Fence Post Foundation
After reading about the hazards of mounting fence posts in soil or in concrete, I found a blog post that recommends pvc or polymer sleeves on gravel and held in place with concrete on all sides. Then add gravel to the sleeve to level the top of your post, drop in the post and screw…
After reading about the hazards of mounting fence posts in soil or in concrete, I found a blog post that recommends pvc or polymer sleeves on gravel and held in place with concrete on all sides. Then add gravel to the sleeve to level the top of your post, drop in the post and screw the it to the sides of the sleeve, then fill in around the sleeve with gravel and earth.
It sounds good to me, allowing moisture to drain from the wood. Has anyone had experience with this technique? Anyone know where to get the sleeves?
Looking back, I should have been more diplomatic, Jim. You have enriched this forum a great deal. I am a homeowner currently doing a DIY fence and have become, typically, a little obsessive about fence construction lately. I really dislike the way most fences are constructed and the way they look. I have come up with a nice solution and will build it this weekend.
Right. My apologies. I was thinking deck, not fence. Good call tm.
This from Jim Hill’s link—http://www.strongtie.com/products/connectors/AB-ABA-ABE-ABU.asp—”Post bases do not provide adequate resistance to prevent members from rotating about the base and therefore are not recommended for non top-supported installations (such as FENCES or unbraced carports).”
Simpson does have: http://www.strongtie.com/products/connectors/ezfence.asp which I’m not too crazy about though.
Careful what you write Jim.
Sure sounds like a lot of work when you can much more easily use a Simpson post anchor which keeps the wood off the concrete and ground, allows for much easier adjusting and can easily be concealed with some nice trim.
http://www.strongtie.com/products/connectors/AB-ABA-ABE-ABU.asp
But what do I know, I’m just an architect.
I had just the opposite done, which I think is more common, and looks nicer…..they use a PVC pipe as the POST, cement it in the ground and then the square wood post slides over that, not touching the ground. But yes, there are PVC square posts sold out there.