On Thu, 15 Sep 2011 21:54:26 +0000 (UTC),
(Larry W) wrote:

In article ,
MICHELLE H. wrote:
Just a quick question about installing fence posts. We would like to
have a 6 foot high, Cedar wooden stockade fence installed in our yard.
My question is, when putting in the fence posts for the wooden fence, do
the fence posts HAVE to be set in concrete? I know that most fence
companies do set the fence posts in concrete, about 2-3 feet below the
frost line.


I have read many mixed reviews about setting posts in concrete, because
when the posts rot out, it is a backbreaking effort to replace them
because you have to dig out and lift up the heavy concrete.


I have read, as well as heard from people, that it's actually better to
put the posts in a couple inches of 1 and 1/2 inch crushed rock or
gravel.


So, do you have to have the posts put in concrete, or can we opt. to go
with the crushed rock or gravel?



Thanks!


It is somewhat dependent on the soil conditions where the posts are placed,
but most of the time it is fine to set treated wooden posts directly in
soil. In my area that is commonly done using PT 4X4 8 foot posts, set to
a depth of 24 to 30 inches for a 6 ft stockade or privacy style fence.
Such posts will easily last 20 or more years. I personally have seen such
posts outlast 2 lifetimes of cedar fence panels.

I've tried to get mine down to 36". That leaves 5' sticking out, without
sawing the tops off. For a 6' fence it works out pretty well. Someimes
there's a rock half the size of the state down there, so it doesn't always
work out. ;-)

Here in Alabama, the red clay can be tamped so well, there is no point in
cementing them in. When I was in NY it was impossible to get down 36" and the
soil just didn't hold as well, so I used concrete. Both fences used 6" x 6'
close-spaced pickets, on PT 2x4 rails nailed to 4x4 PT posts.