Metal legs for a shed?

[Daffodils At The Sea]

I am working on an outdoor 2' x 4' "broom closet" shed that will sit outside the back door for raincoats, muddy shoes, hardware stuff, etc. It will be sitting on a deck and I just realized I need to keep a lot of air circulation underneath it so it won't rot the deck. I figure there will be maybe 200 pounds on these legs, so no plastic. Wheels make me nervous because I don't want it creeping or having to keep track of whether it's moving.

I live too far from the hardware store to go for the next 3 days, but I set aside these days to get this thing finished.

I'm thinking of metal legs repurposed from something around here, maybe cutting galvanized pipe, but not sure how to connect them underneath. I have some aluminum channel left over from a metal shed that might work, but I think the channel will splay out unless I find some long nuts and bolts to pull each side together, but still not sure they can support that much weight. They were only designed to support a lightweight metal shed wall.

Any ideas? Shelf brackets laid on their sides? L-brackets?

 

[tortoise]

Why not wood?

 

[Daffodils At The Sea]

Well, because wood would have to be bigger than metal, it would trap moisture under it, and absorb water/moisture, have the potential to get moldy. Wood-to-wood contact on a deck is pretty much death to both pieces of wood.

 

[~gd]

Well, because wood would have to be bigger than metal, it would trap moisture under it, and absorb water/moisture, have the potential to get moldy. Wood-to-wood contact on a deck is pretty much death to both pieces of wood.

Really? I will have to tell my wooden planters that sit on my Deck that they and the deck are doomed? Funny they looked very healthy when I changed the soil only about a month ago. Of course my deck is 5/4 pine with the grain 'cups' pointed down and a uniform space between them for drainage and air cilculation. Of course they have only been there for 5.5 Years, and I have added resealing to my 2014 To Do list because of weather damage where the planters DID NOT protect. Climates differ but here in central NC our temps range from 25-105 ~42 inches of rain and high humidity. Just where do Daffodils grow by the sea.....~gd

 

[Daffodils At The Sea]

Well, gd, I guess I could have guessed you would reply like this. I don't suppose sarcasm is helpful, even if you are having good luck with wood on wood.

Here at the coast the fog is in at least 50% of the year, wet, dripping fog that you use windshield wipers for. This closet is on the north side, no sun, damp, wet without much hope of drying out except in fall. We have termites the size of dragonflies. I've lived in this rural place for 20 years, and the only thing I've had to replace is the wood that grows moss and fungi and sometimes even has little toadstools growing out of it.

And yes, Daffodils grow here happily. But I thought you knew everything! I'm not stupid and I'm not inexperienced, so I really wish you wouldn't treat my posts on this forum that way.

 

[Daffodils At The Sea]

For anyone's future reference:


1. "deck parts that minimizes large wood-to-wood contact areas between pieces of lumber."

http://canadianhomeworkshop.com/1153/outdoor-renovations/build-a-top-notch-deck/4


2. "the most common cause of deck failure, the rot migration between the joist and underside of the deck plank. It eliminates wood-to-wood contact."

http://www.livoutdoor.com/rotNot/

3. "every traditional wood-to-wood post-mounting detail failed."

http://www.deckmagazine.com/anchors/code-compliant-guardrail-posts.aspx


4. " Because wood-to-wood contact promotes rot"

http://www.handymanclub.com/project...ticleid/5301/10-ways-to-avoid-bad-deck-design

 

[tortoise]

That seems like a tough environment for metal too! How about making them out of PVC pipe?

 

[k15n1]

Wood will rot if it cannot stay dry most of the time.

The traditional solution to this problem is stone. If you can't find any stone where you are or if it is unsuitable for building, use concrete. Costs a lot more but works well enough.

 

[~gd]

Well, gd, I guess I could have guessed you would reply like this. I don't suppose sarcasm is helpful, even if you are having good luck with wood on wood.

Here at the coast the fog is in at least 50% of the year, wet, dripping fog that you use windshield wipers for. This closet is on the north side, no sun, damp, wet without much hope of drying out except in fall. We have termites the size of dragonflies. I've lived in this rural place for 20 years, and the only thing I've had to replace is the wood that grows moss and fungi and sometimes even has little toadstools growing out of it.

And yes, Daffodils grow here happily. But I thought you knew everything! I'm not stupid and I'm not inexperienced, so I really wish you wouldn't treat my posts on this forum that way.

Well if you didn't make absolute statements like this " Wood-to-wood contact on a deck is pretty much death to both pieces of wood. " maybe I could resist poking holes in them. You seem to make the mistake of many posters and think we all face the same climate. We DO NOT! that is why I gave the details for central NC where wood on wood contact is not death to both [Do you have wooden boats on your sea? how does that work out?] I did it again! FYI I do not know everything but I have spent about 20 years on our North coast, 1 each on our East and West coasts and year in other coasts overseas. lived in big and small cities and other places that were just crossroads or just wide spots or the end of the road.
I don't doubt that you know what works for you but don't push it to apply to all the locations which read your posts. ~gd
termites the size of dragonflies.

 

[Daffodils At The Sea]

As much as we all want to believe each of our places and our projects are special and that the rules won't apply to us, Mother Nature will have plenty to say about that. gd, your state is not the exception, and your deck is not the exception. Five years for wood is nothing. Let's talk again in 20 years when, if your deck was built and maintained correctly, should still be in very good condition. But all the resealing in the world will not stop damp wood from rotting. All the links I put there show it is not something that only happens in some places. Eventually it happens everywhere.

Is it really your job to go around poking holes in people's posts? Who died and made you the forum expert? You weren't trying to share information with me that my information may need updating. You were sarcastically saying that because your 5 years of experience with pine somehow makes you an expert on all wood of all types and all kinds of deck construction.

It's one thing to share information that might be helpful to others, it's another to insult people as a way of apparently telling them they don't know what they are talking about. I don't like having to defend my post when there's nothing wrong with it. I've responded to you many times politely showing you that how you've attacked my post is incorrect. I'm tired of it, I don't have time for it, and it ruins what ought to be a pleasant time here.

You've upset plenty of people here with your Know It All attitude.