the best idea I've seen was in England where the entire post was concrete with slots to put wooden rails in.It was very nice looking and very durable.
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16 years ago
Best concrete for setting locast posts ?
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16 years ago
reply not cross posted!
Locust is a good hard wood but is not treated.
For a simple fence like this I would simply tamp the earth back around the post or buy a load of DGA roadfill (mixed rock from 3/4" stones to dust) which once watered in packs very tightly.
If you feel you must use concrete, fill the hole about 1/3 full of water and pour the dry mix in, poke at it with a stick to insure that all get wet. This will make a low grade concrete that can be broken when replacing a post in a few years.
Colbyt
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16 years ago
Colbyt wrote: ...
Black locust will last longer than most treated...other than Osage orange and a couple others, there's nothing better for posts (other than being hard as blazes to drive a nail or staple in, of course).
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If they're locust, it'll probably be 20+, anyway...but concrete probably will shorten life some, but I have no experience w/ that to judge relative to w/o. Have locust line posts that are probably at least 50 yrs old and still solid. It is, however, a fairly dry climate...
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16 years ago
If you hadn't deleted the reason, which is in my previous reply, I could have pointed it out to you. You only scoped one sentence, actually 1/2, and presented a question to that. Dave
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16 years ago
Yeah, the Locust will last up to 100 years on their own, and maybe shorten their life down to 75 if I set them in concrete. I am already past 60, so that doesn't upset me too much.
James
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16 years ago
Why "wetter than usual"?
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16 years ago
Because I used rocks inside the holes to stabilize the posts before the pour. Wetter concrete assured me I had complete concrete saturation around and under those rocks. No cavitation due to too dry a mix for that situation. I used the inverted mushroom hole type. No gravel on bottom.
Stabilized bottom with suitably sized rocks, then top allowing at least 2" above that topmost rock to concrete surface. Used level for plumb both ways.
After the pour, I re-checked plumb and made minor adjustments if needed.
I did the tensioning posts similarly, except, I used a 3/4" offset stringline for alignment with corners bottom and top. Stringline used for rough, removed, then installed again after pour for final alignment. Of course, the 90 degree opposite direction plumb was with a level.
A few neighbors in the area said to go with 5000 psi bagged concrete instead of the 3000 psi version. They said they had no cracking problems with it over time. Makes sense as sometimes 2 feet or more of the limestone rocks will displace when using a rock pick or auger at the surface. Leaving bigger area (hole) at surface to pour. Can't be helped. So, I used that instead. Dave