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Might've asked this before but my thinking is evolving and I couldn't find an old thread.
Putting in a brand new patio. Sub base is going in now, we're going to lay porcelain slabs (20mm) on wet mortar on top of the sub base, with a bonding agent.
We want a veranda, with three legs that will need to be fixed into or onto the patio. It will be made out of green oak and using fairly thick timbers so it will weigh quite a bit. Probably 150mm square posts for each leg. I think the options for anchoring the posts are:
1. Screw the posts to the slabs using a post anchor base. I'm worried that given enough wind it'll lift them up. I always worry about stuff blowing over every windy night and it affects my sleep.
2. Leave a slab out, dig a little hole, fill with concrete and anchor the post to that using a bond-in fixing. Then put some blocks or something around the base to prettify it.
3. Leave a slab out, dig hole, fill with concrete then out the slab back on top, mortar it in place and drill through the slab into the concrete underneath to anchor the post.
4. Dig somewhat bigger hole in the exact right spot then concrete the post itself into the ground, then cut slab in half with an indent so it can be fit around the post as the patio is being laid.
Digging a hole in the sub base concerns me as it will have been tamped down and locked together, and digging a hole would disturb it all.
Is it really at risk of wind lifting it up? I can't decide. It's going to be about 2.5m deep and 4.5m wide.
#4, but cut the exact right sized hole in slab and slot it over the post first. Neat as!
In hindsite, I would have dug a nice hole and concreted galvanised steel brackets into it ( similar to the cheap ass fence post ones you can buy , but a lot more industrial)
Then had the sub base laid around it. As above, would have got a hole waterjet cut in the slab so it just slid straight over, put the rest of the patio down , then put my posts in when it was all finished.
Alternatively, just concrete the posts in now before you finish the sub base
One of these Simpson Strong-Tie APB100/150 Adjustable Elevated Post Base APB 100/150 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008EUNOHY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_PM81GC4M936JCVQYPTFJ?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
(But Double check I’ve got the right size for you there)
I’d screw them down to a concrete pad, then drill a hole in the tile using a diamond hole saw, disassemble the two parts of the post base, fit slab over top, reassemble post base and fit post.
This avoids timber in the ground, which will rot eventually.