Decks, Patios, Porches and Docks - Help repairing rot in porch covering

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vwalton
10-31-09, 05:14 PM
I discovered the rot in the photos below just today. It's my front porch, with a stucco "ceiling," and it's rot, not termite damage. I'd like to fix it myself but not sure where to begin. The beam is 4 x 6 and extends about 20' across the front porch so replacing it is not going to be trivial. Can anyone suggest a less intrusive fix?

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Pulpo
11-01-09, 11:01 AM
WE really can't see much in that thumbnail.
lefty
11-01-09, 03:14 PM
vwalton,

Welcome to the forums.

It's hard to tell much from those photos, except that's certainly rot.

There's not going to be ANYTHING "less intrusive" in getting this repair done. You'll have to support the roof so that you can replace the beam, and probably the posts. Hopefully the posts are set in post bases, not embedded in the slab. When you do that, put BC4's on top of the posts to secure the beam.

A good portion of the problems occured because the beam extends past the edge of the roof. Keep the ends of the beams under the roof and protected.

vwalton
11-01-09, 09:41 PM
Sorry for the poor photography. A couple more images are below. Maybe they'll be better. I've ripped open part of the soffit and it turns out the red painted 2x6 is merely fascia, as I thought - it's nailed to the outside rafter. Trouble is, the rafter crosses the beam where it's partially rotted. I'm thinking of opening up more of the soffit and nailing or lag-bolting a sister onto the rafter. The sister could sit on good wood on the beam, and I could then cut the end of the beam off and finish it with a chunk of 4x6 and flash it so this doesn't happen again. Replacing the beam would be a horrendous job. I'll do it if I have to but I'd really like to find another answer.

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lefty
11-02-09, 04:36 AM
Replacing just the part of the beam from the end post out to the end of it isn't an option. There would be nothing to support the piece of the beam that you install. If you do that, you'll have to add another post under the new portion of the beam to support it. The other option would be to replace the length of beam from the outside post back to the next post back -- the one shown in the second picture of the last 3 that you posted.

How far does the rot in the joists go? From the beam out, sistering onto them will work. But if they have rot between the ledger at the house and the beam you'll want to replace the entire joist rather than leaving a rotten piece in there.

This is not going to be an easy repair. Don't be looking for ways to cut corners trying to make it one.