Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 16 to 26 of 26

Thread: Setting fence posts--put the concrete in dry?

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Monroe, MI
    Posts
    11,896
    Well, at about 2' I hit water. Got them all in using the "dry" method and even got the pickets tacked in place. Waiting on some stainless fasteners to finish it up. I slightly miscalculated the length of the side so there's a little space at the end of the rails near the wall that wasn't supposed to be there but it won't be very visible, especially once LOMLjr's grapes really start growing.

    Now I need to install edging and mulch.

    DSCF3201.jpg


  2. #17
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Cincinnati Ohio
    Posts
    4,731
    I never use water in the mix. Always dry. Never a problem with fence post etc.. Would not do it this way with a big project like a deck or larger fence. If you keep a bag of mix in a damp garage it will harden like a rock in the bag.
    Mailbox post I use pea gravel. When a car or truck knocks it off and bust the 4x4 I can just dig out the gravel and replace. Very easy and no need to dig a new hole.
    Last edited by Dave Lehnert; 05-09-2011 at 9:53 PM.
    "Remember back in the day, when things were made by hand, and people took pride in their work?"
    - Rick Dale

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Mid Michigan
    Posts
    3,559
    Matt,
    Several times I have had to remove posts that I set with dry concrete due to some remodeling and the concrete had adhered to the post just like a wet set. I have used dry set for posts in one of my pole buildings and have had no problems. It sure beats mixing concrete by hand.
    David B

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Medina Ohio
    Posts
    4,515
    I should have said to let the concrete harden before setting the post. That is code here for pole barn posts or you can use a solid concrete block to set the post on.

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Innisfil Ontario Canada
    Posts
    4,019
    We always had a fairly high water table here. When I installed the sign for my business, I just dug a hole, it quickly filled with water, stuck in the 4x4 pressure treated main post, poured in a couple of bags of dry premix concrete, braced it, and let it set before adding a upper and lower arm to the post, and installing a 3' x 2' lighted sign frame between the arms. That was 22 years ago, and the sign is still standing and doing it's job today.. The water table has dropped more than 10 feet over the years, with the addition of municipal drains and sewers, not so sure the ground would be wet enough to do that today!
    Epilog 24TT(somewhere between 35-45 watts), CorelX4, Photograv(the old one, it works!), HotStamping, Pantograph, Vulcanizer, PolymerPlatemaker, Sandblasting Cabinet, and a 30 year collection of Assorted 'Junque'

    Every time you make a typo, the errorists win

    I Have to think outside the box.. I don't fit in it anymore


    Experience is a wonderful thing.
    It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.


    Every silver lining has a cloud around it




  6. #21
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Odessa, Texas
    Posts
    1,567
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Henderson View Post
    I've done concrete in situ (dry) and you can have problems with it. You get the strongest concrete by mixing the proper amount of clean water with the concrete and by agitating it to make sure the aggregate is well distributed through the mix. When you do concrete in place, you risk putting too much or too little water in the mix. Too little water results in weak concrete. And if you put too much water, the aggregate will work through the mix to the bottom, especially if you do anything to stir the mix. You can also get dirty water into the mix which will adversely affect the strength of the mix.

    For most fence posts, you'll get a strong enough mix. But for gate posts, or for posts where the fence direction changes (such as corner posts) I recommend you mix outside the hole and then put a stiff mix into the hole.

    Mike

    [I've especially had problems doing it the way Norman Hitt describes above. If you put a lot of water into the hole first, then dump the concrete mix in, the concrete and aggregate separate, with the aggregate going to the bottom and the concrete to the top. Also, it's almost impossible to keep the water clean so you get dirt incorporated into the concrete.]
    I don't know if we are using a different mix or the soil is different, or the method is different, BUT, I sure wish you had been here when I decided to move a fence that I had put in 26 years before. It was a combination of 2 3/8" pipe at the two gates and two corners, and wood 4 x 4 posts in between. After digging two out, (which was making too large a hole, and they were extremely heavy to lift), a friend brought his company winch truck and we pulled them out. I wanted to salvage the metal posts for later use, but after an hour of the two of us beating on them with an 8# sledge hammer with NO luck at breaking the concrete off, we gave up and used a cutting torch to cut off the concrete encased portion and salvaged the shortened lengths for other use. There was no noticeable difference in either the look or strength of the concrete on the posts between the bottom and the top of the concrete. Only the bottom 2" of each post was bare of concrete because I always jam them into the ground to hold them in place while filling with the mixture and then adjusting them vertically.

    Maybe it is because the soil is so dry here normally, but although the landing strip runway we built at a hunting camp in 1976 has been unuseable for several years, the 20' length of 4" pipe we buried 42" deep with the same concrete method to hold the Wind Sock is still standing tall and straight even after all the strong winds of all these years. Who knows why? (Maybe us Texans are just Luckier than you Californians)?

    Note: No, I wouldn't pour structural concrete this way either.
    Last edited by Norman Hitt; 05-10-2011 at 11:48 PM.
    "Some Mistakes provide Too many Learning Opportunities to Make only Once".

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    south of Atlanta
    Posts
    33
    If you need to keep working you can set it dry. Pack some tightly in the hole, add post, pack around post and keep working. At the end of the day add water and call it a day. This is the way I've done decks for years and never had any problems with the mix. It sure is faster than standind around and watching it dry.

  8. #23
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Salt Lake City
    Posts
    1,506
    Quote Originally Posted by Ben Hatcher View Post
    I've always been told to put a few inches of gravel in the bottom of the hole first, then the post, then the dry concrete, then some water. The gravel keeps the bottom of the post from sitting directly on a wet surface. Obviously, if the ground is saturated it'll be wet no matter what. But in times when the soil is simply moist, this will reduce rot.
    This is how my dad taught me to do it. That doesn't make it right, but the fence he and I built when I was probably 13 is still there.

  9. #24
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    N Illinois
    Posts
    4,602
    I've done it dry but usually add water and then stir/mix in the hole...Ideally gravel at bottom of hole..Works well..
    Jerry

  10. #25
    I am in Macomb County Michigan Matt. The city code "encouraged" me to use nothing but pea gravel for my posts for my 10' by 17' deck.

    Put pea gravel in the bottom first to keep it off the soil so that it can dry. Then fill up 1/4 of the hole and hold it plumb. Then take a 2 by 4 and smack it down on the pea gravel which will lock it tightly around the post. Do it a couple more times as you work your way up and shazaaammm!, it works.

    We have to go down 42" where I live and with the pea gravel it is locked in pretty good....aka the free standing deck doesn't move. Just my opinion on how to do it and I wish I had done my pergola the same way, but that was a few years earlier.

    David

    p.s. Yes, if you are going to put dry concrete in the hole, that works also and works well. I'm just trying to help the next guy in about 30 years from now, but hopefully longer.
    Life is a gift, not a guarantee.

  11. #26
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Midlands of South Carolina
    Posts
    390
    Quote Originally Posted by Jerome Stanek View Post
    I should have said to let the concrete harden before setting the post. That is code here for pole barn posts or you can use a solid concrete block to set the post on.
    When the crew put up my pole building shop, they dug the holes, dropped a concrete "puck" in the hole, set the post, and added a bag of dry 'crete. Then filled in the hole with dirt.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •