Replacing fence posts
 

My 2m high fence posts with 2 x 2 m approx wood panels have rotted at the
base where they were put in concrete foundations about 1 foot in diam
probably 25 years ago. I don't particularly want to dig all the concrete
out which could take a week. Is it a good idea to clean out the 3" x 3"
holes in the existing foundations and set new steel fence spikes in them
with concrete then attach to new fence posts. Or will the standard spikes
from the sheds just rust away in a few years, especially if the length needs
to be trimmed, exposing bare steel. These seem to be painted rather than
galvanised. Appearence is not an issue as they won't be visible.

thanks for any advice

john

On Sun, 13 Mar 2005 14:36:07 -0000, "John"
wrote:

My 2m high fence posts with 2 x 2 m approx wood panels have rotted at the
base where they were put in concrete foundations about 1 foot in diam
probably 25 years ago. I don't particularly want to dig all the concrete
out which could take a week. Is it a good idea to clean out the 3" x 3"
holes in the existing foundations and set new steel fence spikes in them
with concrete then attach to new fence posts. Or will the standard spikes
from the sheds just rust away in a few years, especially if the length needs
to be trimmed, exposing bare steel. These seem to be painted rather than
galvanised. Appearence is not an issue as they won't be visible.

thanks for any advice

john


As micro digger will have em out in minuites, hire cost sixty quid a
day.

Rick

John wrote:
My 2m high fence posts with 2 x 2 m approx wood panels have rotted at the
base where they were put in concrete foundations about 1 foot in diam
probably 25 years ago. I don't particularly want to dig all the concrete
out which could take a week. Is it a good idea to clean out the 3" x 3"
holes in the existing foundations and set new steel fence spikes in them
with concrete then attach to new fence posts. Or will the standard spikes
from the sheds just rust away in a few years, especially if the length needs
to be trimmed, exposing bare steel. These seem to be painted rather than
galvanised. Appearence is not an issue as they won't be visible.

thanks for any advice

john



I don't think most spike type fixings are designed to be set in concrete
(may be wrong here though).

A quick fix might be to clean & fill the holes & fix bolt down plate
style fixings to the top of existing concrete plugs with rawl bolts
assuming they are reasonably flat. I did this patching up an old fence
once and it worked OK (although I did the job properly 3 years later
when other parts of the fence collapsed).

I also hand dug some of the plugs out ... won't be doing that again in a
hurry ;-)

HTH,

Alex.

In article , "AlexW"
says...
snip
I don't think most spike type fixings are designed to be set in concrete
(may be wrong here though).

Repair spikes are designed to drive down the side of the remains of
the post left in the concrete.

A quick fix might be to clean & fill the holes & fix bolt down plate
style fixings to the top of existing concrete plugs with rawl bolts
assuming they are reasonably flat. I did this patching up an old fence
once and it worked OK (although I did the job properly 3 years later
when other parts of the fence collapsed).

I also hand dug some of the plugs out ... won't be doing that again in a
hurry ;-)

You said "quick fix" and then advocated removing the old timber from
the socket ...
I spent a while drilling and chiselling the remains of a broken
gatepost out of its hole in the drive, then discovered that the
concrete was crap and ended up digging the lot out anyway. So often
it seems that "shortcuts" just make life harder or result in a sub-
standard job - I wonder why anyone thinks they're a good idea.

Rob Morley wrote:

Repair spikes are designed to drive down the side of the remains of
the post left in the concrete.

Have you tried this? For me this didn't work as the repair spikes tended
to bend before they were driven home which is why I suggested the "quick
fix" I used.

You said "quick fix" and then advocated removing the old timber from
the socket ...

Yes. In my case this was quicker than digging the plugs out, 2 plugs
took me most of a day where as getting the most of the rotten timber out
of the 3 other holes took much less time than this, this of course might
not be someone elses findings, given the different circumstances.

I spent a while drilling and chiselling the remains of a broken
gatepost out of its hole in the drive, then discovered that the
concrete was crap and ended up digging the lot out anyway. So often
it seems that "shortcuts" just make life harder or result in a sub-
standard job - I wonder why anyone thinks they're a good idea.

If the concrete is crap then this is not a good approach as you point
out, in my case the concrete was OK ... each case (I guess) needs to be
judged on it merits.

Trying a rawl bolt or two might be an idea to judge how well the
approach in this instance.

BTW I suggested this "short cut" method as John stated he did not want
to dig the plugs out and it had worked for me ... at least until I could
afford the time and money to replace the whole fence.

John wrote:
My 2m high fence posts with 2 x 2 m approx wood panels have rotted at the
base where they were put in concrete foundations about 1 foot in diam
probably 25 years ago. I don't particularly want to dig all the concrete
out which could take a week. Is it a good idea to clean out the 3" x 3"
holes in the existing foundations and set new steel fence spikes in them
with concrete then attach to new fence posts. Or will the standard spikes
from the sheds just rust away in a few years, especially if the length needs
to be trimmed, exposing bare steel. These seem to be painted rather than
galvanised. Appearence is not an issue as they won't be visible.

thanks for any advice

john


I would dig a new hole, set a concrete spur (in concrete) and then bolt
the new post to the spur - the end to all rot and rust problems plus you
can get the spur absolutely vertical. It means that the fence panel will
need to be slightly shorter or you'll have to annex a bit of the
adjacent land and change the line of the fence slightly.

--
Dave S
(The return email address is a dummy)

John wrote:
My 2m high fence posts with 2 x 2 m approx wood panels have rotted at the
base where they were put in concrete foundations about 1 foot in diam
probably 25 years ago. I don't particularly want to dig all the concrete
out which could take a week. Is it a good idea to clean out the 3" x 3"
holes in the existing foundations and set new steel fence spikes in them
with concrete then attach to new fence posts. Or will the standard spikes
from the sheds just rust away in a few years, especially if the length needs
to be trimmed, exposing bare steel. These seem to be painted rather than
galvanised. Appearence is not an issue as they won't be visible.

thanks for any advice

john


Use a repair spike, wickes 542-505
Or I found a normal fencing spike, not the longest length, often works.
The type of spike they have in e.g. Jewsons which starts as a blade
rather than a point, is easier to locate properly at one edge of the old
wood.

"Old Bill" wrote in message
...
John wrote:
My 2m high fence posts with 2 x 2 m approx wood panels have rotted at
the
base where they were put in concrete foundations about 1 foot in diam
probably 25 years ago. I don't particularly want to dig all the
concrete
out which could take a week. Is it a good idea to clean out the 3" x 3"
holes in the existing foundations and set new steel fence spikes in them
with concrete then attach to new fence posts. Or will the standard
spikes
from the sheds just rust away in a few years, especially if the length
needs
to be trimmed, exposing bare steel. These seem to be painted rather
than
galvanised. Appearence is not an issue as they won't be visible.

thanks for any advice

john


Use a repair spike, wickes 542-505
Or I found a normal fencing spike, not the longest length, often works.
The type of spike they have in e.g. Jewsons which starts as a blade
rather than a point, is easier to locate properly at one edge of the old
wood.

Seconded. Cheap repair spikes have lasted here for over 10 years. I left the
broken end of the post in the concrete hole and bashed the spike in around
it.

Many thanks for all the ideas. the concrete spurs sound the best idea.
Pity they don't sell full length concrete posts like the C. Council use.
The existing concrete is not flat at all but it's hard as iron and an SDS
chisel has great difficulty. I'll see how easy it is to get the old wood
stumps out, then ponder a bit more.

john

In article ,
AlexW writes:
Rob Morley wrote:

Repair spikes are designed to drive down the side of the remains of
the post left in the concrete.

Have you tried this? For me this didn't work as the repair spikes tended
to bend before they were driven home which is why I suggested the "quick
fix" I used.

I've used a modified version (because nowhere seems to stock 4"
repair spikes). Take a regular spike, shorten it with a hacksaw
to be no longer than the length of timber buried in the concrete
(big guess here), and then hammer it into timber in the concrete,
which acts like a giant rawl plug. You have to get it well centred
so it doesn't foul the concrete sides before you get it in, and
you'll need a heavy fence post hammer. If you're clever, you can
even get the original post in the socket without having to take
the fence apart (at least with an arris rail fence -- probably
won't work with panels). I've done this several times, and the
posts have held well afterwards.

As for lonevity, a fence I put up with the metal spikes into soil
some 20 years ago is still fine. These were "Fensock" make which
I haven't seen around for some time now though. I also notice the
recent Metapost spikes I bought are not made as well as ones bought
a couple of years ago, so this may not be a guide to the longevity
of current products.

--
Andrew Gabriel

In article , John
writes
Many thanks for all the ideas. the concrete spurs sound the best idea.
Pity they don't sell full length concrete posts like the C. Council use.
The existing concrete is not flat at all but it's hard as iron and an SDS
chisel has great difficulty. I'll see how easy it is to get the old wood
stumps out, then ponder a bit more.

Visit your local Jewson, MKM etc to buy full length concrete posts. It
is hard work putting them in but you won't be doing it again.
--
Tim Mitchell

Visit your local Jewson, MKM etc to buy full length concrete posts. It is
hard work putting them in but you won't be doing it again.
--
thanks, I might pay a visit to Jewson, there is one 20.4 mls away.

But their web site's pretty naff. No stock contents and it says email them
with what I want and they'll send a brochure in the post !



john

In article , John
writes


Visit your local Jewson, MKM etc to buy full length concrete posts. It is
hard work putting them in but you won't be doing it again.
--
thanks, I might pay a visit to Jewson, there is one 20.4 mls away.

But their web site's pretty naff. No stock contents and it says email them
with what I want and they'll send a brochure in the post !

Jewson seem to be sticking to the traditional BM "turn-up-and-buy"
methods. If they haven't got it in stock locally you may as well give
up. We tried to order some doors from them and it was a complete
shambles. They do, however, normally hold large stocks.
--
Tim Mitchell

On Sun, 13 Mar 2005 14:36:07 -0000, "John"
wrote:

My 2m high fence posts with 2 x 2 m approx wood panels have rotted at the
base where they were put in concrete foundations about 1 foot in diam
probably 25 years ago. I don't particularly want to dig all the concrete
out which could take a week. Is it a good idea to clean out the 3" x 3"
holes in the existing foundations and set new steel fence spikes in them
with concrete then attach to new fence posts. Or will the standard spikes
from the sheds just rust away in a few years, especially if the length needs
to be trimmed, exposing bare steel. These seem to be painted rather than
galvanised. Appearence is not an issue as they won't be visible.

thanks for any advice

john


Hi,

Anyone tried jacking concrete out with a car jack and a bit of RSJ?
eg:

http://groups.google.co.uk/groups?q=jacking%20fence%20posts&hl=en&lr=&sa=N&ta b=wg

cheers,
Pete.