Fence Expert Reacts to Unique Post Setting Technique

Setting fence posts is a big debate in the fence industry and honestly any industry that requires setting wood posts into the ground. In this video we're going to react and review a really interesting video about a very unique post setting method and if it would fly in the fence industry!

I'm Joe Everest, The Fence Expert. On this channel, I'm going to teach you everything there is to know about fences. We're going to show you how to build a fence, everything about fence posts, different fence installation methods and much, much more. If you're wanting to become a fence builder, or if you're just trying to build a DIY fence, my channel will help you out. So subscribe and ring the bell icon, that way you don't miss any of my fence videos!

► Check Out My Social Media:

► Gear I Use:

*NOTE: This description contains affiliate links that allow you to find the items mentioned in this video and support the channel at NO COST TO YOU. While this channel may earn minimal sums when the viewer uses the links, the viewer is in NO WAY obligated to use these links. Thank you for your support!

[danpendergrass]

My grandfather installed hundreds of miles of chain-link fence while a contractor for Sears and other fence sellers. These were residential fences in a rural setting. He, more often than not, installed the fences with a cement curb, (a 5 to 6 inch cement mini-wall). I always thought it was to prevent unwanted critters. But to this day those fence post remain (70+ years) on the most part. many of the fences have been replaced but the original post remain. I do remember helping him as a child and he did put a slope on the surface to prevent pooling. I also remember he said he made more money on the fences he did this way. I know they have lasted a life time, I am 67 and many still remain to this day.

[kylep]

Putting roofing tar on the bottom of the post to prevent water rot works very well also...

[barbmelle]

From Leo: I have pulled a row of rotten posts out of concrete. After I cleaned the hole, I set new pressure treated posts into the concrete with a sledge hammer. The old posts had been installed 40 years earlier and I am sure they were not originally treated. I did that in 1997 and the fence is still solid

[crawkn]

I've only done post footings once, and the supervisor had us form the top of the footings sloping to ground level, making it 1" to 1.5" above ground level at its highest point. I don't think footings sinking into the ground is very common, but what can give that impression is that all lawns gradually add perhaps an inch of topsoil every decade, due to the addition of new biomass, and accumulation of airborne dust.

[GrowingLittleCountryhomestead]

Been in construction for 20 years and moved a lot of fence post, I’ve never been able to just pull the post out of the concrete.

[MessianicJudaism]

I like the idea of a 3" concert pillar giving that extra support. And when I use my John Deere weed eater, the line hits the concrete and not damaging the wooden post.

[mccartneystuart]

Not a professional fence installer but have worked construction all my life. I install my posts at home the same way this guy has done. It lasts so much longer letting the concrete be exposed a few inches above ground level. I just paint the concrete similar to the fence stain color.

[Rado]

I built fences for years back in the PNW. Best post technique I've used, was a concrete post designed by my father back in the 70's. Although the boards needed replacing about 5 yrs ago, the post from first fence built with them is still standing 45 years later.

[Clawson_customs]

I have used my backhoe to pull alot of posts and the cement around it has always pulled out with it

[garychandler]

I've built near 50 decks and my method has always been to fill the hole (no tubes) with rock below the post for drainage, and concrete about an inch above ground level with it troweled to slope downward on all 4 sides, and trowel a neat edge around the base. You get drainage, it doesn't look bad, and is low enough to cover if the customer just hates the exposed stuff, but the other advantage of these is you can mow right up to the post; no weedeater necessary!
You could also use dye to match your posts, house trim, grass, or whatever.

[learls]

If you decide to use lower cost material in your fence posts you can buy a bucket of roofing tar that sales from anywhere between $20 and $40 for a 5-gallon bucket or use creosote to treat the pole against damage and rot.

[FireflyHill]

Hey Joe when we set treated 4x4 fence post we fill the hole pea gravel or any inexpensive washed stone instead of concrete. Most of the time treated post are extremely wet when new. When putting concrete around the post sometimes they become loose as the post dries out. If you fill the hole with pea gravel as the post shrinks the pea gravel will remain tight around the post and offer good drainage and prevent post rot. It also makes replacing the pole in the future easier

[herefishyfishy]

We use asphalt sealant to dip the end of the post up to the ground line.

[markd]

I agree with you about the concrete bonding to the wood post surface. I've removed a number of old 4x4 fence posts out of the ground that were set in concrete in a couple of the homes we owned. Without exception, every post had bonded tightly to the concrete they were set in.

[tracymckelvey]

Here in South Carolina as a fence contractor i have seen post come up leaving the concrete in the ground however that usually is due to it being an old fence or poorly mixed concrete. It is not a common problem here but it has happened

[jacobc]

I work with engineers and all the tips that were being reacted to are what I see in structural details all the time.

[stevem]

I had a pole barn installed with 6x6 treated. The solution to soil contact was a plastic sleeve about 3 feet in length that slid over each post with about 4" exposed above ground. As mentioned in the video, the few inches at and below ground level is where rot starts. Each hole was about 3 feet deep and a concrete disk about 4" thick was placed at the bottom of each hole for support.

[goldprounlimited]

I think the reason you see a gap between the post and concrete is because the wood shrinks over time as it dries out.

[rodofiron]

Worked for a fence building company for 20 years, only times we had post loose enough to pull out was if it had rotted. That said we saw plenty of bottom rot. We never did the peir thing like this, but would, if the customer wanted it, put a cement curb all the way around. If you do that you WILL drastically extend the life of wood posts, and make cement posts last longer then the house will. We also never used pressure treated. Out here in west Texas it gets way to hot for it. We used Cedar for everything.

[BlackwoodPro]

Good post, it makes sense. A similar method I've used for a fence is to pre-seal the base and top of the posts and to attach cedar shingles to each side of the post soaked in oil the wider part sticking out just above the concrete (for easy removal ). After the concrete is cured the shingles are removed. The voids created are then sealed with silicone caulk. After twenty years the posts are as solid as the day the were installed.