The other day a brisk wind resulted in a couple of sections of garden fencing flapping about. It didn’t take but a moment to see that two fence posts had given out just below the soil where they met with the cement footing. Damn!
Two new posts and a bag of that there post-crete purchased – you know the stuff, that cement wot sets in seconds – and I was good to go. Damn!
First off I needed to separate the panels from the posts and this I did by easing a small gap with a pinch bar and sawing through the nails with a hacksaw blade while making a mental note to use screws this time. Damn! As I thoughtlessly cut from top to bottom, the last cut resulted in the post tumbling to the ground via my head. Damn! Spookily, it happened just the same with the second post. Damn!
Okay, that was the easy bit but now I had to dig down a couple of feet and attempt to get the large lumps of concrete out of the ground. Happily, after digging down, a light came on in my old head and with the dexterous use of a brick bolster and a lump hammer, I was able to break out just the concrete on my side of the fence and square with one side. This allowed me to remove the rotted out foot of the post leaving three sides of the original concrete support intact.
I scooped out another inch from the footing and threw a handful of gravel in as a soak-away and then the new, previously treated, post just slotted right in there perfectly plum and lined up via the three sided original support. After that I banked up some earth, threw in the concrete, poured water in ‘till it showed just above the powder, counted slowly up to a fairly big number and screwed the panel back. Repeat for post two and JD. How clever is that then? Wot’s that you say? Everyone chops the old concrete like that? Okay, everyone and me now. Damn!
Quote; Rick Riordan.
“I spread my majestic wings. I had really done it! I was a noble falcon, lord of the sky. I launched myself off the sidewalk and flew straight into the fence.”
2 comments:
Concrete posts every time. Plant and forget.
Ripper,
True - slotted type - and that was on my list of considerations when I replaced all the fence panels a couple of years ago. At the time all the timber posts seemed in good health and, sadly, you arrive at a time in life when, amongst all considerations relating to a task, cost and effort need to equate with how long I’ll be here to benefit. A sort of, ‘Will this way outlast me?’ question. Not the right attitude I know, but...
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