Quote:
Originally Posted by scottmandue
Right now it is 2" painted steel tubing with 4"X4" feet held down with four lag bolts into the deck about every five feet which fulfills the sturdy requirement.............The deck has some kind of textured spray on sealer that has to be chiseled to get to the lag bolts.......
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I don't understand what the substructure of your porch/deck is, is it wood or concrete?
Right now as it reads you have a flat concrete surface with anti-slip coating, on top of which is floated a wood deck. The vertical parts are 2" square post with 4"x4" base plates that are NOT lag bolted but anchor bolted (set in epoxy grout?) into the concrete.
Typically the anchor bolts swell from rust (concrete is porous) and need to be replaced, if severe enough the entire slab gets replaced. However there are good structural patching compounds by Thoroseal and others that might be appropriate.
In "Freeze/Thaw" areas like where I live the concrete gives out from cracks, and the steels rusts. In your area it sounds like the salt in the air is attacking mostly the exposed steel.
Changing materials to stainless steel or possibly aluminum will help, however you might NOT know the true condition of your connectors until the area is removed and cleaned up. Inspect these areas very carefully, they are like your engine mounts, and you may need new mounts.
Photos required, as the above is all guess work and conjecture at this point.
EDIT:
Expansion bolts (
called wedge anchors in diagram) set in epoxy grout and caulk/sealed are common, you better go with stainless if replacing.
Below is a similar condition to what I've imagined, your description is lacking - sorry.
https://www.hooverfence.com/bufftech-oxford-railing-post-support-kit-concrete
Like I said, concrete is porous, there might be a water-resistant membrane under the concrete slab if an occupiable living space is below. You don't want to damage that, or will have to repair. What do you estimate the depth of the slab is?
One option is to go around the corrupted anchor bolts by just cutting them off flush and going with larger base plates and new holes, however those old bolts can be like a cancer - and cancer is best removed.
All this focus on anchor bolts is because if the base of the steel posts is as bad as what you say, and such a persistent problem, then I would look further down the path for more problems below it. Stuff you just cannot see right now.