*
I am replacing 250 feet of wooden fence around my NC home that has become a mega-city for carpenter ants, termites, carpenter bees, fungus and little tiny ants. All the posts, rails, and pickets are so infested that only the paint holds the structure together. The wood was something like rough hemlock and was installed green!
My question is, if I use pressure treated lumber (rated for below grade .40) for all the posts, rails, and pickets, is there anything I can do to improve the life of the fence? I plan to put metal caps on all the posts, use premium screws for fastners, and finish with a semi-transparent type exterior stain. Could I dip the post ends in some sealer/preservative before they are buried and concrete is poured in? Should I be concerned about the evicted insects trying to make a new home in either the new fence or my c1910 house?
Thanks.
Replies
*
I sometimes use .70 treated but have heard that its hard to find if you dont live on the coast. In my experience I havent found anything that likes to eat or live in p.t. lumber. I have it laying all around the yard for years at a time and nothing eats it.(I call this an experiment but my wife doesnt like it too much.) I think the caps will help. A lot of people dont like the concrete around posts but I have found that most of the posts I have had to dig up were in better shape under ground in concrete than the part exposed to sunlight. If you have to cut any posts dont put cut end underground if you can help it, and the retreating the ends is a good idea too.
*Hardware is now available to attach wooden fencing to tubular metal posts. I think that would be the way to go.
*You can get wood preservatives -- copper naphalate (sp?) or Tim-bor or something like that -- to soak the post end before installation. Don't know how much it helps. I've been sticking a piece of weatherwatch on the end to discourage it from wicking water. People talk about the untreated core of the post rotting out to leave a shell. I think it makes a difference how damp the soil is. Certainly Mike's metal will work and save you a lot of concrete -- and money?The insects will probably try to take you out when they realize what you're doing. Have a friend with a flamethrower watch your back. :)
*I have an old book that says to burn the ends of the posts that will be in the ground. The charring ruins the capillary action of the wood cells.Quite common around here to have locust posts, driven in green.-Rob
*Lots of options -- since you mentioned concreting the posts in, it means you are digging and not driving. Don't concrete the posts in if you want them to last 40 years -- if you truly want a long lasting post it has to be able to drain -- dig it 6' deeper and put in gravel to get the water away as quicly as possible.If you can, pre-dipping helps but it is not necessary. I've been doing fence for over 30 years now and have only had trouble with the wire portion and not the post portion lasting as long as I'd like it to. The posts have lasted 30+ years and it is the wire that takes the beating. Make sure the fence is kept "clean" no honey suckle, rose bushes or weeds -- they half a fence's life. Green locust posts are good but you probably can not get the quanity in the unifrom size you want -- they are the same as a steel beam in the ground after 30 years.all the best and good luck
*..... would ditto previous posts. Copper Naphenate (sp.?) (Cuprinol #10 is one brand, available at Sherwin Williams stores) works well. It is often used in wood boats in this area in the bilge to protect against rot. The one problem with it is there is a waiting period before you can apply a finish over it. Keep any cuts above ground and retreat cuts with preservative. Most wood posts fail right at ground level- Mike M's suggestion might be the the way to go. If your pressure treated lumber is not available as KDAT (kiln dried after treatment), you will have to allow some time before you apply a finish.
*Rob,The charring sounds like a great idea for non-treated posts, but you wouldn't want to burn the p.t. stuff as it can release the chemically bound arsenic which is very bad to inhale or even have contact the skin.Steve
*Absolutely true. The ash and soot are deadly. Non-CCA pt wood can usually be burned.
*Why right at ground level? (I assume you mean at the dirt's surface, and I've seen this too.)
*If you're determined to bed them in concrete, place a bit of stone in the bottom of the hole. then place the post (I use the post to tamp the stone down). With the post in place, put more stone in the hole. when the concrete is placed, the end of the post won't be entombed in concrete.I used to char posts when I was a kid, but wouldn't do it to PT.A few guys around here still dip the posts into roofing cement. Dirty, but it sure does seal the post sides and bottom. Only tar the portion that will be below ground. Good points and bad to that method, though.
*A post can be made to last virtually forever by drilling an angled hole down from above the surface toward the bottom of the post. Fill an oil can with your preservative of choice and fill the hole. Plug with a dowel. Every year remove the dowel and fill the hole again with preservative.
*That's a novel idea, Mike. I'd have never come up with that.
*Not sure really ..... worked for a fence company years ago and noticed that posts almost always failed at ground level. I suspect water collects around the post and provides a good environment for fungi to start and turn into rot and a food supply for insects.
*
Neither would the EPA...:{
*
I am replacing 250 feet of wooden fence around my NC home that has become a mega-city for carpenter ants, termites, carpenter bees, fungus and little tiny ants. All the posts, rails, and pickets are so infested that only the paint holds the structure together. The wood was something like rough hemlock and was installed green!
My question is, if I use pressure treated lumber (rated for below grade .40) for all the posts, rails, and pickets, is there anything I can do to improve the life of the fence? I plan to put metal caps on all the posts, use premium screws for fastners, and finish with a semi-transparent type exterior stain. Could I dip the post ends in some sealer/preservative before they are buried and concrete is poured in? Should I be concerned about the evicted insects trying to make a new home in either the new fence or my c1910 house?
Thanks.
*
Search around to find a sawmill that can make up the posts out of one of the White Oak genus: White, Burr, Live, etc. They are cheaper and probably better than cedar or redwood, especially the second or third growth trees that are being produced like corn by the timber companies. Don't know how the oak compares to PT though. A buddy of mine pulled out a split oak fence a while ago and most of the posts that were in the ground were still solid enough to become firewood for the house and sauna. The fence was about sixty years old. Pretty good life span I think.
Tom the Tree Guy