How to Install Fence Posts in Concrete

Installing the fence posts is a crucial first step to getting your new fence up and ready to go. Use a good brand of cement and the following steps to ensure your fence posts remain firmly and permanently in place.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Superpost or Basalite Brand Concrete
• Posthole Diggers
• Wire
• Posthole Augers
• 1-by-2 Boards
• Fence Posts
• Garden Trowels
• 2-by-4 Boards
• Twine
• Gravel
• Carts Or Wheelbarrows
• Cement
• Levels
• Garden Stakes
• Sand

1. Pound a stake into the ground at each spot where the posts will go.

2. Run a string around the perimeter of your fence line. This will identify potential problems with hedges, trees, and other objects.

3. Cut or buy posts that are 2 feet longer than the finished fence height.

4. Use a posthole auger or digger to make a 2-foot hole at the post site.

5. Put 2 to 3 inches of gravel in the bottom of the hole for drainage.

6. Set the post into the hole.

7. Level the post with a bubble level; anchor the post with stakes and wire or by nailing a couple of 2-by-4s to it.

8. Mix the concrete: one part cement, two parts sand, three parts gravel. Add enough water to make it thick but not chunky.

9. Pour concrete into the hole up to ground level. Poke the air bubbles out of the concrete with a 1-by-2 board.

10. Check the level and adjust the post if necessary.

11. Use a trowel to add some more concrete around the base of the post, making it mound-shaped. This will allow water to run off and not pool around the post.

Tips & Warnings

• Mix the concrete in a wheelbarrow for easiest mobility.

[projectmgr]

on 8/15/2008 Step number one; verify where the property lines are and contact the underground utility companies to see where the gas line and possible electricity lines are. I agree concrete setting of posts is a bad idea where ever there is winter frost heave. The concrete will almost always be pushed up out of the ground.

[northernhammer]

on 4/21/2007 Save old posts: Where I live on the wet coast of Canada on southern Vancouver Island it's hard to keep up with the rot on the bottoms of the posts. I have resorted to scrounging pieces of i/4" thick 2"X2" or bigger angle iron. I cut them about 2 1/2 feet long and drill them with 7/16" holes about an inch from the end and then again about 8 inches or so up. I bolt that or use long lag screws to fasten the angle to the lower end of the post. I then embed the lower end of the angle iron in concrete taking care to first clean out the old post hole and maybe widen it a bit more. If you are lucky you won't have to actually remove the old post to do this and you will be able to get several more years use out of it.

[northernhammer]

on 4/21/2007 Save old posts: Where I live on the wet coast of Canada on southern Vancouver Island it's hard to keep up with the rot on the bottoms of the posts. I have resorted to scrounging pieces of i/4" thick 2"X2" or bigger angle iron. I cut them about 2 1/2 feet long and drill them with 7/16" holes about an inch from the end and then again about 8 inches or so up. I bolt that or use long lag screws to fasten the angle to the lower end of the post. I then embed the lower end of the angle iron in concrete taking care to first clean out the old post hole and maybe widen it a bit more. If you are lucky you won't have to actually remove the old post to do this and you will be able to get several more years use out of it.

on 11/22/2005 I am a contractor who runs 5 fence installing crews. When setting wooden posts we recommend using crushed gravel (compacted in the hole) instead of concrete. This allows moisture to drain away from the post and is far less prone to frost heaves in the winter. As long as the post is set in-ground a minimum of 1/4 the total post length it will set up as firm as concrete within a couple of weeks.

If you must use concrete:
Be forewarned that mixing in a wheelbarrow is a royal pain. Our preferred method of mixing is to pour a 50# bag of premix into a plastic 5 gallon pail, 1/2 bag at a time. Add water and mix with a short handled square blade garden shovel, in a washing machine agitator type motion. Continue to add water until the mix is very runny. Then add the last 1/2 of the bag to the pail and while continuing to mix, add just enough more water to give you a loose pourable consistency. Stand the post in the the correct location of your pre-dug hole and pour the concrete mix as evenly as possible. Use the shovel to move the concrete around in the hole if needed. Now level and true up your post. We recommend using 2 braces (scrap wood tacked to post at 90 degree angles for full lateral support) to hold post for 24 hours, 36 hours in cool or damp conditions. When you pull off the braces, the post should not move using this technique, and the concrete will not crack while hanging the fence.

on 11/22/2005 There is a product, called SuperPost, that will protect your wood posts from rotting and makes removing them really simple. They install into concrete the same way, but you slide the SuperPost onto your posts prior to setting them into the concrete. They have a watertight seal at the top to prevent moisture into the sleeve. They work really well. If you ever want to remove the posts, they simply slide out of the SuperPost. It's that easy.