This spring I will be putting a fence along my southern Conn. property. I’ll be using 4×4 pressure treated posts supporting 3’x8′ fence sections.
My concern; after digging a hole for the posts how do I fill it? I have heard:
A. Fill it with sand to let water drain.
B. Fill it with rocks to let water drain
C.Pour a bag of mixed cement into hole
D. Don’t put cement into hole it prevents water drainage
E. Just put the same soil back in.
Any help is appreciated.
Zolo
Thanks to an international effort to preserve traditional Japanese homes, an old timber frame is rebuilt in Oregon.
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Replies
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=3867.1
bobl Volo Non Voleo Joe's BT Forum cheat sheet
I vote for gravel in the bottom for drainage, place the post, then fill with the dirt you took out of the hole, compacting it every few inches. I built a fence this way last summer, and the posts are rock solid. In addition, if you have ever had to remove a fencepost set in concrete, you wouldn't even think about concrete again.
Good luck.
Why is that .doc? When they rot off quicker, you can blow them right over..
Excellence is its own reward!
Yeah, but then you have that man-made boulder (concrete) to dig up.
Given that, I fully agree that you'll never want to do it again...
LOL.
Excellence is its own reward!
Hey the trick with timber posts and concrete is to attach some thin poly foam to all sides of the post, then pour the concrete. To get the post out, pour gas on the foam - it melts and the post is free!
That's a slick trick. Now do you have one for easily getting the concrete out?
The beauty of the trick is that the concrete block now has a recess into which you can slide a replacement post.
Except that ;long before this, the water locked between the post amd the concrete has frozen often enough to have broken the concrete into several pieces.
Excellence is its own reward!
water on the ground freezes ... amazing ! The temperature got above 120 deg here today.
Ok Ok rub it in man!!!!!
minus bloody cold here.
Hey Theodora we have another one who needs a whippin' and then handed a shovel.I'm all here....... 'cause I'm not all there!
It's well after 11:00 PM it's still over 85 deg and the humidity is about 80%.
Give me COOOLD
One cup of cold and snow coming up.I'm all here....... 'cause I'm not all there!
Zolo- I would definitely stay away from putting any concrete in the hole around the post- this can cause premature rotting of the posts. I would use bank run gravel- it will pack nicely and still drain well. IF this weather keeps us it will be a long time before you get to dig any holes!
Good Luck
Two methods are commonly used here.
1. ram dirt round the post
2. concrete the sucker in.
As the posts are pressure treated for below ground, when it finally rots myself and the customers will have died quite a while ago. Concrete is fast and it holds well, esp if you do as i do and flare the base of the hole to key it into the ground.
Wood Hoon
Here in NorCal we use mostly redwood for posts because it looks better than PT, but the 4th and 5th generation doesn't have the rot resistance of the old growth. So now we're using recycled plastic posts whenever possible. Definitely more flexible on 6' high fence, but yours is only 3'. The best part is they last 75 years and cost the same as PT and less than redwood. I don't know if it's paintable and they only come in 8 footers. Understand they are made from non-metallic car parts (bumpers and dash). However, my new fence is going to 7 feet high so I may try fiber glass reinforced high density polyethylene posts from bedord technology. They also come in colors. I think they'll be ~$40 versus $25 (redwood) for 10 footers but they'll never rot. BTW we always use concrete with soil or gravel underneath for drainage.
Another vote for kid.doc's method. I'd opt for .60 treated posts vrs .40 (ground contact) if you can find them. Keep the cut end out of the ground. Treat the cut end with Cuprinol #10 wood preservative; any Sherwin-Williams store should have it.
http://www.sherwin-williams.com/apps/PickPros/SWDisplay.asp?ProdID=521
...and don't forget that depending on where you are in CT, you may have to handle a lot of New England potatoes (rocks). Nothing like having to dig a 3' wide hole to get a rock out so you can put the post where you want it! Of course if you're in the valley or along the shoreline, this probably isn't an issue.
Pete
concrete, .......need a good footing for a fence post a buzzard can sit on.