Installing concrete fence posts

[mike]

I'm planning to instal a short run of fencing between two front gardens using these concrete posts and panels:

The panels are 900mm / 3ft tall. Is there any reason not to get

2440mm / 8ft posts - which are on offer - and chop them in two with an angle grinder? I think (but I need to check) that the posts are mitred on both ends, so I could put the cut ends downwards without exposing the rebar - assuming there's rebar in there - there usually is, isn't there? Is 4ft of post and possibly another 6" of concrete sufficient for an open 3ft panel in a sheltered location? The smallest posts that Selco stock are 1800mm / 6ft which seems excessive in length and disproportionately expensive in cost.

How are the panels fixed in the slots, heightwise? I wanted to leave an inch or two clearance so the bottoms don't rot. Is something like this the thing to use or is there a better alternative?

Thanks for any advice/gotchas.

[ARW]

The posts will not be "mitred" at both ends.

[David.WE.Roberts]

Google 'gravel boards'.

The clip you linked to is for fixing wooden fence panels to wooden posts.

Cheeers

Dave R

[Bob Minchin]

Fit gravel boards, either pressure treated wood or concrete ones and these will support the panels a few inches above soil level. Those clips are for timber posts. There are no fixings needs with accurately placed concrete posts.

[Phil L]

The concrete posts are not for these fence panels, these are 1828 long and the concrete base panels you need to sit the timber panels on are 1800 long.

The concrete posts aren't the same shape at both ends - one end is pointed and the other flat with a bobble, you can see both ends in this pic:

that said, I've installed them the way you suggest - I had thec first post with the bobble upwards and the next one pointed end upwards and so on all the way down the garden, they looked ok when they were all in.

[harry]

It's normal to put a narrow concrete base panel in the bottom and the wooden panel sits on top of this. Cutting the posts is not a good idea. They need to go 18" into the ground at least with a biggish hole filled with concrete. The best way to get the spacing is to make up a bit of wood the same length as a panel.

[mike]

Thanks for all the replies.

The reason I thought they might be mitred at both ends is that someone suggested this was the supplier...

post/

...in which case I'd be quite happy to put up with the slight difference, as Phil was with the bobbles.

As for the gravel boards, we'd really like to keep it open looking and hedgehog and cat friendly...

...so fixing it with a gap at the bottom would be my preferred option if anyone can suggest a suitable method.

[newshound]

If you really want a gap between the posts, how about a brick or a concrete block each side of each post, so that the panel rests on the brick and the brick rests on the ground. In fact you would probably geta way with one brick/block per panel, mid-way between the posts. Or you could fill the bottom few inches of each slot with your concrete mix, ideally with a bit of PVA on the post to help it bond, with almost anything temporarily clamped against it as shuttering to stop it slumping.

[Phil L]

As I said, the slotted posts aren't suitable for these panels, you need a plain post with holes like these:

These are concreted in, and stringers (4X2 timbers) are bolted to them, then the panels are attached last, after the concrete has set, and you can have the panels any height up from the ground.

[robgraham]

Coincidence is always enough to justify a posting - daughter has just been on the phone asking me to go across with the angle grinder and cut down a fence of concrete posts !!!

Rob