fence posts, quick dry cement & rainy weather

[webmz]

Hello,

I need to install some fence posts.

I'm in Florida and we're in hurricane season. That means it rains almost every day, when the weather man is right. Or the weather report says we'll have scattered showers for 4-5 days and that will occur , or depending on where you are located it could rain every evening, or afternoon, but not all day . [my point is, it might rain, it might not]

I was considering using a fast drying product like QUIKRETE=AE Fast-Setting Concrete or Pakmix Fence Post Mix with PakMix fast setting accelerator . In the hopes of setting the posts in the holes when it isn't raining , pouring the concrete, & it will dry as it says it will quickly.

[I'm not attaching the fence for a few days until the posts are secured]

My questions:

1) if the product says it sets in 20 minutes, does that mean if it starts raining later that day, it will be ok ?

2) the ground is wet around here. Is that going to compromise the drying of the cement or the anchoring of the posts?

what is the easiest product to use, for quick drying cement for the purpose of fence posts.?

The posts that were previously holding up my wooden fence were done to code (supposedly):

8' posts, 2' of which is in cemented in the ground - the last category 3 hurricane knocked 4 of the fence posts out of the ground & part of the fence over.

So I want to do the replacement posts properly & soon. I cannot wait until after hurricane season to do this.

Thank you. All help appreciated,. L

[timbirr]

This is the brand I use. If you read down the FAQ sheet, you'll note where they say it is fine for wet environments (it sets underwater, but then so does "regular concrete").

[Pat]

I need to install some fence posts.

I'm in Florida and we're in hurricane season. That means it rains almost every day, when the weather man is right. Or the weather report says we'll have scattered showers for 4-5 days and that will occur , or depending on where you are located it could rain every evening, or afternoon, but not all day . [my point is, it might rain, it might not]

I was considering using a fast drying product like QUIKRETE® Fast-Setting Concrete or Pakmix Fence Post Mix with PakMix fast setting accelerator . In the hopes of setting the posts in the holes when it isn't raining , pouring the concrete, & it will dry as it says it will quickly.

[I'm not attaching the fence for a few days until the posts are secured]

My questions:

1) if the product says it sets in 20 minutes, does that mean if it starts raining later that day, it will be ok ?

2) the ground is wet around here. Is that going to compromise the drying of the cement or the anchoring of the posts?

what is the easiest product to use, for quick drying cement for the purpose of fence posts.?

The posts that were previously holding up my wooden fence were done to code (supposedly):

8' posts, 2' of which is in cemented in the ground - the last category 3 hurricane knocked 4 of the fence posts out of the ground & part of the fence over.

So I want to do the replacement posts properly & soon. I cannot wait until after hurricane season to do this.

Thank you. All help appreciated,. L

Concrete will set up underwater. Just avoid flowing water which will wash the cement out of the concrete.

[terry]

. .=2E.......................................................... Did not someone mention a methd of digging the holes, placing the posts, bracing them, filling the holes around the posts with dry concrete mix then watering the mix. Whereupon the cement sets/cures in place? I vaguely recall some postings along that line (on this NG?).

[Eric in North TX]

That's how I always set mine, it works great. If you get it a little too wet, no problem, the excess soaks into the dirt. I just use a 1X2 to stir / mix. Why get something messy mixing cement for posts?

[George E. Cawthon]

Concrete cures, it doesn't dry, keeping it moist or damp after initial hardening makes it stronger. Use regular concrete which will hardens in 2-3 hours and during that time shield from running water with plastic or simply use earth. After that, the more moisture the better. Wait 3-4 days to put up the fence.

[HeyBub]

Concrete is indifferent to water. Concrete doesn't "dry," it hardens via a chemical reaction and will harden when submerged.

[Alan]

[Chris Lewis]

According to terry :

Some "quick!" posthole mixes explicitly call for that technique in their instructions. Some mixes will do better with this technique than others - depending on how well they'll "wet themselves" without active mixing. I suspect the posthole mixes intended for this technique are treated with something to cause the water to wick more readily. Eg: something to reduce water tension.

[mm]

The guy I work with does it that way too, although he haven't done too many of them and he pretty much stops looking at them a couple years later. But none have fallen down in ten years. (These are 12 or 14 foot poles, rather than posts, fwiw.)

[EXT]

You are misunderstanding the effect of drying concrete. It does not dry it sets. Any concrete is mixed with water and then it starts to set. It will set or harden within 24 hours but does not reach maximum strength for about

28 days. If it rains after you pour or even just use the dry mix in the hole it makes no difference. If your hole is full of water, you can use concrete but it is better to avoid making it to soupy or mixing mud in the concrete. When I have to do that, I usually put the post in a garbage bag, drop in the hole, then add the concrete into the bag, it keeps the excess water from diluting the concrete mix. Officially concrete will set underwater, the trick is to keep it from washing away or being diluted too much.

I need to install some fence posts.

I'm in Florida and we're in hurricane season. That means it rains almost every day, when the weather man is right. Or the weather report says we'll have scattered showers for 4-5 days and that will occur , or depending on where you are located it could rain every evening, or afternoon, but not all day . [my point is, it might rain, it might not]

I was considering using a fast drying product like QUIKRETE® Fast-Setting Concrete or Pakmix Fence Post Mix with PakMix fast setting accelerator . In the hopes of setting the posts in the holes when it isn't raining , pouring the concrete, & it will dry as it says it will quickly.

[I'm not attaching the fence for a few days until the posts are secured]

My questions:

1) if the product says it sets in 20 minutes, does that mean if it starts raining later that day, it will be ok ?

2) the ground is wet around here. Is that going to compromise the drying of the cement or the anchoring of the posts?

what is the easiest product to use, for quick drying cement for the purpose of fence posts.?

The posts that were previously holding up my wooden fence were done to code (supposedly):

8' posts, 2' of which is in cemented in the ground - the last category 3 hurricane knocked 4 of the fence posts out of the ground & part of the fence over.

So I want to do the replacement posts properly & soon. I cannot wait until after hurricane season to do this.

Thank you. All help appreciated,. L

[Harry K]

As others have said. Once you have it emplaced, rain won't hurt it. Driving rain might screw up the top surface but that is it. If it bugs you, just cover the 'crete with garbage bags after pouring. Now the problem of 'crete and rain is in the mixing. If you are mixing by hand while it is raining you can easily get way too much water in the mix.

Harry K