Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We have a 6 ft wood fence around the house that goes about 237 ft by 175 ft. This fence was build with the house back in 1997 and has survived all the hurricanes and bad weather in the Florida panhandle. I'm planning on replacing some boards that show signs of wear and was planning to add a 6x6 post every 15 ft or so to reinforce the fence. Any ideas or suggestions on this?
Why don't you just go with 4x4's and use the money saved for cement for the post? This may be why your fence hasn't fallen over yet. I would bet that all your posts are cemented in the ground. We lost all 279' of wooden fence during Charlie.. Come to find out all the post were rotted and no-signs of cement. When I replaced the fence I burried them 1 1/2 feet into ground and used cement. This was with a 6' wooden fence.
Replace the worn out boards with new ones and maybe power wash the fence and then put a sealer on it if you think the rest of the fence is in decent shape.
Why don't you just go with 4x4's and use the money saved for cement for the post? This may be why your fence hasn't fallen over yet. I would bet that all your posts are cemented in the ground. We lost all 279' of wooden fence during Charlie.. Come to find out all the post were rotted and no-signs of cement. When I replaced the fence I burried them 1 1/2 feet into ground and used cement. This was with a 6' wooden fence.
Replace the worn out boards with new ones and maybe power wash the fence and then put a sealer on it if you think the rest of the fence is in decent shape.
Yes the post are in cement... Thank you for the advice....
This may sound like overkill but I built a fence around my first house and it's still standing 30 years later....Any wood that was to be below grade I painted with canning wax...parrifin...can get in any supper market...heat it up on a hot plate outside and paint the ends and sides up to and a litle above ground level with a couple coats of melted wax...the wax is real cheap and no big effort to do... I figured if it's a good enough sealer to prevent food from spoiling it's good enough for a fence post.
This may sound like overkill but I built a fence around my first house and it's still standing 30 years later....Any wood that was to be below grade I painted with canning wax...parrifin...can get in any supper market...heat it up on a hot plate outside and paint the ends and sides up to and a litle above ground level with a couple coats of melted wax...the wax is real cheap and no big effort to do... I figured if it's a good enough sealer to prevent food from spoiling it's good enough for a fence post.
Quote:
Originally Posted by motormaker
If your putting in new posts, I would use the round metal posts in concrete and attaching hardware for the stringer supports.
If you're adding new posts, (or replacing old ones), and potential rot is a concern, don't be under the mistaken belief that placing them in concrete will stop water penetration.
Concrete will add mass to the bottom of the post and make it more secure in the ground, but it will also absorb and hold water. Moisture will also find its way down the small crevices between the wood and the concrete.
As suggested above, using a galvanized steel post will seriously slow the rot process.
If wood is your choice of material, then I'd stay away from pressure-treated posts as they will rot almost as quickly as raw posts. Instead, use either cedar posts, (pricey), or obtain some creosote and soak the below=grade portion of the posts for a couple of days before installing them.
If you're adding new posts, (or replacing old ones), and potential rot is a concern, don't be under the mistaken belief that placing them in concrete will stop water penetration.
Concrete will add mass to the bottom of the post and make it more secure in the ground, but it will also absorb and hold water. Moisture will also find its way down the small crevices between the wood and the concrete.
As suggested above, using a galvanized steel post will seriously slow the rot process.
If wood is your choice of material, then I'd stay away from pressure-treated posts as they will rot almost as quickly as raw posts. Instead, use either cedar posts, (pricey), or obtain some creosote and soak the below=grade portion of the posts for a couple of days before installing them.
Is the creosote available in Lowes or Home Depot? Great idea....
I'm not certain but I don't think the weekend warrior can get real creosote any longer. I think the EPA types pulled the plug on that.. Observe though that the utility companies about 30 years ago switched from creosote soaked poles to pressure treated material. Then about 15 maybe 20 years later they got an exception and went back to creosote soaked poles.....What's that tell you ....
BTW the comment about the cedar is correct...those 30 yr old 4x4 posts that i waxed....they were cedar...
Not sure if creosote is still available; I've got a 5-gallon can of the stuff that will last me forever.
If it isn't available, I'd give serious consideration to the waxing scenario long before I thought about painting my posts with that green crap they sell as wood preservative. I have a hard time trusting a product that comes with the warning that the product isn't recomended for continuous exposure to moisture.
If you went with cedar posts, it might help if dug a slightly larger hole, placed some course gravel in the bottom of the hole, added some large rocks for support, and then filled the gaps with more course gravel to soil level. The gravel helps accumulated water get awary from the wood once the moisture level in the surrounding soil drops.
Replacing fence posts is never a fun job.
Good luck.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
