What is the best 4 x 4 Fence Post to Use?

[Michael]

Hello I am putting up a fence in the near future. What is the best type of

4 x 4 wood post to use?

Should I treat the post?

How deep should I dig the post hole for a 6 foot fence?

Thanks in advance, Mike :)

[Larry Caldwell]

Ground contact rated pressure treated.

You should buy them that way.

How long are your posts?

[donald girod]

Get pressure treated. If the fence is six feet high, get 10 foot posts and dig the hole at least 3 feet deep.

[mark]

I bought 10 foot pressure treated posts when I put my 6' fence up last summer.

My local code requires 24" depth of the posts. That's what I went with, and most of the holes are filled with crushed stone (I bought a bunch of bags of the stuff from Home Depot), except for the top of course which I backfilled. I was worried that the depth wasn't deep enough, but both my side and my neighbors (we both did it at the same time) are holding up as good as the day they were put in, and we do get windy here.

[Bill T (remove clothes to ema]

When I had my fence re-done a many years ago, I specified metal posts. They dont warp, rot, and the right ones wont rust. Set them in concrete as you would wooden ones. Many years later, they will still stay usable if you need to redo your fence again.

[mark]

But don't they look a little out of place when the rest of the fence is wooden?

[davefr]

Not when you box them with wood.

It's actually a good idea to use steel for the corners since wood posts should never be sunk in concrete.

[c_kubie]

I have a simular situation, but mine is an existing deck that had carpeteder ants. They did damage to one of the 4x4 posts (thankfully, it was a corner post). I was planning on using a reciprocating saw to cut the nails attaching the corners and then digging up the post.

When putting the new post in, how should I resolve drainage away from the deck posts. I was considering either backfilling with either gravel/rocks???

Any suggestions...

C_kubie

[Larry]

Home Depot sells steel spikes with the top end built to accept 4X4s. They 2 to 3 feet long, are driven into ground with sledge hammer (beating on wasted parts of 4X4), and are shaped to accept 4X4 wood posts bolted onto the top. You would end up with nothing but steel in the ground and whatever 4X4 wood posts you choose to use to build the fence onto bolted onto the top of the steel spike. No levelling problems, no termite problems, no digging holes and pouring concrete to hold the 4X4s.