There is yet more house and home progress being made as we look into the constructio of our patio coverings. Kellei swandangled several 4"x12" beams (20´ long) and we have plans to use them!

The illustration shows the intended construction for the joints - the trick here is going to be getting the metal "T" plates made up. The local building center thinks they have aline on it for us though.

The images below show the intended completed structure.

Instead of having T-connecters made for you.  You might want to use the pre-made ones from Sampson Strong Ties. http://www.strongtie.com/

They allow you to build just about anything using only straight cuts. They have a large selection of ties for just about any purpose.

Once again... the man who can find anything strikes!

Thanks I´ll check it out!

Just a followup - I did have a look at what they offer - and it´s basically the same as the hardware store - 2" wide T brackets are the largest.

I´ve thus placed an order for some custom fabricated 4" wide plate steel once through my local building supply - need the heavy look (and probably the strength) for what we want to do.

My local Home Depot sells "T" strong ties in a 12x8 size. I think they´re model 128T on this page (don´t remember the price... sorry)
http://www.strongtie.com/products/connectors/T-L.html

How big do you need them?  On the other hand.  I can´t see having them custom made costing you *that* much and it may be worth it to start a good relationship with your local smith

errr 4inches... right there in front of my face.

Not that this will be of any use for the others reading the forum - but "You´ll understand when you get here" ;)

The 4" is the "B" dimension on the diagram from strongtie... I did quite a bit of research and for what I want (structural and asthetic) I need the custom verion (they are 1/4" thick plate steel and pre-coated with weatherproofing)