I bet this is the daftest question posted in here for a while!

I need to set a 4 inch square, 2 metre high, metal post into the ground.
The ground is soil. The post will have a switch mounted on the side at the
top, and as such the post will be subjected to daily stress from people
pushing the switch.

The post has been put into the ground by someone in the past, with very
little cement. I think the combination of insufficent cement and lack of
depth into the soil has caused the post to become loose. I am thinking of
using concrete this time, but I have no idea how to make it.

What are the proportions for sand, cement and ballast.

All help appreciated.

Jon

"Master Card fomerly Jon Mitchell" wrote in
message .. .
I bet this is the daftest question posted in here for a while!

I need to set a 4 inch square, 2 metre high, metal post into the ground.
The ground is soil. The post will have a switch mounted on the side at
the
top, and as such the post will be subjected to daily stress from people
pushing the switch.

The post has been put into the ground by someone in the past, with very
little cement. I think the combination of insufficent cement and lack of
depth into the soil has caused the post to become loose. I am thinking of
using concrete this time, but I have no idea how to make it.

What are the proportions for sand, cement and ballast.

All help appreciated.

Jon



http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects...g_concrete.htm


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BigWallop

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Many thanks to you both for the info.

Jon

"BigWallop" wrote in message
...

"Master Card fomerly Jon Mitchell" wrote
in
message .. .
I bet this is the daftest question posted in here for a while!

I need to set a 4 inch square, 2 metre high, metal post into the ground.
The ground is soil. The post will have a switch mounted on the side at
the
top, and as such the post will be subjected to daily stress from people
pushing the switch.

The post has been put into the ground by someone in the past, with very
little cement. I think the combination of insufficent cement and lack
of
depth into the soil has caused the post to become loose. I am thinking
of
using concrete this time, but I have no idea how to make it.

What are the proportions for sand, cement and ballast.

All help appreciated.

Jon



http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects...g_concrete.htm


---
BigWallop

http://basecuritysystems.no-ip.com

Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.500 / Virus Database: 298 - Release Date: 10/07/03

For anyone else looking at this thread I have found the following site an
invaluable source of info:

http://www.pavingexpert.com/

and specifically for this thread:

http://www.pavingexpert.com/mortars.htm

Regards

Col


"Master Card fomerly Jon Mitchell" wrote in
message .. .
I bet this is the daftest question posted in here for a while!

I need to set a 4 inch square, 2 metre high, metal post into the ground.
The ground is soil. The post will have a switch mounted on the side at
the
top, and as such the post will be subjected to daily stress from people
pushing the switch.

The post has been put into the ground by someone in the past, with very
little cement. I think the combination of insufficent cement and lack of
depth into the soil has caused the post to become loose. I am thinking of
using concrete this time, but I have no idea how to make it.

What are the proportions for sand, cement and ballast.

All help appreciated.

Jon

Master Card fomerly Jon Mitchell wrote:

I bet this is the daftest question posted in here for a while!

I need to set a 4 inch square, 2 metre high, metal post into the ground.
The ground is soil. The post will have a switch mounted on the side at the
top, and as such the post will be subjected to daily stress from people
pushing the switch.

The post has been put into the ground by someone in the past, with very
little cement. I think the combination of insufficent cement and lack of
depth into the soil has caused the post to become loose. I am thinking of
using concrete this time, but I have no idea how to make it.

What are the proportions for sand, cement and ballast.


Highly variable! Buy a pack of ready mix for a job like this, or else
get three bags of sand, one of cement, and about 3-6 bags of assorted
crushed rock :-)


The real secret is going deep enough actually. I'd say a couple of feet
if you can manage it. Use a pickaxe if all eslse fails.



All help appreciated.

Jon

buy a bag of "concrete" from wickes, all the right proportions, reasonable price. If you need more - buy 2 bags.

Rick

On Sun, 13 Jul 2003 09:17:44 +0100, "Master Card fomerly Jon Mitchell" wrote:
I bet this is the daftest question posted in here for a while!

I need to set a 4 inch square, 2 metre high, metal post into the ground.
The ground is soil. The post will have a switch mounted on the side at the
top, and as such the post will be subjected to daily stress from people
pushing the switch.

The post has been put into the ground by someone in the past, with very
little cement. I think the combination of insufficent cement and lack of
depth into the soil has caused the post to become loose. I am thinking of
using concrete this time, but I have no idea how to make it.

What are the proportions for sand, cement and ballast.

All help appreciated.

Jon

Master Card formerly Jon Mitchell wrote:

I bet this is the daftest question posted in here for a while!

I need to set a 4 inch square, 2 metre high, metal post into the ground.
The ground is soil. The post will have a switch mounted on the side at the
top, and as such the post will be subjected to daily stress from people
pushing the switch.

The post has been put into the ground by someone in the past, with very
little cement. I think the combination of insufficent cement and lack of
depth into the soil has caused the post to become loose. I am thinking of
using concrete this time, but I have no idea how to make it.

What are the proportions for sand, cement and ballast.

All help appreciated.

Jon

Here, where winter freezing of the ground, depending on amount of
snow cover, can be a problem it is recommended that the cement
not be brought up to ground level. Also that it not be in the
shape of an inverted cone.
I.e. as you dig the hole for the post there is a tendency for it
to be wider at top than lower down.
So, and it does happen here, even without posts in cement 'plugs'
in the ground is that the frost can 'heave' the plug/post upwards
and after a while you have a post even with a heavy accretion of
concrete on it, loose in the ground or even lifting out of the
ground after a 'hard' winter!
My daughter's deck (wooden posts not cemented) is suffering in
that way now; and a neighbour's ended with the outer edge of
their deck with PT wooden posts not set deep enough, about six
inches higher than next to the house, which had posts that didn't
freeze (or heave) to the same extent!
Just a suggestion anyway. Go deep and concrete the 'bottom' of
the post. And maybe use a cross-piece attached to the post set in
the ground? Terry.

On Mon, 14 Jul 2003 01:19:26 -0230, Terry
wrote:

Here, where winter freezing of the ground, depending on amount of
snow cover, can be a problem it is recommended that the cement
not be brought up to ground level. Also that it not be in the
shape of an inverted cone.

I've always believed in lining the bottom of the post hole with a
couple of centimetres of gravel (fine stone), and concreting on top of
that.

The reason for that approach is to give the bottom of the fencepost,
and the concrete collar, a chance to be mounted on top of material
which isn't soaked in water - the gravel acts as a small soakaway.

If the post has a ready supply of water available to it (which it will
if it joins damp earth) then the water will gradually migrate into the
post which will eventually fail due to it being soggy.

Works for me anyway

Andrew

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