UKC

The recent strong winds has highlighted that one of my fence posts has rotted through at the base. The others seem fine. the post has been sunk into concrete which is in soil.

Can it be repaired or will I have to replace it?

In reply to goldmember:

Setting wooden posts in to concrete isn't the best idea - water runs down the wood but can't escape so rots the wood pretty quickly.

Replace the post. Dig out the concrete "plug" as cleanly as you can; put in new post and support by packing stones (or broken bits of the old concrete plug) around it. If the last pieces of stone you put in are slate like then you can use them to get the post plumb vertical. Tamp the stones in with a sledgehammer.

While this may seem crude it is remarkably effective - we used to place stone gate stoops this way and we'd be hanging 12ft wooden gates off them.

In reply to goldmember:

Definitely needs to be replaced. Bob's reply, ever the voice of reason is probably the best. However you can get bags of fencing concrete to reset a new post. I did our fence about 7 years ago and it is still strong. I would imagine a few more years yet.

In reply to goldmember:

Thanks Bob, great suggestion of using old compacted stones.

was tempted to use a metal post, but it might look a bit odd on a wooden fence!

In reply to goldmember:

The way you do it is to line the outside of the hole with stones then work inwards towards the post but as you get near the post you protect it with a ring of stones and then the last ring or two go between that and the outer stones. ASCII art alert! E is earth, & / are stones, P is the post.

EP///E

In reply to goldmember: One other thing you could try.... You can get a 'metpost' repair spike designed to fix this sort of thing with minimal disruption. Its designed to be whacked into an existing concrete setting then you slot a new timber into it and away you go. No idea how easy to use they are. Saves you digging out a possibly rather large lump of concrete.

In terms of problems using concrete and water escape etc the advice (no idea how well it works in practice but I do try to follow it) is to taper the concrete so that water runs down post and is shed sideways down the concrete rather than simply filling the hole with a flat level topped concrete plug.

In reply to goldmember:

alternatively, you can buy a bracket that is designed for bolting to existing concrete slabs or blocks to mount standard fence posts.
you could cut the original post out flush to the concrete and bolt the bracket on top.

you could even chisel out the rotten timber from the concrete and concrete in a metpost "concrete-in" post mount.

In reply to goldmember:

The technique my grandad recommended was a layer of gravel or stones in the bottom of the hole, tamp down with your wooden fence post then add a bit more gravel with the post in place, finally pour concrete around the post. If the surrounding soil is clay then make the hole four or five inches deeper than the post will sit, and fill it with gravel to provide a soak-away, other soil types won't need so much. The top of the concrete should be level with the ground around the edge of the hole and then domed or slanted up to the post to encourage water to run off.

In reply to goldmember:

I had one post go last year and the lump of concrete was huge so I drilled out the foot of the old post from the concrete with a long wood bit, then droppped a bit of petrol and a match down to burn out as much of what was left as I could, then slotted and post knocked the new post into the old lump of concrete - worked a treat

In reply to goldmember:

Tip to get old fence posts out: fasten a big bolt through the remains of the old one, then find a 4x4 friend with a hi lift jack and simply brace the jack between floor and bolt and ease it out. It will more than likely bring the concrete out with it leaving a ready made hole for the new one.