I installed a vinyl fence last year. I got an great deal of the vinyl
fence and posts at the local Home Depot. The vinyl fence posts were
too short - hey the were $3.00 with he caps!

The result was that I ripped down 4x4's on the table saw and extended
the post by about 16 inches.

I did not install the fence with concrete for most of the posts, I did
anchor the corners in 160 lbs of concrete.

On the windward side, the fence moved. Those posts have a lot of
gravel below and around the posts. I wanted to add concrete and
considered re-plumbing the posts with respect to corner posts and
adding concrete.

These posts extend about 28 inches below grade. I really don't want
to re-excavate the entire hole. I was thinking of excvating the top
16 inches and adding about 120 lbs of quickset per post.

I'm not thrilled with using concrete but that appears to be the only
solution. Looking for suggestions as to how to set concrete for these
posts.

On 2 May 2007 08:13:23 -0700, wrote:

I installed a vinyl fence last year. I got an great deal of the vinyl
fence and posts at the local Home Depot. The vinyl fence posts were
too short - hey the were $3.00 with he caps!

The result was that I ripped down 4x4's on the table saw and extended
the post by about 16 inches.

I did not install the fence with concrete for most of the posts, I did
anchor the corners in 160 lbs of concrete.

On the windward side, the fence moved. Those posts have a lot of
gravel below and around the posts. I wanted to add concrete and
considered re-plumbing the posts with respect to corner posts and
adding concrete.

These posts extend about 28 inches below grade. I really don't want
to re-excavate the entire hole. I was thinking of excvating the top
16 inches and adding about 120 lbs of quickset per post.

I'm not thrilled with using concrete but that appears to be the only
solution. Looking for suggestions as to how to set concrete for these
posts.

You only want to do this once. (well, once more)

I think it would be way faster to pull the posts and redo the holes
rather than try to excavate around the posts. You really want to go
deeper if you're having trouble with them moving.

I just drilled 20 8" dia by 36" deep post holes using once of the
tow-behind hydraulic one-man post hole diggers in less than 1 hour. I
rented it for a day for $75, but should have only rented it for 4
hours. It drilled through my heavy clay like butter. Way easier to
use than the 1 or 2 man type with the engine on top.

Here's a link to a pictu

http://www.groundhoginc.com/

If you can pull the posts, that digger will redig the hole right
through the gravel. You can go deeper and then set them in concrete.
I hate concrete on posts, but if you have soft soil, it's the only
way.

HTH,

Paul

On May 2, 1:15 pm, Paul Franklin
wrote:
On 2 May 2007 08:13:23 -0700, wrote:





I installed a vinyl fence last year. I got an great deal of the vinyl
fence and posts at the local Home Depot. The vinyl fence posts were
too short - hey the were $3.00 with he caps!

The result was that I ripped down 4x4's on the table saw and extended
the post by about 16 inches.

I did not install the fence with concrete for most of the posts, I did
anchor the corners in 160 lbs of concrete.

On the windward side, the fence moved. Those posts have a lot of
gravel below and around the posts. I wanted to add concrete and
considered re-plumbing the posts with respect to corner posts and
adding concrete.

These posts extend about 28 inches below grade. I really don't want
to re-excavate the entire hole. I was thinking of excvating the top
16 inches and adding about 120 lbs of quickset per post.

I'm not thrilled with using concrete but that appears to be the only
solution. Looking for suggestions as to how to set concrete for these
posts.

You only want to do this once. (well, once more)

I think it would be way faster to pull the posts and redo the holes
rather than try to excavate around the posts. You really want to go
deeper if you're having trouble with them moving.

I just drilled 20 8" dia by 36" deep post holes using once of the
tow-behind hydraulic one-man post hole diggers in less than 1 hour. I
rented it for a day for $75, but should have only rented it for 4
hours. It drilled through my heavy clay like butter. Way easier to
use than the 1 or 2 man type with the engine on top.

Here's a link to a pictu

http://www.groundhoginc.com/

If you can pull the posts, that digger will redig the hole right
through the gravel. You can go deeper and then set them in concrete.
I hate concrete on posts, but if you have soft soil, it's the only
way.

HTH,

Paul- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Hi Paul,

I have very hard clay. However, it's jsut as bad as soft soil as it
liquifies as it gets wet. My goal is to keep the post in place during
these conditions. We live in an area of high winds and that usually
accompanies rain so I can see how this problem got started.

I plan to do about 3 posts per weekend over the Summer. I'll take a
look at your post. Thanks for the reply.
K

wrote in message
oups.com...
On May 2, 1:15 pm, Paul Franklin
wrote:
On 2 May 2007 08:13:23 -0700, wrote:





I installed a vinyl fence last year. I got an great deal of the vinyl
fence and posts at the local Home Depot. The vinyl fence posts were
too short - hey the were $3.00 with he caps!

The result was that I ripped down 4x4's on the table saw and extended
the post by about 16 inches.

I did not install the fence with concrete for most of the posts, I did
anchor the corners in 160 lbs of concrete.

On the windward side, the fence moved. Those posts have a lot of
gravel below and around the posts. I wanted to add concrete and
considered re-plumbing the posts with respect to corner posts and
adding concrete.

These posts extend about 28 inches below grade. I really don't want
to re-excavate the entire hole. I was thinking of excvating the top
16 inches and adding about 120 lbs of quickset per post.

Is the gravel "pea gravel" or crushed gravel? If you used
round "pea gravel", replacing it with crushed gravel might
do the job.

Bob

"Bob F" wrote in message
. ..

wrote in message
oups.com...
On May 2, 1:15 pm, Paul Franklin
wrote:
On 2 May 2007 08:13:23 -0700, wrote:





I installed a vinyl fence last year. I got an great deal of the vinyl
fence and posts at the local Home Depot. The vinyl fence posts were
too short - hey the were $3.00 with he caps!

The result was that I ripped down 4x4's on the table saw and extended
the post by about 16 inches.

I did not install the fence with concrete for most of the posts, I did
anchor the corners in 160 lbs of concrete.

On the windward side, the fence moved. Those posts have a lot of
gravel below and around the posts. I wanted to add concrete and
considered re-plumbing the posts with respect to corner posts and
adding concrete.

These posts extend about 28 inches below grade. I really don't want
to re-excavate the entire hole. I was thinking of excvating the top
16 inches and adding about 120 lbs of quickset per post.

Is the gravel "pea gravel" or crushed gravel? If you used
round "pea gravel", replacing it with crushed gravel might
do the job.

You might be able to "shop vac" the pea gravel out.


Bob

"Paul Franklin" wrote in message
...
On 2 May 2007 08:13:23 -0700, wrote:

I installed a vinyl fence last year. I got an great deal of the vinyl
fence and posts at the local Home Depot. The vinyl fence posts were
too short - hey the were $3.00 with he caps!

The result was that I ripped down 4x4's on the table saw and extended
the post by about 16 inches.

I did not install the fence with concrete for most of the posts, I did
anchor the corners in 160 lbs of concrete.

On the windward side, the fence moved. Those posts have a lot of
gravel below and around the posts. I wanted to add concrete and
considered re-plumbing the posts with respect to corner posts and
adding concrete.

These posts extend about 28 inches below grade. I really don't want
to re-excavate the entire hole. I was thinking of excvating the top
16 inches and adding about 120 lbs of quickset per post.

I'm not thrilled with using concrete but that appears to be the only
solution. Looking for suggestions as to how to set concrete for these
posts.

You only want to do this once. (well, once more)

I think it would be way faster to pull the posts and redo the holes
rather than try to excavate around the posts. You really want to go
deeper if you're having trouble with them moving.

I just drilled 20 8" dia by 36" deep post holes using once of the
tow-behind hydraulic one-man post hole diggers in less than 1 hour. I
rented it for a day for $75, but should have only rented it for 4
hours. It drilled through my heavy clay like butter. Way easier to
use than the 1 or 2 man type with the engine on top.

Here's a link to a pictu

http://www.groundhoginc.com/

If you can pull the posts, that digger will redig the hole right
through the gravel. You can go deeper and then set them in concrete.
I hate concrete on posts, but if you have soft soil, it's the only
way.

Pour a couple inches of gravel, set post, then another 6-8 inches of gravel,
THEN add concrete. Any concrete trapping post will shorten life, but having
drainage around the bottom will buy you some time. A post completely
entombed in concrete will be lucky to make 10 years, other than in desert
climate.

aem sends...

On May 2, 5:02 pm, "Bob F" wrote:
wrote in message

oups.com...





On May 2, 1:15 pm, Paul Franklin
wrote:
On 2 May 2007 08:13:23 -0700, wrote:

I installed a vinyl fence last year. I got an great deal of the vinyl
fence and posts at the local Home Depot. The vinyl fence posts were
too short - hey the were $3.00 with he caps!

The result was that I ripped down 4x4's on the table saw and extended
the post by about 16 inches.

I did not install the fence with concrete for most of the posts, I did
anchor the corners in 160 lbs of concrete.

On the windward side, the fence moved. Those posts have a lot of
gravel below and around the posts. I wanted to add concrete and
considered re-plumbing the posts with respect to corner posts and
adding concrete.

These posts extend about 28 inches below grade. I really don't want
to re-excavate the entire hole. I was thinking of excvating the top
16 inches and adding about 120 lbs of quickset per post.

Is the gravel "pea gravel" or crushed gravel? If you used
round "pea gravel", replacing it with crushed gravel might
do the job.

Bob- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

It's regular bluestone gravel. I did put gravel below the post and
around it. So I guess the question really becomes, do I just go ahead
and excavate and set the concrete in each hole? I did compact the
gravel and thought the holes were deep enough. I can tell you the
clay here really liquifies when it gets wet. Really nasty to walk on.