Post #340635 by Tiki Zen on Fri, Oct 26, 2007 11:30 AM

With the wood repair and preservation issues addressed in the other thread, here is my suggestion. Mind you, I've never fixed a tiki, but I have done a good bit of construction work involving posts and poles.

He looks pretty top-heavy, and the mailbox is going to add cantilever force to pull him face forward. I imagne he is sunk a good distance into the ground, and you are going to need a very firm foundation to anchor him after he is repaired. I would cut him off at the ground with a chain saw or Sawzall (although lowering him gently to the ground without having to yell "TIMBER!" will be a chore). I would then make a final cut on the base to get to good wood with a hand saw, or a Sawzall if you have a steady hand, because you will want a nice square cut.

I would then dig a hole with an auger or post hole digger slightly larger than the diameter of the tiki, and go at least 4 feet deep. Fill the hole with Quickcrete and finish smooth and level a bit higher than the yard so that you will get good drainage off the pad. Once the concrete sets up, take four large galvanized (or even better, stainless steel) angle brackets and bolt these down to the concrete pad with anchor bolts. Space these around the pad with one leg sticking up and the other leg pointing toward the center of the pad. You will want these spaced so that they are just far enough apart that the tiki will fit snugly in the center of the ring of brackets Essentially, what I have in mind is making something similar to a prefab bracket you can buy to anchor a 4x4 to a concrete surface.

Then you can drop your tiki into the center of the pad and the base will cover the bolted legs of the brackets, and which will give you a bit of drainage space between the bottom of the pole and the concrete pad. Lag screw through the vertical legs of the brackets into your tiki, and you should be good to go.

[ Edited by: Tiki Zen 2007-10-26 11:41 ]

[ Edited by: Tiki Zen 2007-10-26 11:47 ]