On Sat, 24 Feb 2007 21:59:11 +0000, Mike Tomlinson
wrote:

In article , Frank Erskine
writes

Rather
than just plonking the posts into their holes and pouring concrete
around them, you should place a bit of slate or other impervious
material at the bottom of the hole, so that the post is reasonably
encapsulated from the soil.

How about putting the bottom of the post in a plastic bag? Something
like a rubble sack, and taping it up, before pouring the concrete around
it? In addition to engine oil/creosote?

Plastic's bad news, environmentally :-)

The important thing is to pour the concrete so that it's slightly
above ground level and flaunch it to slope slightly from the post so
that water running down the post will tend to flow away.

Creosote is still a very good idea - soak the posts in it for a couple
of days before use. Preferably real creosote, which is quite
obtainable if you try ;-)

--
Frank Erskine