Brazilian Hardwoods with Titan Anchor

by Jay
(NH)

How will the Titan Anchor work on Brazilian Hardwoods? Do you need to use the Stainless Steel so not to discolor the wood as non-stainless steel screws do? I see you only have the 4x4 SS Anchor and not the 6x6.

Comments for Brazilian Hardwoods with Titan Anchor

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Aug 15, 2018
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Drilling for Titan Base
by: Mike Koesters

When drilling into camaru, is it advisable to use a carbide hole saw and forstner bit, or is bi-metal acceptable? If bi-metal, how many hole saws would be required to do 7 posts?

Thanks.

Mike Koesters

Mar 19, 2015
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Composite rails on Brazilian Tigerwood w/ 4x4 anchors
by: Charlie

I've been reading through the comments and I didnt see any that specifically addressed my problem.

I've built a 20' x 20' Tigerwood deck, but will be using composite deck rails. I already purchased the 4x4 titan post anchors and installed them in the posts that I plan to use.

My question is when I get ready to screw the post base into the Tigerwood, is there anything I need to do differently other than pre-drill the holes into the deck?

Is the Tigerwood strong enough to hold the rails if I drill directly into it with no blocking underneath?

This is my first time using these Titan products and since the wood was very expensive, I want to make sure I do it the right way the first time. Any assistance is appreciated. Thanks in advance

Editor's Comments

Pre-drilling the holes through the Tigerwood deck boards is important and requires a precise tolerance between hole diameter and the screw diameter or you can risk snapping off the screw heads because the holes you drilled are too small.

Generally in hardwoods you only need about 1/32" of bite for the screw threads. However, to be absolutely sure, use a scrap piece of decking and do a couple practice holes of varying diameters to see what works best with that species of wood.

Blocking or No Blocking?

The engineering testing done on railing sections built with the post anchor used wood material thicker than a 5/4" or 1" deck board.

Tigerwood is much harder than pine but it is secured to the joists. It is quite likely that you would not have to use any blocking under the decking if the deck boards are top down screwed to the joists.

However, some inspectors are very strict and will only approve a configuration that mimics the installation diagrams which were done using soft woods.

To be sure you have no "push back" from an inspector it would be wise to install a single, flat 2x8 block between the joist bays below each post.

Feb 27, 2011
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Different installation method is required
by: Editor - Rich Bergman

You can use the titan post anchor on hardwoods and the performance is excellent. In fact, some of the highest performance is with hardwoods because of the density of the material.

But it's a double edged sword. You can't use the same installation methodology for hardwoods as you can with soft and medium density woods like pine and cedar. So it takes more time to install with hardwoods.

You can't just use a holesaw, cut out a circular kerf to guide the sharp edge and set the tube, then hammer it home. You can't hammer anything or screw anything into Brazilian hardwoods.

So you have to use the holesaw for a first cut. Then a forstner bit to remove the core of the cut. Then one more pass with the hole saw to a depth just 1/4" or 1/8" less than the 3.5" length of the tube. You can hammer the sharp edges into set it in that case or just drive the hole saw deeper and you don't have to hammer the tube into the wood at all.

You aren't using the beneficial method that you can with the softer woods. Also, predrill for the lag screws or you will likely snap off the heads.

So yes the result is excellent but the method to install is harder and more time consuming for Brazilian hardwoods.

Regarding staining of wood by using non stainless fasteners. I have seen this with cedar where thinly electro coated fastners will cause a reaction between the wood and the metal leaving black stains. But I have never seen that yet with heavy hot dip zinc coated nails or screws.

So I would assume the same applies with Brazilian hardwoods. Buy keep in mind even it it did the lag screws are inserted from underneath the cavity in the base of the anchor and area never seen.

Where this might be an issue is deck screws into brazilian decking because they are visible. But again, I have only seen this with cheaper electro galvanized fasteners, not the hot dipped zinc.

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