Pressure Treated Fenceposts - crown concrete?

[wheel]

I recently had a company over that installed a deer fence that has 4x4 pressure treated fenceposts set in concrete. They didn't crown the concrete; and with some of the posts the natural level of the ground will eventually cause the posts to come into contact with dirt. I live in California, so it's dry anyways much of the year, but a friend was surprised that the concrete wasn't crowned anyways, to help keep water off the wood and thus to make is less liable to rot. I know this type of PT wood as a 20+ year warranty for direct soil contact, but I'm wondering about anyone's real world experience. I could always put a crown on the concrete, if I'm careful to use the right mix so that it doesn't crack etc. But I'm not going to bother unless I'm convinced that it could make a difference in the lifespan of the fence.

Thanks

[DanG]

It would have been much more important to set the bottom of each post on a rock or a dab of gravel to allow any water that did get there to have a route of escape. Every post I have seen fail, does so at the top of the concrete. Crowning the concrete would help to shed some water and make it easier to mow and trim.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Keep the whole world singing. . . . DanG

[David Babcock]

Two questions, how old are you, and will you be replacing the fence. From my understanding most PT wood is now at 30 years with ground contact, but maybe in Calif. you use different chemicals. Goodness knows most other thing there are different than the rest of the country. I wouldn't worry to much about the wood rotting before you do, but I also wouldn't be capping the concrete either.

Dave

[wheel]

Well said... I'll probably be rotting before the fence in any case. I doubt that CA has different PT wood than elsewhere altho I think your wondering about it is as reasonable as it gets. The PT wood here has a

30 year ground contact warranty on it, another indicator that it's the same slightly less than organic stuff.