Concreting in fence posts

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14 Jan 2005
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Hiya,
We bought some wooden fence posts, met posts and some postfix mix to erect a fence. We followed the met post and postfix instructions and it hasn't worked. The met posts are the ones where the metal attaches to the wooden pole and then has as much metal again that goes into the concrete - sinking only the bottom half into the concrete. The postfix was a quick dry mix of 20 mins setting time. We did the posts and concreting yesterday and left it overnight.

When trying to attach the fence panels today the posts weren't solid in the ground and the concrete you can break apart with your hands it's so soft.

What's gone wrong? Has the mix not set as it rained tonnes last night?
Is it a crap mix? If so, what would be a better mix to use?

Any advice would be fantastic!
 
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firstly take the met posts and either bin them or take them back. they area waste of time and money.

Dig a hole 1/3 the height of the fence, ie 2 feet for a 6 foot high fence. the hole should be small enough so that you can just get the post and the conceret in, preferably larger at the bottom, than the top of the hole. Place the post in and pour in a dry mix of concrete, or post mix. Ram it home very well, with a metal bar, or wooden pole. Top it up again and repeat. You should now have a very firm post. You can now carry on erecting the fence. At the end of the job pour on some water and leave well alone. Job done and a damn sight better than using metposts that will leave you with a wobbly fence.
 
My father inlaw had paid a "professional" to erect a new fence and after a few weeks he had problems and asked me to take a look at it.

They had used the metal posts, they are a complete waste of time and money. As Thermo says sink the posts straight into the ground and forget the posts.
 
we take so many of the bloody things out. No pros should be using them. The only good thing is we save them all for the scrap metal!
 
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These spikes are rubbish, but the OP describes a different problem. The concrete does not appear to have set up. Might be because the bags were very old. How much depth of concrete did you have, how long were the spikes, and how much spike was left out of the ground?

As you prob have to take them out anyway, if you can afford it, get new 8' posts and do as the good Dr. Thermo suggests.
 
or concrete posts set in concrete. They will not rot.
 
Agreed, though not everyone likes concrete posts. Either way, better to not use those spikes!
 

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