Thanks to Irma removing most of my rotted wood panel fence, its time to take the rest down and replace the entire run. Since I haven't done this sort of work for some time, I thought I'd ask for input from those have recently. Any tips and tricks would be much appreciated.

I'm going to install approximately 85' of basic 8' wood stockade fence. I have a dozen posts to set and instead of just burying them as was done the last time, I was thinking about setting 4"x 4"x 8' wood posts in this stuff to further anchor each post hole.



I know using concrete around the posts is a bad idea, and accelerates them rotting out, so since this stuff doesn't absorb water like concrete does, I thought it might be an alternative to just setting the posts in the ground. Thoughts???

Also, the neighbor behind me asked if we could hang panels on both sides of the posts essentially replacing both of our damaged fences with one fence (i.e. decorative side toward both houses). Given I could hang a big chunk of the cost of the new fence on him given I'm doing the labor, I'm considering trying this. Thoughts???

I'm going to wait until the winter here in Florida (so I can work in 70 degree temps ) to do the work, so I'm just trying to get my ducks in a row now.

Are you required to use wood posts? Galvanized metal posts in concrete tend to last a lot longer. The cost will be more per post, including the mounting hardware, but may be worth it long term.

What will they think of next,damn I like this concept.

best looking 95 m.p.h. projectile, that I can think of

It looks like a great idea, but I wonder if water can creep down between post and Sika.
One contractor near me uses asphalt driveway sealer to dip the bottom 2' of each post before setting in concrete. He warranties it and claims good results. The posts need to be dipped and then cured a day or two before planting in the ground.

I saw those videos on Youtube last summer. I've got a few posts around my garden that need to be dug out and replaced, so last time I was in Home Depot I picked up a few bags of that stuff to use.

From what I've heard, they are using it to put in telephone poles. I'd think if that were the case it would be strong enough for my little 4X4 garden posts.

Looks like a slick alternative to bags of concrete.

But now this image is forever burned in my brain.

If you're going to use concrete, wrap the bottom of the posts in a 5 mil plastic or other suitable barrier, which extends up 6" above ground cover. This will extend the life of your posts considerably.

Also marking the handles of your post hole digger at 6"or 1' intervals will keep you from having to keep checking the depth of your hole with a tape.

Haven't tried it but my first impression is...

More expensive, and weaker, "not for structural post" it's just expanded foam, foam will crush and deteriorate over time. I think the wind load of a ~solid fence panel will be too much for it.

Solution looking for a problem... IMO

Gravel the bottom hole properly if rot is a concern. Need that with any method.

It's little trouble to dump a bag of dry concrete in a hole.

Unless you don't have the ability to handle the weight of a bag of concrete I don't see any advantage. YMMV

Have you thought about using the PVC posts and panels, they won't rot ever, have a nice white color that isn't going to turn grey.

Noticed several folks here doing them vs going back to the wood panels.

Find Long-Lasting Vinyl Fencing in Central Florida
PVC Fencing
We have over 30 styles to choose from with a manufactures lifetime warranty on all vinyl products.
There are three types of PVC fences. Department store bracket PVC which comes together in premade sections and is cheapest in quality. Residential tongue and groove PVC and commercial grade PVC. The majority of companies use residential PVC because of cost. Some companies offer both. We only offer commercial grade PVC. Commercial grade PVC is made for the wind and the sun. In Florida, your main issues with fences are the wind and the sun. Commercial grade PVC post are always 5”x5” wide, residential can be anywhere 4”, 4.5” or 5” inches wide. Commercial grade post is 9' long, so they are 3' in the ground, the residential post is 8' long, so they are 2 feet in ground. Commercial grade top and bottom rails are an 2" wide, residential rails are a 1.25" to 1.5" wide. Commercial grade top and bottom rails are 7” tall and residential rails are between 4” to 5.5” tall. Commercial pickets have 3 compartments/dividers, and residential pickets normally have only 1 or 2 compartments or sometimes are hollow. Our vinyl comes with a manufacturer’s lifetime warranty against cracking, getting brittle, chalking, / defects from the sun. All posts are set in concrete. PVC is a maintenance-free fence. If you purchase a wood fence and pay to have it sprayed every year, when you spray it for the third year you have just paid for your PVC vinyl fence and every year after that you are spending more money on the wood than the PVC. The PVC fence is a great long-term, low-maintenance fencing option.

Thats from Daves Fence dot com, I don't know Dave, or anyone that works for him, just found him for CFL PVC Fence.

Very cool.

And yeah, it got awkward.

quote:

Originally posted by Patrick-SP2022:
Looks like a slick alternative to bags of concrete.

But now this image is forever burned in my brain.

The modern fence wood is CRAP. Whatever you do, do not go with shadowbox. But board on board or something that's easily stained. I had mine installed 3 years ago and every year religiously, spray the damn thing with Thompsons water seal. I also absolutely would not hang 2 fences on 1 set of posts. It's not to code and could be a problem later, and also not going to be strong enough.

Go with PVC, it's about $10 a linear foot more (installed) but a much much better product with no maintenance and a longer lifespan. Also given your situation, BOTH sides are nice so get your neighbor to split the cost with you. Easy peasy and done.

The Sika post fix looks interesting, but you better be on top of your game and have everything just right with a 20 second mixing time and 3 minutes to totally hard.

Could do some great pranks with Sika, like putting your sleeping buddy's hand in a bucket of it
(kidding, of course)

For the standard wood fence.
16ft lumber so you don't have joints at every post. Put together with screws. Supports and posts pressure treated of course.
I probably used about 1 80lb bag of concrete per post.

Cheap post level. Like.

After Harvey my back fence I built is fine. Two side fences, not so much.

quote:

Originally posted by caglio:
For the standard wood fence.
16ft lumber so you don't have joints at every post. Put together with screws. Supports and posts pressure treated of course.
I probably used about 1 80lb bag of concrete per post.

Cheap post level. Like.

After Harvey my back fence I built is fine. Two side fences, not so much.

16' lumber warps too much. My fence company sunk a 4'x4' every 4' with concrete. I wouldn't go 8' between 4x4's in Florida (with hurricane or TS winds).

I have put pea gravel in with wooden posts around here, then tamped the pea gravel. No problems with swaying so far and the pea gravel gives the water somewhere to go. Plus, I think the pea gravel gets "tighter" every time it thunders.

At my Home Depot:
a 60lb bag of Quickcrete is $3
a bag of Sika is $10

That is better than 50% more cost.

I am building a new house and will need about 700 feet of fence. My wife and I have been discussing what kind to build. This is a cool idea but the best part might be not having to carry 88 bags of concrete along the 700 feet of fence line. If one Sika replaces 2 bags of concrete, you better move fast between the two fence posts.

As mentioned, this is two-part polyurethane expanding foam. Iv'e set power poles with it in the past. The hole was dug, pole inserted, back filled and tamped enough to stabilize and plumb pole, then the two part mix was added.

I have no clue about long term service expectations, but power poles are pretty critical. I would expect the engineers did their research.

If your doing a big project with the stuff, i'm sure cheaper sources can be found in bulk. We poured the equivalent of two gallons (1 gal. part A and 1 gal. part B) in per pole.

We put up a vinyl privacy fence at a rental house. It looks nice, is easy to clean, and because we spent a bit more on a reinforced product hasn't warped or moved a bit.

The posts were also plastic. I set them in the hole, drilled a peep hole in the side at ground level, and then filled the bottom of the post from the top with paver base. Then we used paver base to fill the hole the post was in. Solid as a rock, but should we ever need to replace them we can simply dig them out and not be dealing with a big block of concrete.

quote:

Originally posted by armedprof:
At my Home Depot:
a 60lb bag of Quickcrete is $3
a bag of Sika is $10

That is better than 50% more cost.

I am building a new house and will need about 700 feet of fence. My wife and I have been discussing what kind to build. This is a cool idea but the best part might be not having to carry 88 bags of concrete along the 700 feet of fence line. If one Sika replaces 2 bags of concrete, you better move fast between the two fence posts.

Maybe more expensive but concrete work is back-breaking that I don't need.
YMMV