Tweet
I've had a quotation from a fencing company for a new 6ft featherboard board fence with timber posts and it says: 62.5kg post foundation per post with ballast drainage layer. That sounds an awful lot of concrete to me, but I'm a novice at these things and maybe it's only a couple of bucketfuls. Can someone tell me what that is volume-wise?
-
Location - Leicestershire - Chisit-land
Endless wonder. -
To keep things simple, that will be about half a builders barrow full.
God bless all of us. -
Yeah! My OH says a cubic meter of concrete weighs a ton so a couple of buckets full or so is probably about right.Comment
-
Thanks Rev and DK, that's really helpful. When I first read the figure I imagined half the garden buried under concrete, half a barrowful sounds a lot smaller than 62.5kg, which sounded like at least 3 barrows full! Phew! that's a relief!
Location - Leicestershire - Chisit-land
Endless wonder.Comment
-
Yeah, depending on how windy a spot your fence is in, it may need a lot of counterweight.
Putting in a fair bit of ballast suggests to me that they know what they are doing - amateurs put in a little bit, then get surprised at how a 70mph gale hitting a solidly built six foot high fence generates enough leverage to either break posts or lever them out of loose soil.
If the fence is on a slope, that complicates matters, as most posts for that sort of thing are only eight feet long, and stepping the panels down reduces the amount of spare post available to bury into the ground.
Proper drainage helps prolong the life of the fence too. I always chock my posts in with stones specifically to help keep moisture away from them, or use metal postholders if I can get them.There's no point reading history if you don't use the lessons it teaches.
Head-hunted member of the Nutter's Club - can I get my cranium back please ?Comment
-
I'd suggest you ask them to quote you for using concrete posts instead, just to see the price difference. They last SO much longer that it is worth paying a little bit extra. Neighbours put in a fence when I moved in here five years ago, and it's already knackered on one side :/ They used wooden posts and they're the ones that have snapped/rotted.Comment
-
We put some fencing in a few years ago and it's still going strong despite the best efforts of Mother Nature. We had 2.4m posts and put them 800mm in the ground (1/3rd below ground). Then the tops were evened out but not much was taken off. It took a while to erect but they don't rock at all.
The ballast layer will help keep moisture off the bottom and the post and help prevent it rotting from the bottom up. You could help by applying a good wood preservative (they should be pressure treated anyway and guaranteed for 10 years) or even bitumen to the bottom part of the post.
Get the top of the concrete sloped so that any water landing on it falls away from the post. Puddling shouldn't affect it too much but it's all of the little tricks that may help get a few more years out of your fence.
If you are staining/treating the fence then try to get it all done before your contractors install it. It's easier to do it all together at waist height on supports than going around afterwards.
There are some much better concrete products available now, it's just budget dependent as always.
Good luck!Dave
Do what you enjoy, or learn to enjoy what you do - life is too short.Comment
-
Like Sarriss suggests ask about concrete posts with gravel boards more expensive at the outset but will last ages longer and if you need to replace a panel just cut the tie, slide it out, pop in a new panel and replace the security tie.
ColinPotty by name Potty by nature.
By appointment of VeggieChicken Member of the Nutters club.
We hang petty thieves and appoint great ones to public office.
Aesop 620BC-560BC
sigpicComment
-
A cubic meter of WATER weighs a tonne, and concrete is definitely heavier, a cubic FOOT of water weighs 62.5lb, so 62.5kg would be no more than 2 cubic feet (a foot by a foot by 2 feet) and I think considerably less.
My OH says he thinks concrete is 2 tonnes per Cu Metre, so that would mean a bit over a cubic foot, he's going to look it up later so I should be able to post the correct figure by tomorrow.Flowers come in too many colours to see the world in black-and-white.Comment
-
Thanks everyone, for all the replies.
> Sarrissuk and Pots - I hate concrete posts - I'm having the old ones taken out, and having featherboard, not panels, which would have to be stepped for the slope, and as there will be a gate as well, would have to be cut to fit the spacing.
>Snohare - yes, it's a windy spot (facing NNW), yes, it's on a slope - about 18 inches difference in height from one end to the other.
>Dave - the fence is pre-treated and guaranteed for 25 years so I'm hoping it will just about see me out!
Yes, I've given the company the go-ahead to do it. Will take pics as it progresses. Projected start date 22nd March.
Location - Leicestershire - Chisit-land
Endless wonder.Comment
-
You wouldn't see the posts if you use them, then use the rest of the materials in wood. I'm doing that this summer hopefully in my back garden - featherboard facing my side of the garden, considering I'm paying for my neighbour's fence too Someone else can stare at the cement posts
Comment
-
If there is nothing in the house deeds to say which neighbour owns which fence, then in the case of fences with posts or struts on one side, the law presumes that the owner on that side owns the fence. So if you can't prove that it's your fence the law will grant ownership to your neighbour if the posts are on his side. (edit: even if you have paid for it and erected it)
Also, with the arris rails on the inside, no-one can climb on them and peer over into my garden.Last edited by mothhawk; 03-03-2012, 04:42 PM.Location - Leicestershire - Chisit-land
Endless wonder.Comment
-
I must admit, i still prefer wooden posts, good quality 4"x4" pressure treated posts will last an awful long time.God bless all of us.Comment
-
More environmentally friendly too, since trees are renewable and granite isn't. There is a granite (quartz-diorite) quarry a mile from where I live and what was once a beautiful landmark hill is now only half a hill with a huge hole below it, plus a crushing/processing plant, where they turn that beautiful rock into....kerbstones and fenceposts.Originally posted by The Reverend View PostLocation - Leicestershire - Chisit-land
Endless wonder.Comment
Comment