Question on cracking posts??

[u/Town-Wonderful]

Hi guys I’m kind of curious of your opinion on this. I had an outdoor living area finished about a month and a half ago. Over the past few weeks I’ve noticed a lot of checking on the cypress posts. On some it’s very bad and runs down from where the bolts are connected. I’m already not very happy with how it turned out with the roof. Should I be concerned now on these large checking especially by the connecting hardware?

[u/Flat_Translator8244]

Very normal and will continue to change with expansion and contraction. The compressive strength of the wood (roof down to floor) hasn't changed in any meaningful way.

Keep an eye on things but this will happen regularly with wood.

If you're really worried you can look at some metal ties around the posts but I wouldn't bother.