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Watched my buddy Steve's pergola collapse in a storm last summer
He used those cheap Simpson brackets from the big box store and now I'm driving 45 minutes to a specialty fastener shop for every single build connection.
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jake_dixon27d agoMost Upvoted
Is it possible the concrete footing depth is actually the bigger hidden problem here? I mean, I've seen people pour these tiny little pads thinking they're fine for a pergola, but when the ground freezes and thaws it shifts everything just enough to put crazy stress on those brackets. The brackets might be cheap but a 4x4 post pulling out of a 6 inch deep footing could bend even the good hardware. Maybe it's just me but I always dig down past the frost line and use a few bags of extra concrete for any outside structure that has to hold up against wind.
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taylor_mitchell8027d ago
My uncle's deck basically did the same thing back in '04 with those exact brackets. I've wondered if the real issue isn't just the bracket quality but how people don't account for wind uplift at all when they design those things. Take it for what it's worth but I've seen way too many of those builds fail because nobody plans for sideways forces.
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