Size of fence posts?

[masraum]

Originally Posted by David

4" is plenty but I go 7' between posts rather than 8'. Adds to cost but helps when a hurricane shows up. We also run 3 horizontal 2x4's rather than 2 and a 1x6 treated rot board at the bottom.

The first time I saw that rot board at the bottom, I thought it was genius!

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by David

4" is plenty but I go 7' between posts rather than 8'. Adds to cost but helps when a hurricane shows up. We also run 3 horizontal 2x4's rather than 2 and a 1x6 treated rot board at the bottom.

I'll prolly do similar but might use 4x6s ... not long runs tho...

Just because it's stoopid

[stevej37]

Back side of my property wood fence. Strong wind a couple years ago snapped off three of the twelve foot sections. 4X4 treated posts.

[KFC911]

^^^ I recall some jeanyus suggested shorter spans rather than dig out old posts .

[rockfan4]

Metal posts - he uses steel for the fence, but you could use wood pickets.

[masraum]

Best bet is pieces of old railroad rail cut to 10' lengths, set 4' into the ground with 2-3 bags of cement, and then railroad ties used for the rest!

[rfuerst911sc]

I bought one 6x6x8' pressure treated post at HD today for 35 bucks . For 100 ' of fence that's going to add up quick ! I would go 4x6 or 4x4 .

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by KC911

^^^ I recall some jeanyus suggested shorter spans rather than dig out old posts .

Yes I remember that. Good advice.
I did one better though I burned the broken sections and left it open.

[Tidybuoy]

Another suggestion is to get your 2x4's at a lumber yard that offers rough cut boards vs the stuff you get at Home Depot. They are noticeably thicker and look better. I found that the cost was about the same as smooth cut at Home Depot.

[gregpark]

4x4 PT with no wood to concrete or dirt contact and it'll last longer than the old guy neighbor

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by 911 Rod

The type of fence where the boards stagger from one side to the other.
He and my son are adamant that it will be a better fence with 6" posts.
Maybe the fence guy has extra 6" ones and wants to get rid of them.
The quote is for $6500.
I guess I should just stay out of it and mind my own business

Are you talking basket weave fence, with 6" posts for $6500? I'll hire them next if so.

[Cajundaddy]

In SoCal we only ever used 4x4 and they only failed due to rot, never broken healthy wood. If they really want 6" and the quote is reasonable, just have it done. No reason to fuss about it. Maybe the local fence guy knows something we don't. Soil and weather conditions vary a lot from state to state and I appreciate local knowledge.

[3rd_gear_Ted]

I have a 150" fence with RR ties for posts @ my Lazy H Ranch.
Got the RR ties for free off an abandoned spur line all tore up.

[juanbenae]

Originally Posted by KC911

^^^ I recall some jeanyus suggested shorter spans rather than dig out old posts .

Or simply offset the 1st section to 6' or 10' if the existing post are on 8' centers.

Alot of fences up here use old steel from wells for posts. My neighbor had one built with old 2" galvanized retired well pipe last year, rust and all. Infact when my well pump signed off last August the guy who I used to replace the pump and pipe turned me onto a dude who would come collect the 1" pipe. He made hog fence panels out of it and was thrilled to take my 700' away. Only I was more thrilled to not have to cut and take it to the metal recycler.

[juanbenae]

The other thing is pressure treated lumber is like most lumber these days and is not dense old growth and will rot pretty dam fast. Today's redwood is the same, and not much better. See the 1x6 slats that are as much white as they are red.

The PT being usually a doug-fir is a joke 4x or 6x. Too much soft new growth product that is very cellulose and even if using PT it absorbs moisture quickly. If I were building a fence, I'd look to get even cyclone fence post driven w/o concrete and then go to the wood. The companies that do cyclone have pneumatic drivers, imagine an air powered T-post driver...

[gregpark]

Todays PT does not rot easily as long as there's no earth to wood contact. It's not as good as it was back in the day when it was super dark green. They advertized to last 40 years buried in a tropical jungle. It was deemed too carcinogenic and I'm sure they were right. Cheap redwood from a big box store is not worth using in my opinion. Cut from 8 year old farmed trees and not much better outdoors than fir or pine. The "white" grain you refer to is called sap wood and rots faster than interior soft woods. You can still get old growth, real deal redwood but you'll pay dearly for it. For framing outdoors I go with PT and dont let it touch the ground or bury it in concrete

[gregpark]

A pic of one of the sono tube footings I did for a deck at my house 10 years ago. The home cheapo PT is still solid as when I bought it. The second pic is a corner of the railing I did with heartbeat, old growth, straight grain redwood that cost me a small fortune. The railing shows but I don't care about the ugly posts

[juanbenae]

Originally Posted by gregpark

Todays PT does not rot easily as long as there's no earth to wood contact. It's not as good as it was back in the day when it was super dark green. They advertized to last 40 years buried in a tropical jungle. It was deemed too carcinogenic and I'm sure they were right. Cheap redwood from a big box store is not worth using in my opinion. Cut from 8 year old farmed trees and not much better outdoors than fir or pine. The "white" grain you refer to is called sap wood and rots faster than interior soft woods. You can still get old growth, real deal redwood but you'll pay dearly for it. For framing outdoors I go with PT and dont let it touch the ground or bury it in concrete

The S4S redwood for decks & rails is much older growth to be sure, but if redwood has white, light streaks in it is less dense and more likely to take on moisture. Your post is painted and directly loaded so it out of the moist soil. A fence post in concrete might as well be direct buried in dirt because the moisture infiltrates. Go ahead and slope the post concrete so water does not collect and drain into it, you can still push it over in like 4 years.

[gregpark]

I set the Simpson post mount's floor a half inch above the concrete. The pressure treated uncut end of the post sits on the galvanized platform of the mount and is never sitting in ponding water. I expect posts set like this to last longer than me. I've done fence posts (with cheap PT 4x4) the same way and they're pretty much a forever post. I poke a few 2' junk steel rods or heavy wire down into the wet concrete too

[juanbenae]

Dude, you are comparing apples and oranges. A weighted, structural post like you show is not like a fence post buried in the ground... The expectations of those differing conditions are huge.

A weighted post does not act like a fence post with its lateral, side to side need. I do respect your preservation painting.

Apples n oranges.