Fence Posts have 'moved' after concrete is set?

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kkatz

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Hi everyone,

We are a bit bemused by this. We set 4x4 timber posts with postfix. They were aligned spot on. Now, about 1 week later most of them have 'tilted' by about 2 or 3cm -maybe more- either to the side or forward or back. We used 1.5 bags per post - as opposed to 1 bag - posts are 240m high buried 18".

How will this affect fitting our rails and feather edge? We don't get how this happened. Does it matter anyway?

What could be the possible explanations for this? :rolleyes:

Many Thanks,
kkatz
 
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sounds like the posts have dried out and warped as they have done so.
 
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where did you get the posts from by the way?

are they actually off level when a spirit level is put on them down there whole length.

When you put them in, when was the last time you checked them, was it before the concrete went in?
 
concrete posts wouldn't have warped
Click to expand...

In the original post, he said timber posts set in concrete!

2-3cm I would imagine woudl be from as Thermo suggested and the wood has warped a little. I would imagine though, that it shouldn't cause too much of an issue to continue with your fence. You could 'pin' them back for a few days or simply screw the fence in place. The posts shouldn't be too stressed, and after a couple of wet/dry cycles will relax to their new position. This is what I found when putting the garden fence up anyway - builders had put the posts in but no batons etc when we bought the house, but they had warped in the adverse weather. Fence been up around a year now and no probs...

Hope this helps

Dave
 
Anyway, Thermo should be out digging holes. i think he's hiding in his shed because it's raining today :LOL:
 
Thermo said:
where did you get the posts from by the way?

are they actually off level when a spirit level is put on them down there whole length.

When you put them in, when was the last time you checked them, was it before the concrete went in?
Click to expand...

Hi thermo, posts were bought from my local saw mill in our village.

we attatched spirit levels to front and side when erecting and positioning, they stayed in place until postfix had set - 15 mins. We checked them again end of day and then every day for first 4 or 5 days. Then checked one week after with levels in same position, that was when we discovered they'd 'moved'.

We haven't used a spirit level that runs the lenght of the post.

Did not think the posts would've warped? that's not good is it? does that mean they're c***p posts!
 
JohnD said:
DaveStewart said:
In the original post, he said timber posts set in concrete!
Click to expand...
I know he did

but Thermo hasn't yet fully realised all the advantages of concrete posts
Click to expand...

ah, we did wonder if maybe we should have put up rest of fencing eg, attatched rails and feather board, but we reckoned leaving them a while to 'set' solid would've been better, besides we still had about another 18 to do!

regards, kkatz
 
Doesn't mean they are crap posts - just wood is prone to warping anyway! What has the weather been like since you put them up? And were they dry or wet when you put them up?

Thinking about it, I had the same when laying the decking in the back garden! They were 18' long and it rained for several days they'd warped! Didn't take much to persuade them to go straight when laying them though!

I wouldn't worry too much about it - just once done I would weather proof paint them as soon as you can.

HTH

Dave
 
JohnD said:
:(

concrete posts wouldn't have warped
Click to expand...

hi john, I have concrete posts running down one length of garden and they're a mess! they're falling over and the concrete's crumbled off them with metal rods hanging out! my timber ones look much nicer!

maybe they're just not very nice ones in my garden!

regards, kkatz
 
kkatz said:
Thermo said:
where did you get the posts from by the way?

are they actually off level when a spirit level is put on them down there whole length.

When you put them in, when was the last time you checked them, was it before the concrete went in?
Click to expand...

Hi thermo, posts were bought from my local saw mill in our village.

we attatched spirit levels to front and side when erecting and positioning, they stayed in place until postfix had set - 15 mins. We checked them again end of day and then every day for first 4 or 5 days. Then checked one week after with levels in same position, that was when we discovered they'd 'moved'.

We haven't used a spirit level that runs the length of the post.

Did not think the posts would've warped? that's not good is it? does that mean they're c***p posts!
Click to expand...

Duh! I guess we can run our smaller level down the post! watch this space for results!
 
DaveStewart said:
Doesn't mean they are rubbish posts - just wood is prone to warping anyway! What has the weather been like since you put them up? And were they dry or wet when you put them up?

Thinking about it, I had the same when laying the decking in the back garden! They were 18' long and it rained for several days they'd warped! Didn't take much to persuade them to go straight when laying them though!

I wouldn't worry too much about it - just once done I would weather proof paint them as soon as you can.

HTH

Dave
Click to expand...

hi dave, they'd been out in the saw mills yard so were wet when we bought them. When we erected them they were dry. Weather was dry one day and then drizzle on some days rest of week. Today has been the first real heavy rain since.

The guy at saw mill reckons we don't need to weather proof them as they've been treated? Can you get colourless to paint on? I really like its natural colour and the grain.

cheers, kkatz
 
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