I've just pulled out about 6 posts that I put in almost 25 years ago. Set
them 2' deep, no concrete and a standard 1x6 'dog ear' 6' tall fence. I was
pleasantly surprised to see that there was NO rot on the posts at all. I'd
never intended to leave the fence up that long once the kids grew, but never
got around to removing it. We're in the centeral Ohio USA area, maybe not
generally as rainy as Portland, but it was very damp where the fence was
located - often got a couple inches of standing water after a good rain due
to poor drainage.

Of course 25 yrs ago we used the 'good old' arsnic preserved wood, not the
stuff they havce today.



"Matthew Reed" nospam at zootal dot com nospam wrote in message
...
More on my fence building subject. I live in Oregon, Lebanon, near Salem.
Rains all year. Lots and lots of rain. I'm using pressure treated ground
contact rated 4x4x8' posts. I plan on setting them 2 feet deep in
concrete. Would it be worthwhile to apply any additional waterproofing
coating to the posts before setting them in concrete? What kind of life
expentancy can I expect from these posts set in concrete? Assuming I take
reasonable care to taper the concrete, cap the top, and keep it painted.
If they rot out in 5 years, I'll be stuck with rotted posts in concrete
that will need to be dug up, and I'll have several dozen big chunks of
concrete that I won't know what to do with.