Need to replace about 15 panels/posts & a gate at the new house as the posts are starting to rot, one has gone fully already.
It’s a nice straight run so nothing too tricky I hope..
Was, initially, looking at 100mm x 100mm posts and was going to make a frame that can be used to hold the post square whilst the postcrete goes off and do one at a time.

What’s you top tips on DIYing it?

If you’re using wooden posts add those concrete support spurs when you fit them so you don’t have to dig all that postcrete out in 5 years time when they rot through at ground level and you then have to add concrete support spurs.

What’s you top tips on DIYing it?

Don’t.

Get a man in.

Concrete posts, more expensive but worth it

Concrete Spurs, just working through adding 45 in the garden which are in various states of decay after 20 years….

Before:

[url=https://flic.kr/p/EvJDkk]Repairing Fence Post #1[/url] by Ben Freeman, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/w1HFmS]Rotten Post[/url] by Ben Freeman, on Flickr

After

[url=https://flic.kr/p/wiM3iB]Concrete Spur[/url] by Ben Freeman, on Flickr

As above, DIY – Don’t Involve Yourself

+1 for concrete posts and not DIYing it

+1 for the concrete spurs but I’d not put the wooden post in the ground at all. Use threaded rod rather than bolts and grease them to give you a chance of undoing them should the posts ever need replacing.

Concrete posts, more expensive but worth it and bloody ugly

We’ve got the concrete spurs. They do last but they are pretty ugly. If I was doing it from scratch I don’t think I’d use them. Modern pressure treated timber is very good at resisting rot. Could maybe add a post-saver wrap for belt and braces but I don’t think it is needed. You also want to be doing more than one at a time and letting it go off. That’ll take ages. A few bits of timber will hold it upright, once the concrete is in it won’t want to move much anyway.

Modern pressure treated timber is very good at resisting rot.

Not since they banned Arsenic from it, doesn’t last as long as it used to….

Also depends where you live, in the dry SE I’ve got 20 years out of the fence posts, but in wetter areas they would have gone much faster.

Set your posts on gravel in the hole, that way they the water can drain out of them nicely rather than sitting in a muddy sump, rotting the post.

Edit: Also, get a post auger if you’ve got loads to do: smaller holes = less wasted concrete.

My dad was quoted £200 a panel to do his fences. Which includes all the materials and labour, for concrete posts, the panel and a concrete board at the bottom (I’ve forgotten the name of them)

Seemed OK to me

You can get bitumen or plastic wrappers that go around the post base at the weak spot. IMHO arris is easier to put up than panel and you might/probably need fewer posts

Instead of a frame , couple of bits of 2x2ish with pointy end, diagonally staked at right angles and nailed to post

(I’ve forgotten the name of them)

Gravel Boards, like a normal board, but with chunkier tyres.

We’ve had one estimate which was for 14 panels, posts etc all in for approx £1100. Seems pretty good so might go with that if funds allow..

As above concrete posts put in by someone else. Our fence is about 22 years old and  haven’t touched it. I need a couple of new panels this year, but that will be lift out, drop in replacements. I don’t care if concrete posts are ugly, so long as they last.

As above concrete posts put in by someone else.

I have to say it is a beast of a job getting the old ones out if they’ve been well set – some have taken me hours to dig out as the packed earth acts as a good energy absorber for the demolition hammer and I have to extract the concrete inch by inch, digging the footings out as I work my way down. However, I quite like tough jobs, so don’t actaully mind doing them. 25 down so far another 15-20 to go…

Try to move the fence posts and gate out of phase with the original positions or you’ll have a ton (literally) of extra concrete to mix. Try moving the half-panel to the other end (if there is one) or moving the gate position. New hole with a post hole borer is easiest

Build the fence as you go to ensure vertical and well-spaced posts, choose a wind-free couple of days and use temporary diagonal braces on the face side(s)

If it’s all wood, just nail the panels to the posts rather than use clips. Wooden posts will rot at ground level so consider concrete with gravel boards

I have to say it is a beast of a job getting the old ones out if they’ve been well set –

You need to use a post puller. And wooden posts if sourced and fitted properly are ok. We put a big acoustic fence up 12 years ago all in timber and it’s fine still.
However id still go concrete as I love the stuff!

Oh and 200 quid a panel is a piss take price!

+1 for concrete posts – and nice quality feathered edge panels.

Spray the posts along with the fence if you don’t like the look of concrete.

I needed new fencing at the bottom of the garden, the original fencing put up by the council after they appropriated half of our garden to build flats finally succumbed to wind and the 3” posts had rotted, but they lasted over thirty years. A mate put the fence up, with me helping dig the holes. The ground around here is brash, so once you get down about a foot it’s just layers of large flat stones, so there’s a lot of work involving a heavy crowbar and blisters. To avoid having to hoik the old lumps of concrete out of the ground we used featherboard, which also avoided the problem of the garden not being wide enough to use an exact number of panels, one would have to be cut to size.
The featherboard looks great, it makes it fairly easy to replace individual strips if any warp or split, and there’s a strip of sacrificial weatherboard along the bottom.
The whole fence, which is roughly thirty feet across, cost me £600, I reckon it’ll outlast me, based on how long the crappy original one lasted!
It’s certainly better than most of the flimsy panels that people use.

Just had a fence arrive today.

I looked at concrete posts for about 3 seconds before deciding I live in a house not a prison.

4 inch posts into post Crete

They will outlast me going by how long the 200mm hammered in pointy 3*3 posts have lasted……

I’m doing 100ft in 4″*4″ with 35*82 rails and 3 inch hit and miss double sided for 460 quid of materials. 25ft at 4ft high 30ft at 7ft and the rest at 6ft high

Should take me a weekend.

I’ve not had quotes but having seen quotes matws have had for half the size of fence safe to say it’ll be a weekend well spent

Concrete posts, and the quick drying post fix. Did it 20 plus years ago when we moved in for retaining wall and posts – it’s held and not moved. You just need elbow grease.

Use recessed concrete fence posts that accept a cant rail, have the post on your neighbors side, that way they get the concrete view. Bastard heavy.

I spent two hours recently breaking up a postcrete base after the post snapped at ground level. What a PITA. The replacement has a metpost bracket set into the postcrete so when the post eventually rots, it’s much easier to replace.
I went for feather edge panels and gravel boards, all pressure treated.

I put concrete posts in 28 years ago. Having just bought the house, they were the cheapest available. They haven’t lasted any better than the wooden panels. The concrete must have had very little cement in it and the rebar corroded and split it; the posts just fell apart. So if you get concrete posts, get good quality ones.

or put a waterproofer on the concrete post?

I spent two hours recently breaking up a postcrete base after the post snapped at ground level. What a PITA.

Sounds about right. The easy ones I can do in about 2 hours (from starting breaking to having the new spur set and backfilling with soil). Some of the tougher ones (eg 50 kg + of concrete extracted) take about 4 hours all in.

And wooden posts if sourced and fitted properly are ok. We put a big acoustic fence up 12 years ago all in timber and it’s fine still.

After 20 years about 1/3 of our posts have rotted completely, 1/3 are rotted but still structurally ok and 1/3 are in pristine condition but I’m changing them all out regardless. All 4″ tannelised (good stuff with Arsenic) from decent timber merchant.

I put a new fence in a few years ago, I was going to do it myself but by the time I had bought the panels, posts and postcrete, it only cost about £200 more to get someone in to do it properly. Well worth it.

After 20 years

Seems like quite a good lifetime for a fence.

I have to do ours. I already replaced one (after about 6 years of life, it’s damp round here) and I was only able to remove the old concrete because by chance it had cracked down the middle and was a very irregular shape, so I could smash it into bits. The next one (12 years of life) I couldn’t shift at all. So I ended up removing the rotten wood from the old concrete lump by hand. The new post was smaller, so I wedged it in place.

Digging was made harder by the fact I was trying to replace the post with the fence in situ, so I couldn’t really work around it well.

I’m tempted to redo the lot with concrete posts (won’t look so bad with wooden fencing on it). I have a feeling that it will be a lot easier to dig the concrete out when the whole fence is gone, and because most of the posts are still reasonably ok I might be able to use them to lever the concrete out.

I probably won’t mind losing the biking time since digging out fence posts is better weight-loss exercise than biking!

Digging was made harder by the fact I was trying to replace the post with the fence in situ, so I couldn’t really work around it well.

I’m doing ours in situ, once I’ve dug out the concrete I jack the fence up on inverted sash clamps, cut through the post just above ground level, drop in a spur, lower the fence to right height, bolt spur to old post and fill hole with concrete…

For any timber that’s touching ground use Pine timber treated with UC4 treatment. Should last a good 15 years (at least)

@trail_rat
Who did you get the materials from as I’m in the ‘Deen and looking at doing my fence shortly

Disappointed this is a serious thread.

Grantyboy

Cordiners timber center in Torry

Fencing is quite satisfying to do yourself albeit hard graft especially if you have to remove a hedge first. I’ve been avoiding replacing a run of knackered panels that are fastened to wooden posts that are rustily bolted into a breeze block wall (big height drop to neighbour’s). Think I might have to tackle it this spring…..

One thought on above is why use postcrete if you’ve got 16 holes – suspect separate bags of cement/sand/gravel plus a mixing mat would save you a decent chunk of money.

Ok Fencemasters
I have a long run down the side of my place that are concrete posts with planks nailed to 3 x horizontal lenghts of 2 x 3 .
The vertical planks are all in good condition and re-usable, but some, not all of the horizontal 2 x 3 are rotten or starting to rot
They appear to be built into the concrete post as the 2×3 have a taper cut into each end that enters a slot in the concrete upright
What I would like to do is to buy some 2×3 pressure treated leghs, dismantlle the panels and re- build with good wood
But I cant see how to slot them in without leaving them open to popping out on a windy day ( exposed location ) I think the fence was set with them in situ but i may be wrong

Use Jackson’s fence posts. They are expensive but last forever (25 year guarantee) and you’ll never have the pleasure of digging out the x15 concrete bases and rotting B&Q posts twice in the last 10 years that I’ve had to do. I’ve replaced the lot with Jackson’s posts having had two arches by them in the ground for 20 years and they are in brilliant condition still.