We're in the middle of building a large redwood patio cover, which is set into an 18" seat wall on a couple sides. The contractor used some sort of long u-brackets that are set down into the concrete of the seat wall and that also extend upward for about 8-10". The 4x6 posts are then set into those u-bracket thingies and bolted in. In addition to having metal and bolts that run up two sides of the post for about 8" or so, there is also about an inch of metal visible at the base, since as I understand it one of the whole points of using these brackets is to keep the post slightly elevated. However, this is not a particularly pretty sight to behold, and these wall-post intersections are front & center.

I met with the contractor today, and although when I agreed to use these post holders I was clear that I needed to have them hidden, I'm not comfortable with the solution he suggested. He proposes to use a small piece of 2X4 to cover the main part of the brace (the parts that extend upward and to which the post is bolted), but to leave the 1" of metal showing around the bottom. To me this looks terribly unfinished! Instead, I suggested wrapping the posts on all four sides, using miter cuts in the corners and putting a bevel on the top edge so water doesn't sit. However, I was told that this sort of thing might look good indoors but doesn't hold up real well outdoors and probably would not look good for long. There's also the added complication that the u-bracket post base is a tiny bit larger than the dimensions of the post, so seating the additional trim flush against the post would be a challenge. I imagine we'd have to rout out the back of the trim so it will fit over the brace, bolts, and base. This not only sounds like a lot of work, but it also seems like we'd be creating cavities in which water could hide.

I've been searching all over online for a solution and haven't come up with much. Is it really such a bad idea try to trim this out in a more finished way with redwood? Will we be setting ourselves up for frequent replacement? Ideally I'd want to use something pretty thin, say 1", but that seems even more vulnerable to damage.

Another idea I had is to face the entire post on two sides (the sides with the bracket/bolts) using 1x6s. These are the 6" sides, so facing them would bring the overall posts closer to square since they are now 4x6s, although two of the sides might look pieced together. I don't know how exactly we'd attach these so we don't end up with a bunch of fasteners everywhere though. We would also still need to do something at the bottom edge though to cover that part that elevates the post, so I even thought of a wrapping that in a copper band that goes all around the perimeter of the enhanced post. Is this feasible? Would it result in staining of the wall below, as the copper ages and water runs down the face of the wall?

My only other thought is to call a specialist, either a finish carpenter or perhaps check in with some sort of metal fabricator to see if they can design something stylish to fit over this, but I imagine in either case it would be costly. We have a total of 13 posts to deal with.

I'm sure others have encountered this situation before, and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I feel like I'm making it much more complex than it needs to be, but my conversation today left me feeling disheartened. I really can't bear the thought of looking at these things every day, and my contractor wants a decision as to how to proceed soon!

Thanks,

Eli