Having a fence to replace sooner rather than later I’m struggling to get concrete fence posts…
I need a set of 11 2.7m slotted posts but coming up blank locally and national places likes wickes/B&Q/homebase

(A mix of negative from “stock not online” to 40 – 70 days delivery only..to 12 available in Inverness.)
Would be nice if I could collect some panels and concrete gravel boards at the same time but less critical…

Obligatory double-up ???

Check ebay
eg. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262998218267

I bought mine from a local wood/fence place who were putting adverts up on facebook market place.

@DexB

Damn, that’s really cheap as well but they only have 6′ posts 🙁
Quick ebay search shows they seem to be the only ones on ebay.co.uk 🙁

I bought mine from a local wood/fence place who were putting adverts up on facebook market place.

Was that recently ???
I’ll try but so far been told “its a national shortage” by 2 local (ish) suppliers.
AVS said don’t know when they’ll be in stock… (shame as I can combine with s4p Milford) and NDP @ Eversely (erm Fleet DJ/Pump track) are saying 4 weeks … “possibly”

Do they really need to be concrete?

What about getting some nice Durapost metal ones…

https://countrysupplies.uk.com/durapost-classic-galvanised-p-11653?_=5362

< Nips outside for a second>

Cheap, available AND they don’t look like shit.

(IMHO)

….. grass needs cutting.

Local building materials companies would be my first call, as presumably you’ll need them delivered.

As a side note, we got 2 packs of standard concrete pavers delivered a month ago from our usual supplier, Travis Perkins, and they mentioned that all concrete products were struggling for supply.

….. grass needs cutting.

Why thank you. Very nice of you to say so. 🙂

I was worried it wouldn’t take properly in all the dry weather.

the generalist

Cheap, available AND they don’t look like shit.

Looks very nice IMHO but I don’t get a say.

Local building materials companies would be my first call, as presumably you’ll need them delivered.

I’d planned to just chuck em in the van…
My experience with local building materials companies is you need to have a trade account .. seems only yesterday but last year I was struggling to get plaster, driving miles to join hundreds in a queue at 07:00… and I can feel that coming on again.

Was that recently ???

It was a few months back, but it looks like there are still some locally (for me at least), listed under “concrete products” (assuming 2.7m is either 8 or 9 ft).

@thegeneralist, that looks great and has given me some ideas for our front fence. I guess you could even clad the post for that timber only look.

Going through ebay, seems the country’s entire supply of concrete posts is located in Knutsford!

Going through ebay, seems the country’s entire supply of concrete posts is located in Knutsford!

Phew…

that looks great and has given me some ideas for our front fence.

If you look closer then you can see that the post only had holes for screwing the panels in on the bottom section of the post…. you can see about 15 of them until the point where the post disappears into the postcrete.

I nearly phoned them up to ask why the holes were on the wron…..

🥵🥺😟

nearly phoned them up to ask why the holes were on the wron…..

Never mind. They still doing a great job of holding those pallets up till you get the fence finished ;);););)

My experience with local building materials companies is you need to have a trade account ..

Yep, and we do 🙂

Advantage is free delivery with no lower spend limit – very handy for such as a single sheet of plasterboard.

New Forest Fencing in Hampshire have a selection of sizes. I recently replaced the rear garden fence with concrete posts and concrete gravel boards so hopefully will not need to do anything more for a long time.

Never mind. They still doing a great job of holding those pallets up till you get the fence finished ;);););)

😉

Set up a trade account as a sole trader

Bruneep I’ll have you know…. Mines weren’t pallets they were screen wrappings 😉 free woods free wood

Set up a trade account as a sole trader

Its sorted now* thanks to your suggestion … Free delivery was as fast as collection (next Mon) so I went for that.

I looked at a trade account last Mar/April in the “great plaster drought of 2020” when I found some but they (whoever it was) wanted all sorts of proofs. Ended up buying some stuff from a bloke in a dodgy lockup and £25 a bag!! (Probably nicked but what can you do)

*Still not got the concrete gravel boards but worst case I can add those later…

WCA

I recently replaced the rear garden fence with concrete posts and concrete gravel boards so hopefully will not need to do anything more for a long time.

Yep that’s my plan … the existing fence is pretty much sticking plasters and string (and a few concrete 1/2 post things)… been waiting for it to fail to do the lot properly…

Hopefully the professionals that did the job last time put the fence up wonky because they are professionals, not just to avoid pre-existing concrete or I might have to hire a jackhammer… most of the original 1920’s concrete hidden under the lawn has chert/flint aggregate which is unpleasant with a RDS chisel/drill.

Just been SDSing an old concrete post base out, it isn’t fun and I have given up at 10″. There were a few bricks used for good luck. That will have to do.

8when removing the old council spec concrete posts at mine i put a strope round and run it over a spare wheel and attached it to the renault Zoe* and pulled them out .

*oh wait no I got that wrong I used the land rover in low box.

and attached it to the renault Zoe* and pulled them out .

Ah …. that explains a lot.
I did contact a member of this forum who happens to have a Zoe as I happened to know they had bought a post shovel and auger from their FB … made a decent offer rather than buying new for something I hope I’ll only ever use once and they presumably hope the same … got a decent price for both of us but now I know .. they are just planning to use the Zoe next time 😉

DezB

Going through ebay, seems the country’s entire supply of concrete posts is located in Knutsford!

And Essex but it’s interesting when something runs out to see where these “islands” are.. also seem to be plenty Inverness way… (but that’s probably too far to drive).. and these seem to somehow fit the map I made last year of plaster availability and plotting delivery trucks making drops on that map. (or perhaps that’s just me)

And Essex but it’s interesting when something runs out to see where these “islands” are..

So trip to Finchingfield Northern essex tomorrow for the corner post… 100 miles each way but only 50 miles from there to Twisted Oaks so booked a day there.

Bizarre situation. Are all these shortages down to Covid?

National shortage for a range of reasons

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/may/15/building-crisis-looms-as-dwindling-supplies-bring-sites-grinding-to-a-halt

A global sand shortage is causing concrete supply issues. The construction industry would be rebounding a lot stronger if it wasn’t for shortage of building materials. Our raw materials have increased in price by 60% this yes R so far. To what extent Brexit is to blame is unclear but no doubt it has had an influence. I think a good chunk of inflation is around the corner, possible with a hike in interest rates too.

dezB

Bizarre situation. Are all these shortages down to Covid?

I don’t think its helping but … I dunno shortages of cement but I know Castle was in full production…

When I returned a damaged (as delivered) fence post I saw a load of postcrete not listed. Weirdly I’ve been able to get fast set (which has a shorter shelf life and requires more exotic stuff added).. but the regular was being moved about and I was told it is all pre-spoken for for months ahead …

Today I’m replacing the damaged fence post and buying a corner post as well (having now determined where the fence can go without pulling up all the neighbours badly laid patio)
I did have a chance of 1 local delivery but the officially won’t let me unload… and had a clause about charging for the delivery if two people are not available to unload.

Places like Wickes are just making it more difficult as you can’t click and collect anything heavier than 20kg so you can’t reserve 1-2 bags and merely need to check the night before, get there before 06:00 and join the queue. Even the search is crippled… it defaults to “in stock” AND “click and collect” but since you can’t click and collect it shows zero until you find the edit search button…

As I type Bracknell Wickes has “BRACKNEL 305 IN STOCK” of blue circle cement… but no point driving now as it will likely be gone before I can get there.