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Old 05-16-17, 10:02 AM   #5
natethebrown
Apprentice EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: North Alabama
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I am just finishing up replacing my wooden privacy fence now, and I will tell you what I did and why. Now, I will say soil conditions may change how you do things but down here in the South our soil is mostly red clay.

First, my old fence was about 8 years old, with all the posts cemented into the ground. When I was pulling up all of the old fence posts, I noticed the wood encased inside the concrete was not rotten and in pretty good shape. Also, the very bottom of the post, exposed to the subsoil (if it was protruding from the concrete), was in pretty good shape. The old posts that were in the worst shape where the ones where the top of the concrete was below the soil surface and top soil was allowed to pile up next to the post. I had a couple of posts that were nearly completely rotted away right at their base, right where they met the concrete.

Seeing this lead me to believe subsoil contact and concrete encasement don't matter. The real issue is top soil contact for the wooden posts.

Here is what I did to install my new fence:
1) Auger-ed out ~24" deep holes.
2) Placed the post into the hole.
3) Poured concrete around the posts, but still keeping the base firm against the bottom of the hole and maintaining direct contact with the subsoil. I read somewhere that this helps the post dry out.
4) Mounded the concrete up around the base of the post to keep as much soil and water away.
5) Painted the bottom 6" of every post with Roofing Tar, sealing it off from any potential top soil contact (which I already have even after step 4).
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