Planed Fence post disaster - Major splits and Bowing

[kavehh]

Hello everyone,

I was hoping I'd be just reading this thread not posting on it! )

I'm in need of desperate help. To enhance the look of my garden I opted in for 4x4 Planed & Rounded Timber Tanalised Fence Posts from Monkroyds instead of common sawn timber posts

I purchased them in November and installed them a week after.

Now I'm in big trouble, every single post have major vertical cracks on them. Long and deep and most of them have bowed significantly.



I haven't contacted them yet and I thought I'd get advise from pros on this forum first.

I appreciate that timber is a natural product and that minor surface checking can occur as it dries. However, this goes well beyond what I would reasonably expect from a structural fence post. The amount of movement and distortion has left me concerned that the timber supplied was either excessively wet or otherwise unsuitable for its intended purpose. Also the actual timber I received looked significantly different to what is shown on the website. it doesn't look like they've been properly tantalised.



My question is what are my rights? I don't want just refund from them. to change them it's going to be a major mission as they are in concrete.


Thank you

 

[yorksbuilder]

As they've been installed since November, you're outside both the 30-day short-term right to reject and the first six months where a fault is presumed to have been present at delivery. That doesn't mean you have no rights, but the burden is now on you to show the posts were inherently defective when supplied.


If every post has developed severe splits and bowing, it may be worth asking the retailer to inspect them, but don't assume they'll automatically be liable for the cost of replacing the fence. They may argue that checking and movement are natural characteristics of treated timber, so you may need independent evidence if they dispute your claim.

Timber does move with the seasons, so some of the checking may close up a little in autumn and winter as the moisture content increases. However, significant bowing and deep splits are unlikely to reverse, so I wouldn't rely on the weather fixing the problem.

May be a case for cutting your losses and replacing with concrete posts, or Durapost, to avoid issues with timber.