[USCav]

I've done several PT fences this is going to be the first vinyl. Due to the nature of the assembly of the vinyl fence post I cant just set all the posts and go hang panels the next day.

I live in New England so I'll be going 48in deep for the posts. First 6in a base of rocks with 42in of concrete. Will be filling the tube and then setting the vinyl post in.

I dont have time to sit here and wait overnight for every post to set, thats absurd. I also dont want to fork over the cash for fast setting concrete for 48 posts. I'm curious if anybody else has been in the same boat and what they have done with it.

I'm considering filling the first 24 inches with fast setting concrete. Let it start to firm up and filling the rest with standard concrete. Perhaps the other way around.

If I wasn't in a frost zone 24in would be enough for the structural integrity of the fence so I dont see why I can't hit that 24in of fast setting to let me hang the panel and keep going while the other 18in only required for frost depth can cure over night.

If I have to buy 250+ 50lb bags of fast set, so be it but if there's a reasonable way to avoid that I would rather put that cash somewhere else.

Thanks

 

[Canarywood1]

I've done several PT fences this is going to be the first vinyl. Due to the nature of the assembly of the vinyl fence post I cant just set all the posts and go hang panels the next day.

I live in New England so I'll be going 48in deep for the posts. First 6in a base of rocks with 42in of concrete. Will be filling the tube and then setting the vinyl post in.

I dont have time to sit here and wait overnight for every post to set, thats absurd. I also dont want to fork over the cash for fast setting concrete for 48 posts. I'm curious if anybody else has been in the same boat and what they have done with it.

I'm considering filling the first 24 inches with fast setting concrete. Let it start to firm up and filling the rest with standard concrete. Perhaps the other way around.

If I wasn't in a frost zone 24in would be enough for the structural integrity of the fence so I dont see why I can't hit that 24in of fast setting to let me hang the panel and keep going while the other 18in only required for frost depth can cure over night.

If I have to buy 250+ 50lb bags of fast set, so be it but if there's a reasonable way to avoid that I would rather put that cash somewhere else.

Thanks

You'll get initial set in about 30/40 min. but i wouldn't be hanging anything heavy on that post for 4/5 hours after that.

 

[USCav]

You'll get initial set in about 30/40 min. but i wouldn't be hanging anything heavy on that post for 4/5 hours after that.

The vinyl is light in comparison to PT. You have to be able to flex the second vinyl post outward in order to insert and assemble the panel and so it is done before the concrete sets up.

A 50lb bag is .357 cubic feet. A 10in hole at 42in deep is 1.9 cubic feet. Thats just under 5.5 bags, and that sucks. 242 bags of concrete... really sucks.

The first issue I ran into that would cause a time delay was having to go 48inch down with the first 6inch being stone.

That puts me at a 42inch hole to set the post in. 9Ft posts leave me with a 6in gap that would require me filling and setting 6in of concrete before I can even set the post in. Not happening. I quickly said the hell with that and bought enough posts to chop some up into 6in pieces that I will secure to the bottom of the posts. Now I can set the post and it can not sink. 5 extra minutes per post vs an hour and not having to mix such small batch's of concrete.

I'm just trying now to see if anybody has done anything to cut down on the amount of fast setting concrete they have had to use.

 

[goobertime]

over kill in my opinion, all you have todo is cap the top of the post in concrete, especially since your going down 4 ft, again overkill...I have put up about 1000 ft of 6ft x 8 ft stockade fence 4 x 4 pt posts about 2 ft in the ground about 25 years ago in the same climate as you, none of the posts fell over or heaved from the frost, and no concrete at all...and the fence is still standing, I have replaced above ground sections , but the posts are original and in good shape..

 

[USCav]

over kill in my opinion, all you have todo is cap the top of the post in concrete, especially since your going down 4 ft, again overkill...I have put up about 1000 ft of 6ft x 8 ft stockade fence 4 x 4 pt posts about 2 ft in the ground about 25 years ago in the same climate as you, none of the posts fell over or heaved from the frost, and no concrete at all...and the fence is still standing, I have replaced above ground sections , but the posts are original and in good shape..

Hitting the frost line is not overkill. Not hitting the frost line is rolling the dice that may or may not pay off. Having to go back and correct issue's should heaving become an issue in not only going to be pretty costly but also a HUGE pain.

I have plenty of neighbors with fencing and examples of the way local soil is reacting to the posts in addition to the wind coming down off the mountain creating addition stress. My fence in the back will be hiding a 100ft stretch of neighboring fence that I can almost push over. I have a chain link fence to the North that has several posts that have been pushed up.

Nothing flares my temper more than having to do something twice and wasting money. I'm not going to have 10k in fence go down the drain.

Now if I can get away with pouring the first 18 inches with regular concrete and top it off with 24in of quick cure that would be nice. If not its only a few hundred bucks I would be saving anyways.

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,.... Ya don't mention the soil type yer dealin' with,....
I've got top clay, sub-clay, 'n bedrock limestone here,....

I've got a wooden fence that 'bout 300' long,....
'bout a year ago, 80' blew over, because I didn't take the time to shovel some stone into the holes that had loosened, allowin' more side to side movement,....
Had I gone down the length of it, shovelin' in some larger crushed stone, I coulda tighten it up,...
Hind sight is better than fore sight,....

Of the 8, 4x4s that snapped at ground level, only one was set in concrete,....
The others were just 4x4s dropped into 6" augered holes, 4' deep, 'n backfilled/ compacted with the native soil removed,...

I've found the added expense, work work for the concrete is a Waste,....

Just droppin' the 4x4 into the hole, 'n packin' it in with 3" stone holds 'em very securely,....
If the post leans, just pound in somemore stone on the low side, 'n replumb it compactin' the stone in on that side,....

The fence has been there since '85,....

The broken 4x4 weren't rotted, just the Violent wind that day set up a harmonic sway, 'n busted the 80' most exposed to the wind,....

If ya insist on concrete,....
Set the post, 'n throw a couple diagonal supports on it to hold it plumb til the concrete sets up,....

 

[USCav]

I just called one of the local fence guys that came out and did quote. Even though I told him I was going to tackle it he didn't mind me asking a couple questions. When I asked him about the frost line and setup he was pretty honest.

He said considering I dont do this every day to do it panel by panel as even the directions suggest. They got it to a science where they drop all the posts first and let them cure overnight.

When I asked about the frost line and if they concrete all the way down he said yes. I told him I had been told a few other things and he had some colorful things to say lol.
He said yes it costs more but he will warranty against frost heaving. It costs more but its returned with less problems on the fence.

I'm also not dealing with 4x4x8 PT, These are 5x5x9 vinyl posts.

 

[Canarywood1]

I understand Sakrete has a high early mix that attains 3000# in 3 hrs. if that would help.

 

[GottaFixIt]

I'm just trying now to see if anybody has done anything to cut down on the amount of fast setting concrete they have had to use.

Being up in the North, I totally agree with getting down to the frost line.

Personally, I wouldn't be concreting every post, though. Compacted crushed gravel does a damn fine job of anchoring posts, so long as you're low enough that they don't heave. Corners and gate posts are the exception.