wobbly fence

[nitsypee]

Hoping you can help: I've got a wobbly fence post -

A couple of years ago a chap put a garden fence up for me (standard sort of thing you see - wooden, 7' (ish) high). Not long after he put it in I had a garden shed made and erected. The bloke who did it commented that my fence posts didn't look like they'd been put in deep enough...

Anyway, since then, what with fairly high winds where I live, my fence chap's been back twice to cement again a couple of the posts that had become loose/wobbly.

A couple of days ago he re-cemented another of them, as it again had become loose.

Checking it today, it's still loose.

So - what should/can I do? What would you do?

[Simpo Two]

They're either gradually rotting or the foundation is rocking. I'd start again with with concrete posts set at least two feet into a new lump of concrete; they should last for decades.

[Mr GrimNasty]

Well a proper job would have at least 3 foot of post in the ground. If there's room, you can sink concrete repair spurs next to the posts and bolt them through together, but it's probably just as easy/difficult to replace the posts properly.

[Gingerbread Man]

Mr GrimNasty said:

...at least 3 foot of post in the ground.

At least! I think 3' is enough for a 6' fence!! Anymore is going way, way over the top.

Concrete posts are good, but not everyone likes the look of them. If the posts are wooden, they should be 4" square. Many people use 3" square posts, but these aren't man enough.

The concrete should go up to ground level. Any soil resting against the post will rot it out, leaving you with a couple of solid foot encased in concrete in the ground, and a wobbly 6 foot post above ground.

You could spur post them as mentioned above. But I'd be tempted to redo the fence correctly and solve all of your problems at once.

[Mr GrimNasty]

Gingerbread Man said:

Mr GrimNasty said:

...at least 3 foot of post in the ground.

At least! I think 3' is enough for a 6' fence!! Anymore is going way, way over the top.

Concrete posts are good, but not everyone likes the look of them. If the posts are wooden, they should be 4" square. Many people use 3" square posts, but these aren't man enough.

The concrete should go up to ground level. Any soil resting against the post will rot it out, leaving you with a couple of solid foot encased in concrete in the ground, and a wobbly 6 foot post above ground.

You could spur post them as mentioned above. But I'd be tempted to redo the fence correctly and solve all of your problems at once.

It's a 7 foot fence - hence at least, you should aim for half the fence height under the ground. You can get away with much less (concrete posts need less generally) depending on ground conditions/exposure/experience.

Where people go wrong with concreting in wooden posts is not so much the ground level, but not leaving some hardcore/free drainage underneath the post bottom i.e. the bottom of the post should not be in solid concrete so the post sits in a wet pocket. The real problem is the poor quality of timber and the H&S limits on what it can be treated with these days, not earth contact.

[nitsypee]

I had thought about starting again. A pain in many ways, though.

[stemll]

Had a similar problem and been replacing posts and panels most years so have just had it all replaced with concrete posts set 2' into concrete with a 1' concrete gravel board and a 5' panel on top of this. Does look a little industrial at the moment but the concrete will get painted come the summer to fit in with the timber a bit better.

7 posts and 6 panels plus the removal of the old fence cost a smidge under £600 (of which I paid half) and, as said above, should now last for many years. Have spent many times that over the last 14 years in this house on wood posts.

[nitsypee]

Stemll, I can see myself going down the same route.

I'm a bit peeved that the bloke who originally did it didn't do it securely enough.

I may see if I can negotiate with him before I send round the boys get someone else to do it properly.

[Simpo Two]

Gingerbread Man said:

Concrete posts are good, but not everyone likes the look of them.

You could slap some Cuprinol etc on them - they'd look much like wood from a disatnce.

[stemll]

nitsypee said:

Stemll, I can see myself going down the same route.

I'm a bit peeved that the bloke who originally did it didn't do it securely enough.

I may see if I can negotiate with him before I send round the boys get someone else to do it properly.

I know how you feel. Last one that my neighbour had done lasted about 4 months.. When I took it down to stop it breaking something else, the post he'd put in was about 6" into the ground FFS! His quote (allowing for his lousy original job) was over £800 so he was told where to stick it. Decided to pay out now and save in the long term. Couple of tins of brown masonry paint should see it done.