On Mar 21, 10:51 pm, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:
It occurs to me that any wooden post concreted into a hole in the ground
is going to rot eventually, tanalised or whatever - it's got to be
a matter of time.
Yes. But it might be a VERY long time.

The worst area is going to be the end grain by my reckoning,
since end grain is the most absorbent and is going to absorb
moisture faster than any other part of the post.
No. This is wrong. The worst area is at ground level +/- a few
inches. This is the area that is rich in both moisture AND oxygen.
Higher up the wood dries out, lower down it becomes saturated and de-
oxygenated which stops the fungi growing.

Soaking the end in wood preserver is one option, but are there others?
Won't make much difference (see above).

[snip more ideas to protect a non-vunerable part of the post]
Any thoughts?
- Sloping the concrete to ensure water drains away from (not towards)
the post will help.
- Using tanalized timber (not untreated) will help.
- Using oak or chestnut (not softwood) will help.
- More exotic species could probably be even more effective and solid
mahogany gate posts would make a striking entrance feature.
- Concrete posts will last better than untreated softwood. I don't
know how they compare with tanalized or hardwood.