I’d like to remove 4×4 fence posts which are partially decayed and re-use the existing concrete piers. Any tips regarding tools or methods for those posts with only surface rot? Thanks.
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How are the posts fastened to the concrete? You called them piers, which implies that the post is fastened to the top of the concrete with a base plate. Or did someone dig a hole, insert the post, and then fill with concrete? If the latter, it will be essentially impossible to reuse the concrete.
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Done it in a patio that had been poured around/over an existing fence.
Pull what you can. Get a shop vac (big one, not one of those toy sized things) and suck out what you can.
I welded a 1" drill bit to a 3' length of ½" drill rod and drilled out the mush that was left in the concrete, vacuuming out the junk as I went.
The new posts dropped right in, nothing to it.
The 3' drill makes it possible to stand up while drilling.
Joe H
The problem with using the old concrete as holders is they are no longer in a straight line and they are difficult to level properly.
It is way easier to dig down one side of the post pop the concrete away from that side with a tamper bar than break free the other sides and keep going till the post comes free or you have removed the all the crete from one side and can pull the remains out.
ANDYSZ2WHY DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT BEING A SOLE PROPRIETOR IS A REAL JOB?
REMODELER/PUNCHOUT SPECIALIST
They were in a straight line, they were in a patio.
It would not have been easier to do anything other than what I did.
No busted patio, no holes to dig and fill, no patio to patch.
If the posts haven't moved, the new posts will be where the old posts were, as straight & level as they were before.
Joe H
On a ptio that would definately be the best choice but on fence posts I can assure you tree roots and grade will upset the straight line.
ANDYSZ2WHY DO I HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT BEING A SOLE PROPRIETOR IS A REAL JOB?
REMODELER/PUNCHOUT SPECIALIST
How did you seal up around the replacement post to keep out water?
If having a low wage work force was good for a country's economy then why hasn't Mexico built a fence?
I put some caulk around them the last inch, and a good bead around the top.
As good a seal as the original concrete I suppose, which isn't worth a damn once the post ages and the wind blows it back and forth for awhile.
Joe H
yer right.