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Does anyone have experience using any of the post anchor bases (Simpson and the like) for fence posts and gate posts?
I had been planning to soak 4×4 redwood in preservative and set them in concrete, bringing the concrete a bit above grade. All the talk in the deck posts thread got me wondering, however. It would seem to me that the metal post bases are more suited to the direct vertical loading of a deck foundation, rather than the lateral loads of a swinging gate or wind-blown fence. Does anyone have experience with metal post bases in this application?
And what’s so bad about setting the redwood directly in concrete, anyway? Is that really such a bad idea? It ought to last twenty years or more here in Los Angeles, right?
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Sounds like work, too much work, in fact. Down there I'll bet you have a clay/sand soil. I'd delete the metal brace and it's still a judgement call to use concrete. In the early '80s, I worked for a fencing company in LA and we rarely used concrete for posts.
What is most important is compaction of disturbed soil and depth of hole. I built a redwood fence (with a 3.5 x 6.5' gate) for some friends down there--15 years later it's still standing solidly.
*I grew up in LA and it is basically arid -- would all be dry if so many people hadn't decided to live there. Anyway, the post anchors you describe routinely say "not for non-top-supported applications." That is, not for fences. Sink the redwood in the ground, maybe a touch of concrete to root it firmly.
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Does anyone have experience using any of the post anchor bases (Simpson and the like) for fence posts and gate posts?
I had been planning to soak 4x4 redwood in preservative and set them in concrete, bringing the concrete a bit above grade. All the talk in the deck posts thread got me wondering, however. It would seem to me that the metal post bases are more suited to the direct vertical loading of a deck foundation, rather than the lateral loads of a swinging gate or wind-blown fence. Does anyone have experience with metal post bases in this application?
And what's so bad about setting the redwood directly in concrete, anyway? Is that really such a bad idea? It ought to last twenty years or more here in Los Angeles, right?