Replies

1. 
   alrightythen | Jun 03, 2007 08:24pm | #1

   Hello...

   I have some thoughts...but I'm actually curious as to what you have thought of so far. I have a sneaking suspision that you are wanting to avoid the obvious. which of course there is nothing wrong with.

    tell me what you have considered so far and also how tall is your fence and do you know how deep your posts go. also how many posts and how long is the fence, also what is your frost line there in Rhode Island.

1. 
   KaiserRoo | Jun 04, 2007 04:40pm | #2

   I'm not sure what the frost line is but I will try to find out. The fence is 6' on one end and goues down to 4' just about in the middle. I believe the post are some 2' deep on 8' centers. Sandand gravelmay be what is around it now.

   I'm figuring that I would have to remove the soil around the post and replace it with???. I'm not sure if this is all that I would need to do or if it's the best way to gou about it. Should I use  certain size stone, should it go 6" below the post should the diameter of the hole be 1' or 1.5'? If the base shows signs of rot what would be the best way to deal with that?

   To keep the neiborhood kids off the fence I could try to find some barbed wire or holly bushes?

   These are some of the ides that have crossed my mind.

   Hope you can help, KaiserRoo 

1. 
   alrightythen | Jun 04, 2007 05:04pm | #3

   getting the boys ready for school and then off to work, but I wll tell you my thoughts tonight. couple other questions- what are your posts made of...are they cedar or pressure treated...and how old is your fence?

1. 
   KaiserRoo | Jun 04, 2007 05:14pm | #4

   Post are 5x5 square eastern white cedar. They have been stained a couple times with BM morewood cedar. The 6' high sections have 3 stretchers and the 4' have two. The boards that make up the fence are 1x4 cedar. The tops have a trim like piece that cover the end grain.

   KaiserRoo

1. 
   alrightythen | Jun 05, 2007 06:46am | #6

    I'm not really an advocate of the crushed rock/fill method for setting posts. but many here at Breaktime are, and claim to get good results. But here you are with a wobbly fence. I think to work  it has to be paked down really well. also your posts may not be deep enough. one idea behind the fill method is that it is less suseptible to frost heaves unilke the bumby rough face of concrete wich can be "grabbed" and pulled up.

   I like to use concrete because it provides more of an " anchor" but I also use sona tubes to create a smooth face and I go below the frost line. Also there is something called the 1/3 2/3 rule of thumb. if you have 6 foot post then set it 3 feet in ground. ( more if your frost line goes deeper.)

   You may gain some results by using the pipe method suggested. it is worth a try. But if your posts are really out of plumb you may have to dig out and around them and brace them plumb then reset them. if you are going to reset them with with stone/fill pack it down as hard as you can. if the fill is loose it will remaim wobbly. I'd prefer to use concrete. you can cut a sona tube to lengh then cut a slit lenghwise in order to get it around the base of the post . backfill around tube then pour concrete.

2. 
   SteveSchoene | Jun 05, 2007 02:45pm | #7

   Your neighbor to the west--Connecticut--mandates frost line of 42" for building foundations. 

3. 
   CapnMac | Jun 05, 2007 07:21pm | #8

   To keep the neiborhood kids off the fence I could try to find some barbed wire or holly bushes?

   LoL! 

   You left out electrified cattle fence wire <g>

   Plants work, though.  Hollies at the base, and roses trained along the fence, probably with some added landscaping wire.  You could alternate with honeysuckle along the fence top, too (generally a lovely range of buzzing, potentially-stinging insects about honeysuckle through the peak out-of-school times).

   I'll guess that you'll need new, deeper, posts, like as not, to keep them from slouching over.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)

2. 
   DanH | Jun 04, 2007 05:19pm | #5

   Simplest approach is to drive pieces of pipe or metal fence posts down next to the posts and connect the two together. The trick is effectively driving the metal post with the fence post in the way.

   So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
3. 
   Stuart | Jun 05, 2007 08:22pm | #9

   Depending on the age of the fence, the posts may be rotting off below ground level...you may want to check for that first.

1. 
   KaiserRoo | Jun 06, 2007 05:24am | #10

   Thanks for all the advice I'll have to look into it on my next day off.

   Thanks again, KaiserRoo