I want to put up a 2 m garden fence on both sides of my garden. I would use concrete slotted posts and gravel boards. Has anyone done this solo? Would it be impossible unless built like Dorian Yates? I know the posts weigh about 50 kg. Should I resign myself to paying someone to do it all? I was thinking of timber posts because they would be easier to handle but I don’t trust their durability and robustness so much. It would be about 20 panels in total.

Get a mate to help. One either end = social distancing!!

Myself and the neighbour did a 6ft one a few years ago … speaking as a 5ft 8 wimp … get a friend to help. The posts are heavy, the gravel boards are heavy, decent panels are heavy … you get the idea. Also it’s helpful to have one hold stuff in position while the other lines it up.

Ask for help. The concrete posts are heavy af, I’m a fairly big lad and they are heavy. The gravel boards you won’t get in on your own either. It’s a mixture of precision and brute force.

If you can afford it then pay someone! I’ve knackered my back and hips and I only put 4 posts in

Properly prepared and grouted in 4 by 4 stobs will last a long time. Making sure that the concrete haunch is above the level of the surrounding topsoil & is shaped to shed rainwater is key. The fence I put up at my old house is 25 years old and the posts still look ok. Post usually rot out at ground level because they’ve not been installed correctly.

Can you use arris rails and feather boards and wooden posts,I managed 8ish metres of that on my own

Oh, use post savers or post protectors on the posts (seal at ground level)

Well, I’m certainly thinking of timber posts now, maybe soak the ends in extra preservative over night. It would mean timber gravel boards too.

I think I could handle a few concrete posts on my own but I need to do 20. Also a PITA to get them from the front of my house to the back cos access is via an alley down the middle of the terrace.

Maybe something like this?

I did one on my own about 25 years ago (I was only 40 then). Not too bad if you put one post in, fit the gravel board to it, sit the panel on top, put the next post up to them and then fix that post in place. Much harder if you put the posts up first and try to slot the boards and panels in; I wouldn’t have attempted that on my own. I think I did 4 or 5 posts, wedging them in the holes with bits of brick, and then concreted those posts.

The lesson I’ve learned is DO NOT USE CHEAP POSTS. I thought concrete posts would mean I could slot in new panels when the originals rotted away, but the panels lasted as long as the posts. Cheap porous concrete with not enough cement, so over time the concrete reacted with the CO2 in the air and lost it’s alkalinity, which is all that stops the steel reinforcing from rusting. As soon as rust starts, it splits the concrete, exposes the steel and it’s game over. I now have stubs of post to remove, which will not be easy now there’s a mature garden next to them.

All portland cement concretes suffers from carbonation but it’s also true that it precedes faster when the concrete is more porous. Another way to look at it is insufficient coverage over the rebar which is protected so long as it sits within fresh cement. Concrete also suffers frost attack too which can lead to cracking and spalling.

I did a fence with 8 foot concrete posts and gravel boards myself with no real struggle that i recall (it was over 15 years ago). dig post hole, lift post in, kick bits of broken brick you’ve put around the hole into the hole, use your level to get the post straight then you put you’re postcrete in. post one done and post crete will be going hard fairly quick so move on to next post. I manoeuvred the gravel board into place before lifting second post in butting up to the board, kick the bricks in again and so on along the line. For the panels I made my own from feather edge – neater imv, cheaper/no more costly and much more robust…plus if a post is a wee bit out of vertical or ever so slightly to far away it doesn’t matter as you make the adjustments to the panel. I basically made a ‘frame’ consisting of some timber sized to sit neatly in the post slot and hold the two horizontal cant rails at the right height this was not heavy at all and easily lifted in and the feather edge nailed on once in place. So this way I had no difficult lifts to do. So it is possible without breaking yourself, just think it through.

I am staring at just over 60ft or fence that need replacing because of rotten wooden posts. I have basically ignored the issue for 15 year but lock down has meant I have completed all the stuff I want to do and now facing the jobs I don’t want to do.

If I had done concrete as I originally planned I would simply be slotting in new wooden panels but because I went wood I now have this problem.

Do you want to face this problem now and again every ten years for ever?

I’ve got to replace mine this year possibly next. I’m thinking of giving this stuff a go in the hope I won’t need to do it again, just replace panels.
https://www.birkdalesales.com/durapost

Oh and as for grey beard….I moved house so not my problem but i really really pity anybody trying to remove the posts i put in. I sunk them 2’6″ or wasit 2’9″….rubble, a bag of post crete and a bag of ballast mixed at 6:1 with mastercrete. there must be 50-60Kg on the bottom of each post!

in my defence, I did apply thomsons watershield to each post to combat frost damage

Soil makes a difference, I live right on the coast, it’s pretty much sand, which doesn’t hold water, so posts don’t rot as fast, and I can dig out an old concreted in post in a few minutes.

I’m replacing a fence now that was bloody old looking when we moved here 10 years ago, I actually quite enjoy building a fence, or building a deck.

Digging out the 20 post holes will wreck you way before the carrying of the concrete posts breaks your back.

Its serious manual graft

How do you fasten a timber wall plate to the Durapost posts? I will need to put a couple of gates in.

Digging out the 20 post holes will wreck you way before the carrying of the concrete posts breaks your back.

Its serious manual graft

I’m hoping I can lever them out with a long timber and a fulcrum.

A couple are embedded in a concrete deck though so may have to hire some sort of concrete breaker.

That’s what powered augers were made for. Still took me a day to drill 12 holes in my god forsaken strip of land I call a garden.

What do you think?

Duraposts with 183 cm cheap lap fence panels? Go cheap and don’t even bother with gravel boards (which would need to be composite anyway or timber with the duraposts)?

If I go with gravel boards it makes the overall height ~2 m and I would need the next size durapost (2700 mm IIRC instead of 2400 mm). Makes cost about 50% more.

The concrete post for wooden cant rails that I used had to go down 2′ 6″ and were one of the heaviest things I’ve lifted on my own!!! I expect them to survive a nuclear zombie war.

Concrete posts, Arris rails, and feather edge.
I did over 40m of it about 8 years ago, and my weight hovers around 10st.
Looks much nicer than panels imho, and easy to replace the odd board.
Yes, the parts are heavy, but just dug the holes, prop the parts, and Postcrete. Done.
I’ve just done another run of steel posts using the same method and it’s as simple as I remember.

I’d really advise getting a massive digging bar if you haven’t already. That, a trenching spade, and a post hole digger (the two spades pivoted together things) were pretty much essential, especially as it was clay after about a foot of digging.
You stick the bar down, lever a bit of clay, then grab it with the post hole thingy.
The bar was also essential for breaking though the first foot of rubble!
Tried a hand auger, it was rubbish. Don’t know if the powered ones are any better!

Roughly where are you in the country, I could give you a price for the job.

Well, I’m certainly thinking of timber posts now, maybe soak the ends in extra preservative over night. It would mean timber gravel boards too.

Gravel boards should last decades being above ground (ours are fine after 20 years). Posts will rot through, use concrete spurs…

Before:
[url=https://flic.kr/p/wiM3jP]Rot[/url] by Ben Freeman, on Flickr

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

I have retro-fitted added nearly 50 of these in the last year. Digging out the old concrete 2′ down was a bitch of a job, but digging the same hole fresh in earth would be pretty trivial.

I put in 23 on my own, about 3 yrs ago now. Putting the posts in alone wasnt too bad, you will need 2 for the gravel boards though and the panels.
Got help with the posts to near each hole so over the few days I did it I only had to drag each one a metre or so. I did use a wooden spacer for the gravel boards to get the spacing correct when setting them. I lifted this myself then when I a had help I dropped the concrete ones in later. Just needs a bit of planning when you do have help and the posts themselves are manageable.

Get a roughneck digging bar.. makes digging post holes much easier.
I’d also highly recommend a long handled bulldog spade.

Re removing posts with the balls of concrete on the bottom….

I out a strope round the remains and put it in low box.

Was a life saver removing the old fence. I’d have just offset the holes and left the remains if I didn’t have that option.

Do if you don’t have a 4wd or poor access then….. Digger 🙂

if you use post holders, it makes wooden posts a lot less likely to rot, and a lot more easy to change when they do, plus lighter (as you only need a 6′ post) and a smaller hole needed.

this sorta thing

https://www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk/product/taurus-concrete-in-fence-post-shoe-bolt-secure-75mm-galvanised-460959?vat=1&shopping=true&infinity=ict2~net~gaw~ar~387176555199~kw~~mt~~cmp~Smart%20Shopping%20%3E%20Top%20Products~ag~Ad%20group&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-_j1BRDkARIsAJcfmTGp_qKn5M5NzfM15reb8_gnzps8oH2WnAQA3s0Gy5oA9cNrjcxtppIaAhupEALw_wcB

thread revival before the years up……

looking at replacing our tatty old fence this year, its served us 10 years or more, and had a rough life from the winds across the cliff and fields where we live. could do with some advice on sinking the posts, and also a change of style?

this is the fence, its just down one side and the back too, so not tooooooo much to it (excuse the shit state of everything else too, we’re just coming out of winter arent we, thats my excuse 😀 )

firstly, we’d like to stick with wooden posts for aesthetic reasons, the present ones have started to rot and are swaying about in places. from memory i think i just sank them into earth and gravel before. so, would i be better off sinking some of those spikes into the ground this time, and putting the posts into the spikes? give them a longer life before rotting? or just sink wood into gravel again?

secondly, the style. the 3 x 6ft panels were put in to partly hide next doors ugly garage. would we get away with keeping these panels but hiding them with some of that 6ft bamboo/reed type stuff fixed to them?
and the picket fencing. we’re thinking of changing that to possibly ranch type fencing, something like this?

we dont want our small pooch to get out, nor some of the animals in the field (foxes, hares, other peoples dogs) to get in, so either closer slats or wide slats with chicken wire?
main priority is we want to keep as much of the view as possible and not close it off, so no solid panels.
looking at google pics of ranch types tho, they look like the posts have oblong holes all the way through for the slats to enter, think that may be beyond my skills and tools.
(EDIT: just been looking at more of these on google and not all of them do, so that may still be the winner)

id be happy having a bash at making our own fence if its just a case of screwing slats to posts, and it can also be made to measure then rather than hoping any new ‘ready made’ panels are exactly the same size. this would also mean i could definitely use the same holes for posts.

id appreciate any advice please? best way of fixing the wooden posts and any other ideas for panels that would keep the view?

thanks

would i be better off sinking some of those spikes into the ground this time, and putting the posts into the spikes?

Yep. Digging out a rotten post set in postcrete is a PITA. I replaced with metpost spikes set into postcrete. Just need to hold it straight while it’s setting.

Re removing posts – hire a post puller
National tool hire iirc

I did all our fencing as the house build sucked away all our cash

I went for heavy timber posts – treated
Arris rails and feather board
Bought a dewalt electric nailer

Worst lifting was removing old posts to front of house

Rest of the job was fine – wife helped steady posts as I applied postcrete

Dig massive trench at end of garden to create ha-ha?

Stock net is probably the most see through option that does what you want, short of being attractive. Could do hi-tensile wires, but you’ll need good end posts, intermediates would just be spacers not even in the ground to rot or whip with strimmer.

One tip I learned from watching American DIY shows, treated fence posts are set in concrete that sits on a pea-shingle sump.

One tip from personal experience. Our local fence chap always leaves 24 hours between setting posts and erecting the rest of the boarding or panelling.

Had 16 fence panels replaced last summer. We are both 5ft5 so no way we could lift them high enough to slot them in. Happily paid someone else to do it.

Doable on your own. They are heavy but if you just use your head moving then about. I got a mate to help me lift each close to final position then got on with it. Didn’t want him hanging around all day.
Prep the hole then tilt the post in. You don’t have to lift the full weight. Prep is important as you want to avoid lifting in and out

As someone who gets asked to put fences in from time to time. I prefer timber posts, rails and feather edge with a capping rail. Decent 4×4 posts are plenty durable, I coat the bottom of the post that sits in the ground with a layer of bitumen paint so its sitting about 6″ out the ground. If I’m using a timber gravel board, I’ll coat that too…

I used concrete spurs then bolted wooden posts to them, posts are cut above the level of the soil.
Spurs make it a one man job to replace a fence and I dont have to interrupt the wifes Facebook time asking for help……….

I replaced all the rotting wooden posts and panels with concrete posts and gravel boards in our last place. I could manage the regular posts no problem – they were about 30kg, but the corner ones were about 50kg – I only weigh 60kg 😳 We deliberately didn’t go for 6ft high panels – 5 foot ones with trellis on top as we weren’t overlooked. Despite me and Mrs DB being of equal stature, we still managed to work out a technique of lifting up and sliding the panels in. Essential tools were a 6ft prybar/wrecking bar to lever out the old posts/ break off the concrete and a narrow fence/trench spade with a long handle.
At our new place, we have an entirely different scale of problem – our rear boundary is a dry stone wall 25m long, 1 metre high that needs completely rebuilding, plus a gateway and some steps building-in.

I replaced with metpost spikes set into postcrete. Just need to hold it straight while it’s setting.

trying to avoid the use of concrete really, would the spikes be solid enough in hardpacked gravel?

Stock net is probably the most see through option that does what you want, short of being attractive.

thanks, i think thats probably what i meant by chicken wire. so a choice really of wide-set slats backed with wire, or close set slats.

thanks

@sadexpunk just remember it’s small holes at the bottom and big holes at the top, see so much upsidedown stock net in gardens. You can probably find a btcv/tcv fencing guide in the library

@dovebiker creating a gateway will probably give you all or most the stone you need for repairs. Volunteering with your local National Park or National Trust could help you learn the drystone walling skills and let you practice on someone else’s wall first.

I replaced my wood ones twice before using concrete. Preferred wood but the soil here holds the water so no matter how you treat them they rot and start to break. Panels then get damaged and so on and looks awful until you replace the lot. Glad I did concrete in the end.