Hey Eddie,
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( How are you tying the beams, posts and footings together? Did you use rebar in the footings? )</font>
I have been looking at different brackets at 'Gold plated lumber Co.' my local lumber store /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I found some T brackets that I think should tie the posts and beams together nicely and I am still pondering the attaching to the piers. No I did'nt rebar the footings, IMHO I think it is plenty strong enough. I am leaning towards slabbing it once I get the piers set with the slab coming flush to the height of the piers and surrounding them. That I will reinforce and it would take more load off the piers and spread it all the way across the base beams.
</font><font color="blue" class="small">( In California, a place I used to live, they are tying straps to the foundations that run up the exterior walls to the rafters. I haven't seen that done anywhere else, but it would work good in your application too. Not sure where you get the straps though.
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Just moved up here about a year and half ago from CA. anybody got any complaints about your local codes you aint seen nothin till you lived there. I've seen some of the setups for tying the houses to the foundation for the earthquake codes, I think just tying it to the piers at the base will be sufficiant. I have not felt the earth move since I have been here which has been a nice change /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif