The height of 3 of 6 of the 4×4 posts I need to make on a deck are only 3.5" high. These would be on top of concrete piers and then (2) 2×8 beams on top of that and then joists on the beams. Its just barely enough room to fit the hardware for attaching the posts and I'm wondering if I have to worry about splitting the wood in the short posts. Would it be acceptable to drill small pilot holes in the post for the nails to attach hardware to reduce the chance of splitting. Or perhaps I should use pilot holes and screws?
Should I use pilot holes to reduce chances of splitting the post
deck
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Around here, 4x4s are not uncommon. This table shows that a 4x4 pine post that is 6 ft or shorter can support a load area of up to 10 ft² assuming 50 lbs/ft².
Don't trust me or a random table on the internet; make our own calculations from tables in the building code or other trusted sources and consider having them checked by an engineer.
You need to install knee braces every where you can. (The diagonal piece)
Ideally, the ends should be tightly dadoed a small amount into the beam and post to minimize the inevitable play that develops in connections made solely of mechanical fasteners. The bigger the brace the better, within reason. The best bracing would be the grand-daddy of knee braces-- X-bracing.
Best Answer
pilot holes are almost always a good idea to prevent splitting. They are just time consuming. They can reduce the holding power of nails, so if you just have a few, I would use pilot holes and screws.