Metal vs. wood fence posts

I've been investigating fence posts. I like this product, theoretically:

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I priced the posts at Home Depot: ~ $25 each. But the web site says "cost just a little more than wood". I can get treated 4" X 4" wooden posts for

Reply to
Zz Yzx
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Interesting product. I'd think it would outlast wood by a factor of four to ten. If you plan to live in your house for some years, it may be well worth the difference. It looks to be similar to the way steel is made for sign posts. Have you ever seen a stop sign fail due to post rot?

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

I actually held one at the HD, VERRRRRY substantial, and I think I could get away with a 5" auger-hole to install.

And I like the idea of sinking 3 10 X 1-14" screws into the 2" X 4" 's instead of toe-nailing.

Just for the record, no affiliation. Just a google search.

-Zz

Reply to
Zz Yzx

Reply to
Mike Paulsen

Fooey! Use the metal posts normally found on chain-link fences. Bolt the horizontal runners to the post - either by drilling a hole through the post or by using a bracket.

Metal posts like this are cheaper than wood.

My property backs up to a 200' wide power company easement. Everybody on my side of the field used metal posts; everybody on the other side of the easement used wooden. After hurrican Yikes two years ago, EVERY SINGLE FENCE with wooden poles was down. With the metal posts? Not a one.

Reply to
HeyBub

They are a good product to interface with wood. Around where I live, they end up costing less than chain link posts once you factor in all the brackets and endcaps needed for tubing. I'd think the price could come down once the volume of sales picks up.

Just be aware that they are springy. So, you're not going to use a single postmaster to resist permanent side loading without some augmentation or secondary support.

Since the new pressure treated wood these days is suspect at best regarding long term rot resistance in concrete or dirt, I'd definitely give the product a thumbs-up.

I like to use them differently than the manufacturer suggests. I put the "hat brim" side toward the rails, so that each 2 x 4 can go across the whole hat section and can get more screws. I stagger the rails so that one panel's rail is higher, and the next panel's rail is lower, etc. It helps create a much stronger joint, especially if the rail ends split over time.

Then I cover the hat brims on the other side with 2x2's to hide most of the metal glare before I start attaching fence boards. The cosmetic stuff is, of course, optional.

Reply to
mike

P.S. Attaching rails on the "hat brim" side also has the added benefit of allowing for cantilevered fence sections (for butting up to places where you can't get or don't want a fence post).

Reply to
mike

Thanks all, much appreciated.

-Zz

Reply to
Zz Yzx

The PostMaster looks like a great idea, pricey if you need a lot of them. My 4x4 PT mailbox post was primed/painted/installed in

1993--still standing nice and strong. I set it in a hole with the post resting on 2 buckets of gravel, and topped w/ ReadyMix concrete. I recall using temporary sticks and stakes to make it plumb while the concrete sets. One disadvantage of the wooden 4x4 is that it may twist or bow with time, I glue up two 2x4s to make a more stable, stronger 4x4 post. Worked great for my garden gate jamb posts, going on 8 years.
Reply to
Phisherman

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Reply to
rslovell

ablefencedeck.com we tear down a lot of fences that were built with c heap metal posts that have bent at the bottom.I replace them with wood trea ted 4x4 s .However if u spend the money and get the thick metal posts meta l is better .If your just goin to lowes/homedepot you get more for your mo ney buying wood posts.

Reply to
chastityfisher100

LOOK AT THE DATE

Reply to
philo 

with cheap metal posts that have bent at the bottom.I replace them with wood treated 4x4 s .However if u spend the money and get the thick metal posts metal is better .If your just goin to lowes/homedepot you get more for your money buying wood posts.

Please consider taking a remedial English class, perhaps at a local community college.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Sigh. You got me. I'll start the remedial date reading class, in 2005 or so, real soon.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

I think I may have mentioned that on another group, on of those Google Groups idiots responded to a five year old post and the OP actually came back to it. I think his reply was : Problem solved.

Reply to
philo 

replying to HeyBub, AL wrote: I put in ordinary galvanized steel fence posts in my backyard 30 years ago. Every one is still solid and straight today. The fence I share with a neighbor has wooden posts and is about to be replaced for the 4th time in 20 years because several posts have rotted and broken. The pickets are fine. I will never use wooden fence posts again.

Reply to
AL

replying to AL, rupigill wrote: I think it very much depends upon how the posts were set. My wood post fence is almost 20 years old... out of the 15 posts only one needed replacing 3-4 years back. I extended the fence about 7 years ago and again used PT posts... fence is still solid. I think the key is NOT scrimping on the concrete and the taking the time to dig a proper inverted-V hole that is a few inches deeper than the post will sit; those few inches under the post bottom I usually fill with concrete, and also make sure concrete top is higher than ground level and slopes slightly upward towards post. Today I saw a post-setting video on Home Depot website where the hole was dug with auger, couple of inches of gravel put in, followed by the post and then the excavated dirt was filled back in and tamped down... only at the top foot or less of the hole was concrete poured in! How the hell is this post going to last!? (It was redwood, not PT, post but I don't think that makes it okay.) In addition to the proper hole digging and filling with concrete, I may be lucky that I usually hit bedrock at about 20-inches so the last few inches are chiseled into bedrock. Maybe that's the key ingredient :-)

Reply to
rupigill

back on the farm we used natural round cedar posts - cut in our own swamp, dropped into holes dug withthe 3pth auger and backfilled with the removed dirt, No concrete or gravel. Most of those posts lasted 20 years or so. - supporting the standard 4x6 twisted wire fence.

Reply to
Clare Snyder

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