of 2x8.)

I have rebar and anchors in the footings, however the OZCO 6x6 bracket will stick out about half an inch out of the footing. I realized now that the footings should've been quite larger to look proper.

I've done mechanical engineering, but zero construction knowledge, especially about concrete. How worried should I be about the brackets sticking out of the footings? (Also, Quikrete 5000 was used.)

Thanks a bunch!

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  • Did you embed bolts in the fitting or do you still need to add fasteners? What size fasteners and how close to the edge of the concrete will you have to drill? If the corners of a square bracket peek past the edge of your footing, that's not a huge concern, but if the bracket is that big it might indicate a need for a larger footing for other reasons. How deep are the footings?
    – K H
    Commented May 7, 2021 at 2:26
  • Pulling sonotube footings is a particularly fun activity if you end up having to do that and requires heavy equipment. If it's not too deep a bobcat may be adequate but a decent size backhoe does it best. Assuming you can verify the footings are adequate to support the weight and the holes are far enough into concrete that you can drill them, you should use epoxy in deep holes rather than risking a blowout with inserts.
    – K H
    Commented May 7, 2021 at 2:29
  • The footings are about 30" tall. Each has 3 vertical rebars in them. The anchors are embedded and are 1/2" x 8" Hot-galvanized J-anchor bolts, so I won't be drilling for the brackets. The only things I am considering is backfilling completely around the footings, then framing a square around the top and building and additional 10x10 or 12x12 square, surrounding the post footing ( similar to the mushroom shape at the bottom ). I know the concrete won't bind to the already cured one very well, but I really don't think it will matter.
    – helpMeCodeSwift
    Commented May 7, 2021 at 3:30
  • I could also drive some anchors horizontally into the the cured footing to use as binding support. Again it's only holding a pergola, no solid roof or anything.
    – helpMeCodeSwift
    Commented May 7, 2021 at 3:30

2 Answers 2

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If I understand correctly that the post bases overhang the sides of the concrete piers slightly, it's not an issue. As you said, 6x6 posts are unnecessarily large for the load, so as long as you have the equivalent of a 4x4 resting on the concrete it's all fine.

Just use caution when drilling for the post bases so you don't spall out the corners of the concrete. Skip any fasteners that are too close to the edge and put in extras elsewhere if possible.

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You can float quickcrete green labeled bag, to make the pier wider, make a form with 5 gal. - 3gal bucket

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  • Welcome to Home Improvement. If you'll take the tour, you'll note that this is a Question & Answer board, not a general discussion forum. As such, we expect answers to have some meat to them. Please edit your post to expand on your ideas some - is there need for an additional gravel bed below this new concrete? Should it be attached to the existing piers in any way? How does one "make a form with 5 gal. - 3gal bucket" and what's a "5 gal. - 3gal bucket" anyway? You've got the makings of a good answer, it just needs a little more.
    – FreeMan
    Commented May 7, 2021 at 13:44
  • I wouldn't expect that to hold up very well. It's likely to settle and crack away from the original pier. At any rate, it doesn't seem necessary.
    – isherwood
    Commented May 7, 2021 at 14:04

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