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I have 5 roof support posts that are supposed to be resting on concrete blocks but one of them is not even touching the concrete block and the other 4 have some separation from the concrete block. See pics for details. Seems like the ground has settled or something has happened to the house structure causing this separation. I'm not sure what to do about this. Does anyone have advice? On what I should do to solve this problem? Thanks for any help!

First Post Not resting on anything Beam1 (Not Touching Concrete Block!)

Other Posts in order of 2 - 5 and how they are sitting on concrete blocks. Notice separations. Post2 Post3 Post4 Post5

Here's another picture showing how the posts are used. Posts

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Joe Dean
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  • What are these beams supporting ? It looks like an outdoor porch roof. These beams may not be there for support if the roof above is cantilevered into the house structure. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantilever That means that these do not really do anything other than to look good (when kept in good condition. Try to post more pics of the above structure. Also if the above beams are showing you should be able to see if they are cantilevered. – deathismyfriend May 26 '14 at 23:40
  • It's also possible, given how small the gap is, that either (a) the concrete blocks were not properly anchored and have subsided a bit, or (b) their height was set when these beams were carrying much more weight, and either settling or changes in the floor loading have let these posts lift up a bit. There's probably some appropriate form of shim that could be used to fill this gap and properly support the load again... – keshlam May 27 '14 at 01:08
  • Do you live where it snows abundantly? Looks like auxiliary weight support for an extended roof overhang so the rafters don't take the brunt of the load. Tapered shim wedges can be used to take up the slack. – Fiasco Labs May 27 '14 at 01:31
  • The first one has a bracket, and then it has wood below the bracket. If the others have brackets (unclear from the pictures) that might be all the space on the others - those brackets are supposed to "keep the bottom of the post (yes, post, I had to edit) from rotting" by creating a small air space with the support being managed by the steel bracket (bolted to the concrete, normally.) The first post definitely has issues. The others might not if they have brackets. – Ecnerwal May 27 '14 at 02:18
  • Thanks to all for the helpful feedback/comments. I posted another picture for more information... Seems these are probably not for support and adding an appropriate shim is the way to go. @FiascoLabs I live in an area of California that gets no snow. – Joe Dean May 27 '14 at 09:08
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    You need to supprt at least the weight of that beam hanging off the underside of the rafters, it has considerable weight. the shims will do it. – Fiasco Labs May 27 '14 at 14:33
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    Shims will work until they either rot or get kicked. I would go with non-shrink (or hydraulic) grout. This is what they do for large high rises to fill in the gap when the Steel doesn't quite meet the concrete.(http://www.quikrete.com/productlines/FastSetNonShrinkGrout.asp) – Matt Johnson Aug 24 '14 at 03:13
  • Where the beam enters the house at the far end of the picture, does it continue inside and used as a load bearing wall ? The other option is that the last load bearing point is in the same place as the outside wall in this pictue. If the overhead boards are 6" wide, and there are at least 8 of them, that gives a roof overhang of at least 48". If the posts are to be load bearing, then the over hang is a much more reasonable distance ~20" The 4x beam seems to show that it is designed to be a load support, and not just enough to keep the 4' length of the overhang from swaying. – Some Guy Mar 19 '15 at 12:18
  • The visible part of the roof would be rock would stop any problem like that. At the top of the 4x posts, there is what is either a decoration, or blocks to spread the load. No one has ever hung a 4x 12(?) that long for the laughs. My bet is that what you need is footings below the frost line for them. – Some Guy Mar 19 '15 at 12:28

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What you need to do is get a couple of hours of a residential truss engineers time.

Ask him if the posts are designed, or should be structural load bearing components of the frame, or just look pretty?

If they are supposed to hold up your house, below frost line footings and fiberglass posts are in your future.

If they are just to be pretty, then shims and hydraulic cement are all you need, and then replace with fiberglass pieces as time and money allow.

Fiberglass posts, columns are great, lightweight, any shape you want, load bearing or not, stay straight, no rot, no bugs, take paint so well.

Some Guy
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