Thread: 50x2mm carport post advice?..

I have a surfeit of 50mm x 2mm steel square posts on hand and hoping to find advice here on using them as a carport post.

no high wind here nor council input (I’m very rural)…
I am hoping to build an attached carport to the end of a compac transportable building (steel coolroom panel construction) to finished size 6m wide x 4m deep with three posts along 6m front of carport @ 2.4m high.

roofing will be corrugated iron.

will my available 50mm x 2mm square posts in concreted footings suffice?

Hi msjane,
Welcome to the forums.
It seems a bit strange as your join date is 2015 and yet you have waited 9 years to post.

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Re: The advice sought.


Please be aware we are not engineers and while you have given us some parameters I can't say I am happy with it.

I speak here as an Admin member who does not want any potential problems arising for the Forum or its members should something go pear shaped.

Changing hats and speaking as not only an ordinary member but ex boilermaker/ fabricator I believe 2mm wall thickness is a bit too thin. Some threaded cross bracing would be necessary. Hows your thin wall tube welding skills for welding cross brace attachment tabs.?

Other members may have a different opinion.

Cheers
Grahame

I don't think anyone is going to be able to give you an answer. At best you will get a few unqualified opinions.

Either pay for proper advice from someone qualified or build it at your own risk.

I am usually able to find answers in forum without having to ask specifics, and have been a ‘renovate forum’ user forever

thank you for the advice on thin wall as it’s not my forte and usually apply brackets for basic stuff (nothing structural)

would joining two posts to form a 10x5 increase structural strength so i can use up what I have on hand?

Originally Posted by browny

I don't think anyone is going to be able to give you an answer. At best you will get a few unqualified opinions.

Either pay for proper advice from someone qualified or build it at your own risk.

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you honestly made me cry

a forum is a place to seek opinion and advice on a topic related question… yes?
yet I receive such condescending replies as above.
I am not stupid.

I am not asking for free engineering plans, just advice/opinion from others more knowledgeable than I.

will three 5x5 posts support suggested size carport… thank you Admin Graham, the answer is no.

Originally Posted by msjane

surfeit

That's a good word.

If you have more posts than you have use for then you won’t mind destroying a few of them. Here’s an idea: using a few of your posts, build a test set-up. For example, using two posts (though four would be better) build a structure in exactly the way you intend to build your carport. Don't forget the cross bracing. When done, start loading it up. Put weight on the roof of the thing. Doing that won’t be able to tell you about wind forces but it will tell you a hell of a lot about how much weight the posts can stand before collapsing, and that was your question. (Use the full length/height, not some cut-down version.)

If the posts start to buckle under a very light load then you have your answer – it’s no good. If it seems like you’ll never be able to destroy it without setting a couple of old engine blocks on top of it then you’re probably good to go.

Are the gal sheets attaching to more of your 50 mil?
Is the total carport going to be made from 50 mil?
Is the other 6 meter section being attached to your coolroom structure or stand alone?
I don't see a problem in using the 50 mil as your posts, if you really got concerned why not fill your posts with dirt after concreting.

Originally Posted by ErrolFlynn

That's a good word.

If you have more posts than you have use for then you won’t mind destroying a few of them. Here’s an idea: using a few of your posts, build a test set-up. For example, using two posts (though four would be better) build a structure in exactly the way you intend to build your carport. Don't forget the cross bracing. When done, start loading it up. Put weight on the roof of the thing. Doing that won’t be able to tell you about wind forces but it will tell you a hell of a lot about how much weight the posts can stand before collapsing, and that was your question. (Use the full length/height, not some cut-down version.)

If the posts start to buckle under a very light load then you have your answer – it’s no good. If it seems like you’ll never be able to destroy it without setting a couple of old engine blocks on top of it then you’re probably good to go.

I feel we may have met before on “renovate forums” as your post reflects a character of high intelligence speckled with bloody funny analogies… I actually have a couple of engine blocks but can assure you the carport roof would NOT be storage my other half would be happy with… I’m more inclined to go with a skip.

with your ‘opinion only’ reply on-board I will try a ‘single’ carport construction and if it doesn’t collapse I can expand as necessary …

sincere thanks for the giggle

msjane,

Obviously you do not get it as far as Forums attitude to Engineering advice.

These are privately owned forums and a legal liability arising from a misplaced engineering advice could financially destroy them.

Like it or not it is the way of the world. We don't wish to be like this. It is forced upon us by the system.

You are not alone and there have been people before you asking about structural engineering aspects.

We are sorry for your situation but we like our forums and want them to remain viable for as long as possible and will not put them at risk.

Grahame

I can give a short answer that will not get anyone in trouble...NO! 50x50x2mm SHS will not provide sufficient structural integrity for your carport posts. And yes, that is an unqualified opinion but based on some relevant experience.

Has anyone seen what some companies build carport out of. The post are sheet metal folded into a square. How do they get away with that?

Isn't it the same for sheds?

As soon as you bend a piece of sheet steel into an appropriate shape it gains strength. Flat bar vs angle iron, for example. We can walk on top of a corrugated iron roof and you don't fall through. I wouldn't be game to do that if it were the same thickness but a flat sheet.

I assembled my own garden shed 3.5 year's ago it's a Absco shed from Bunning's i can vaugly recall the steel sheeting was high tensile and cyclone rated but i cannot remember to what cyclone forces, i know for a fact it has withheald some narly storm's that i thought would have knocked down our neighbor's 100 year old leaning gumtree

As for carport's i done a fair amount of searching around 3-4 year's ago, i noticed the $1,000-$1,500 6x3 meter flat top colourbond carport's on ebay were 40x40mm framing and they were later upgraded to 45x45mm tubingi think the material thickness may have increased too

Realistically though can you picture your carport flying 50 meter's in the air at 70kph? I have seen online and on tv what the impact can do, you see colour bond stuck/chopped in tree's from the shear force

If you build it over engineer it

Originally Posted by msjane

- - - - - -

you honestly made me cry

a forum is a place to seek opinion and advice on a topic related question… yes?
yet I receive such condescending replies as above.
I am not stupid.

I am not asking for free engineering plans, just advice/opinion from others more knowledgeable than I.

will three 5x5 posts support suggested size carport… thank you Admin Graham, the answer is no.

Well you're obviously not smart enough to accurately judge these forums.

The reason that you're unlikely to get an answer is because you're asking a structural engineering question and this is not a structural engineering forum. Plus there is not really enough information to work anything out from what you've provided. You're also hoping that someone will want to spend a few hours figuring this out for you.

My opinion is that 50x2SHS is going to be marginal at best and this will make the detailing and fabrication of the structure critical.

So my previous advice still stands, either pay someone to design something that will work or take your chances building an experiment.

There is a company in QLD called Titan Lite that only sells shed and carport components. They don't appear to sell awning and carport columns in your dimensions. This tells me something.