Protecting the bottom of fence posts - advice please

[yhanni]

I have managed to buy some 'proper' creosote but would you mix it with anything else? For example engine oil? If so, what ratio would you use?
This is for a post and rail fence around the garden so won't be subject to horse meddling! The posts will be set in concrete and sitting on a thin bed of gravel. It's proving a PITA to do so want it to last!

 

[meleeka]

I’d soak in used engine oil for a few days before you use them if you have some and save the creosote for the bits you can see.

 

[yhanni]

Thank you Meleeka. I'll give the garage a ring.

 

[Bob notacob]

Not sitting them in concrete will add years to their life.

 

[yhanni]

Really? How would you set them in then? We were following advice off t'internet. Our soil is heavy clay with plenty of broken bricks, tiles, coal etc. The land is also moving very very gradually. Would you concrete the corner posts? How would you support them?

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I have managed to buy some 'proper' creosote but would you mix it with anything else? For example engine oil? If so, what ratio would you use?
This is for a post and rail fence around the garden so won't be subject to horse meddling! The posts will be set in concrete and sitting on a thin bed of gravel. It's proving a PITA to do so want it to last!

Yes mixed with engine oil, but have the post been pressure treated?

My fencing fencing guy just puts them in the ground if I cannot paint them 20 years and still ok.


Not advisable to set in concrete, if concrete is badly mixed it gets loose and post comes out. + if the post eve breaks you cannot put another back in it's place or within a foot round it due to the rest of the concrete.

 

[meleeka]

I have posts concreted in. If you don’t they end up loose eventually.

 

[JillA]

Some of mine have been wrapped in thick plastic feed bags. The bit above ground has broken down in the UV but I don't know about the bit under the ground level, they were done about 4 years ago

 

[popsdosh]

These wraps are specified by rail track and other large jobs to protect wooden post
https://www.postsaver-shop.co.uk/

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I have posts concreted in. If you don’t they end up loose eventually.

I have been advised by many not to concrete them as concrete does get loose with horses rubbing on the posts. We had some concreted in and we found this when we had to re do the whole fence line in a different line as the new post could not go back in because of the concrete bases.



One fencer did this and the ground around the base kept the concrete from drying and when it did, the concrete shrank so now the whole line of fencing is loose.

First rule, gang: Do not set wooden posts in concrete. Look, no matter what preventative steps you take (and I'll get to those), eventually wooden posts rot, and eventually you'll have to set new ones. Not only does burying them in concrete make for more work down the line. The concrete base aids like a cup, the cup will fill with water and rot the base of the posts faster. As concrete and other materials shrinks it leaves a space between the soil and the concrete base, water seeps into this space and speeds up rotting

 

[Goldenstar]

Concrete is a disaster but you do have to use it sometimes for gate posts in some locations .
IME soaking in creosote does help a lot particularly with the smaller round post we use for semi permanent electric fencing .
Which engine oil does help to stop the colour fading I am not use it adds anything in term of preservative verses soaking in creosote .
For my round posts I do bottom foot or so for four days .

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Engine oil def won't do anything for the part of the posts in the ground. It's great for mixing 50/50 to darken posts and rails in the field and tends to help prevent fencing from being eaten by horses.

Get a big barrell and leave the points submerged in the creosote you have, up to 18 inches submerged, for at least 3 days or so, then drain them off for another few days under cover if possible.

If for garden, then i wouldn't be using pointed posts unless going direct into ground.
If concreting in, then blunt posts best.

Even better would be using metal points and bolting posts to them then back filling, so you can reuse the metal point supports in the future.

Hope this helps

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

As someone has already mentioned get some used engine oil & put it in a large container & then soak your wooden posts in the oil for a few days, soak them to above where the ground level will come. In the end no matter what you do you can prolong the life of the piost but they will eventually roat & break off at ground level. Around my garden when I was short of cash when first nuying the house I used wooden posts. They lasted fairly well but when they needed replacing I used concrete posts & gravel boards & the panels have been fine.

At our stables when the wooden posts rotted & needed replacing we replaced them with plastic posts measuring about 4" x 2" & these will never rot. We drilled holes through the posts to run the electric tape as the posts are automatically insulated & the paddocks look & work amazing. The posts were black in colour, bought off the internet, were about 11' long & we cut them in two. They've been in for over 12 months & all are still good, no breaking all good. They actually worked out cheaper than replacing with wooden & we've needed no insulators!,

 

[JillA]

As someone has already mentioned get some used engine oil & put it in a large container & then soak your wooden posts in the oil for a few days, soak them to above where the ground level will come. In the end no matter what you do you can prolong the life of the piost but they will eventually roat & break off at ground level. Around my garden when I was short of cash when first nuying the house I used wooden posts. They lasted fairly well but when they needed replacing I used concrete posts & gravel boards & the panels have been fine.

At our stables when the wooden posts rotted & needed replacing we replaced them with plastic posts measuring about 4" x 2" & these will never rot. We drilled holes through the posts to run the electric tape as the posts are automatically insulated & the paddocks look & work amazing. The posts were black in colour, bought off the internet, were about 11' long & we cut them in two. They've been in for over 12 months & all are still good, no breaking all good. They actually worked out cheaper than replacing with wooden & we've needed no insulators!,

Be interesting to see how they last long term - plastic deteriorates and goes brittle in UV light, maybe they are treated in some way?

 

[lamlyn2012]

We used creosote and engine oil once but wouldn't use it again. Everytime you touched it it came off on your hands or clothes and if the horses rubbed on it it marked their coats.
If you concrete posts on the concrete should be slightly raised to the middle so the water runs off.

 

[Casey76]

For garden use, I really recommend using Metaposts. The spikes are about 18in long for 7x7cm, and at least 2ft for 10x10cm.

Bang them in with a decent sledgehammer and they wont move. I used them when I divided my garden, and the fence posts haven;t moved in almost 10 years, despite being used as a climbing frame for cats, having a tree fall on the fence (wire fence kaput, fence posts never moved) etc.

 

[Hack4fun]

I would use good quality pressure treated posts straight into the ground - I would not soak in engine oil which can be carcinogenic and may not provide protection. Avoid concrete if you can - it accelerates rotting at the top of the concrete.

 

[Cahill]

posts from 30 years ago are still good but have some from only a couple of years ago that have rotted.
they say they are treated but not as they were in the older days.prob EC rules about chemicals?

 

[Suechoccy]

posts from 30 years ago are still good but have some from only a couple of years ago that have rotted.
they say they are treated but not as they were in the older days.prob EC rules about chemicals?

Thanks Cahill, you may have just solved a mystery for me .... fenceposts I put in 20 years ago are mainly still solid, fenceposts I had put in 4 years ago I'm about to replace a few of them as they have rotted at the bottom. Both were preservative-treated (the 4 year old ones UC and the 20 year old one whatever it was that was used 20 years ago, not creosote as same colour as the UC ones).

 

[Bob notacob]

Really? How would you set them in then? We were following advice off t'internet. Our soil is heavy clay with plenty of broken bricks, tiles, coal etc. The land is also moving very very gradually. Would you concrete the corner posts? How would you support them?

Drive good quality red wood posts in deep . Brace corner posts correctly. Dont use concrete. This is professional advice,take it or leave it.

 

[Bob notacob]

Yes ,the old CCA treatment was :Copper .Chromium ,and Arsenic.Lasted 20 years>Now replaced with basicaly Nothing . Lasts 2 to 5 years. You cannot beat pressure treated creosote ,lasts up to 100 years.

 

[yhanni]

Bob notacob we've already got the posts - not red🤔. Would your advice be the same?

 

[popsdosh]

Bob notacob we've already got the posts - not red��. Would your advice be the same?

They most likely are redwood ! Its a type of pine and ideally from a slower growing region as they are denser. the manufacturers of some actually guarantee them for 15yrs

 

[honetpot]

When we moved in on my main fields I used Jackson, we are on clay and its constantly wet. We also used soaked older posts, waste of time they just rot.
We are replacing every thing with Clipex, which guaranteed for 25 years,http://clipex.co.uk/. Its easy to put up, you do not need two blokes and round our garden it has stock fence attached with a top line of electric, to keep the dogs in and the ponies out. Any wooden post that have been sorted through I am giving to a friend who's partner only looks at the price not the time and labour saved

 

[yhanni]

That looks really interesting & I will wait with anticipation to hear what you think of it in the future. Unfortunately because we're in a conservation area, we wouldn't be allowed to have that. The fence is also alongside a well used footpath so needs to be strong enough to withstand potential intruders & possible escapees - Rottie & Bull Terrier☺