Putting in a new wooden fence post, concrete it in place?

In message , MM writes

IIRC, my Metposts were about 22" long overall. When whacking them in, I temporarily inserted a short length of old fence post, which was a slack fit in the top end. In difficult soils (lots of stones etc) and situations, it might be useful first to make a pilot hole using a steel bar or pipe.

Reply to
Ian Jackson
Loading thread data ...

How stoney is the ground? Not so good if it to stoney.

Reply to
Chris French

You need to protect the metpost metal work as you drive it otherwise the socket lip gets distorted. Short length of timber off a post will work for a couple but will soon get damaged. Tools for the job are available. eg.

formatting link
I have had mixed success with metposts in chalky stony ground finding that the spike gets diverted easily which makes getting a vertical post akward, upon removing and trying again the spikes were found too be bent . My mother had a bolted to concrete one which got fractured by the fencing rocking back and forth in a windy location, installed by the house builder I would not have used one it that locatiion and it has since been replaced. Where there is a large wind loading I don't think the sockets are deep enough for tall posts and would want someting holding more than about 12 to 15 inches of post.

G.Harman

Reply to
damduck-egg

You can try the quick fix.. squirt some foam down the hole.

You can dig a hole next to the post and fit a concrete spur to make it last for the next 100 years or so.

Reply to
dennis

These things:

formatting link

About 80/100cm long, about 1/3 buried in the ground.

Available at Wickes & B&Q - one does shorter square ones, the other longer and more rectangular. I mention this as, in doing a corner with the two other gardens being 2 foot lower, I wanted a deeper hole for greater stability.

I had one post rot off at the base so it was only held up by the panels either side. Without detaching the panels, I dug down, managed to break up the concrete my side of things, drop a spur in, attached it to the post, and postcreted it back in place.

Reply to
Scott M

+1 to all that. Also worth mentioning the approach of using a very weak cement/gravel mix. Strong enough to keep the post upright but weak enough to break up when it needs replacing
Reply to
stuart noble

Okay, now for an update since this morning: First, I test-dug a hole a little way from the fence (I can always fill it in later). Given that this is Lincolnshire Fen soil, it seems ~very~ easy to work with. Compacted, certainly, but just a bit of thrusting with the chisel end of a crowbar loosened the top inch. Then I "dug" out the loose soil with a Dutch hoe (the flat kind). I was able to get down to about 6 inches in no time at all. Deeper than that is really not possible with the hoe, so I've ordered a post shovel (see below).

Then I went shopping and popped into a DIY place in Spalding (Andrews, in case anyone is interested) and had a look around. They had quite a wide range of posts and Metposts. The Metposts come in at least three different varieties: Traditional spike; concrete in place (not a spike, but an extension of about a foot below the "box" for the post); and bolt-down ones (flat plate with a hole at each corner and post-holding "box" welded thereto).

So again I have lots of food for thought, and in the meantime I ordered one of those Spear & Jackson post-shovels from Amazon. I reckon I can get down to the required 3 feet using the crowbar and the shovel, possibly also sticking my hand down and scraping out the soil if necessary. Actually, if I used one of those concrete-in Metpost stubs, I would need to go down as far as 3 feet.

It might seem a bit excessive buying a 27 quid tool just for one post, but I'm sure it'll come in handy for other jobs. For instance, installing a sturdy washing line, or fixing a wooden bench to the lawn to stop would-be thieves.

MM

Reply to
MM

Yep! I thought of that one, too! (Well, not the foam. Did you mean the expanding foam? But the concrete spur idea sounds good.)

Actually on closer inspection this morning I am more than ever convinced that the post ISN'T rotted away, but is has just worked loose due to (a) it's a rather long stretch of fence with just this one post (the next post along is roughly 8 feet away), and (b) here in the Fens it is regularly very windy, so that fences are always being thrust back and forth.

I went round all the other fence posts (a dozen of 'em) and all the others are as solid as on the day I moved in ten years ago.

MM

Reply to
MM

One of the most effective "tools" I've used was a 4 foot length of steel pipe. It's something you can whack with a club hammer from a standing position and move back and forth to loosen the soil

Reply to
stuart noble

I've got to replace a fence here some time. Fortunately the PO did exactly that, so all I have to do is hacksaw off a couple of bolts, then put the new fence up.

No digging required :)

Andy

Reply to
Vir Campestris

My post shovel arrived today already, so I can go back to the post-fixing job tomorrow.

Re your comment about "very weak cement/gravel mix", is the ready-mixed post-fix cement mixture in bags sold at DIY outlets suitable?

Or should I just buy some plain cement and some gravel? What proportion should the mix of these be, do you reckon?

MM

Reply to
MM

Yes, buy the cement and (fine) gravel separately. I've never used it for posts, but it was on this group I first saw it mentioned. My guess would be around 8 gravel: 1 cement by volume. A quick Google suggests just pea gravel alone could work if rammed down sufficiently. Any farmers out there?

Reply to
stuart noble

I have some expertise in this field both professionally and practically. P rofessionally, post rot at the interface between anaerobic conditions below ground and aerobic above ie at or near the ground line. There is good rese arch evidence (Ed Baines ICST PhD thesis) that N salts wicking from ground water to just above the ground level (evaporation) enhances the decay. Pra ctically speaking, the best solution I have found is to put in a concrete s pur (OK it looks sh*t ) and bolt the old post to it. If you do not like th at and insist on timber then use an auger alongside the existing post and b olt or screw to it but cover the post you are putting in in bitumen paint t hen polythene up to just above ground level and make sure the polythene top is mastic covered to prevent rain coming in. this will protect against fun gi and water to a certain extent. If you drypack the hole with waterproofe d concrete (2"all round including the bottom) that will help enormously. I t is critical not to cut the preserved envelope of wood at the bottom of t he stake by sharpening it or the like.

Reply to
rowing

You'll want some sand too.

Something like a 1:3:6 of cement:sharp-sand:shingle should do it - be fairly weak if it needs to be broken out in future...

That's a C7.5 mix ^

Reply to
Tim Watts

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.