On Mar 11, 7:04 am, "Tube Audio" wrote:
Hello

I have a 100 foot long fence that is falling down. My neighbor and I are
going to go 50/50 to replace it.

I had a few fence companies come out to bid the job, some of them seem not
so good.

I asked about putting 6 inches of gravel in the post hole, some said yes
some said that they don't use gravel and just completely cover the post with
cement. This doesn't sound right?

Depends, do you live in the desert or a very dry climate? If so you
can get away with it. Otherwise you should put gravel down for
drainage.

Also asked about post depth. The fence will be 6 feet tall; they said that
they would use 8 foot 4x4 posts, so that means that only 2 feet of the post
will be in the ground. Isn't the standard 1/3rd of the overall length in
the ground, so a 6 ft fence would have three feet in the ground, so a 9ft
post would be used? So the hole would need to be dug 3 1/2 feet for a half
of foot of gravel?

Unless the ground is unstable or at a good slope, a 8 foot post with 2
ft in the ground should be more than adequate.


As for nails should I ask them to use HD hot dipped galvanized?


If they use the cheaper electroplated nails or worse, then you can
guarantee
it will streak. A lot of fencing places use staple guns, make sure
they are stainless steel or they will streak also.

Besides pressure treated, how about grade of wood? Heart Wood? Wood that
will be immersed in the ground or the kickboard touching the ground?

Use PT posts and rails and anything that will touch the ground,
although it is easy to replace a kick board. Make sure that the fence
boards have at least a couple inches clearance. If they don't touch
the ground, practically any wood will out last the posts, but cedar is
usually pretty good. Any wood that is stained will last longer than
unstained cedar or redwood, although you may have to redo it every few
years.



Are 4x4 posts fine, should I get 4x6 or 6x6 posts?

Unless there is bad footing, 4x4 post shuld be fine. Use larger posts
for the corners.

Am I missing anything?

Almost always the first thing to go on a fence is the posts. Use PT
posts, gravel, and make sure the cement is angled up some to cause a
runoff and doesn't let debris build up around it. A few years of pine
needles or leaves packed around a post will rot any post no matter
how it's installed.



Thanks