Friday before last, we had a nice, sunny day in OKC..........but with 60+ mph wind gusts that finally knocked down a portion of the between my neighbor and I. He wanted me to help with labor and split the cost, however, I have been having some issues with my back lately and knew I wouldn't be able to help tear down and replace a nearly 90' run of fence.
Essentially, I told him I would take care of all materials if he and his brother would take care of the labor. Deal done.
We already overbuilt the fence using all pressure-treated lumber. 4"x4" posts, 2"x4" for runners instead of the typical tiny ones you see, and 6" pickets. Heavy duty, outdoor screws instead of nails.
Even though all the lumber is pressure treated, is there anything else we can do to help it last longer?
EDIT: The fence is already built. I was mainly wondering if a stain or paint would would help everything last longer.
Would dunking the posts bottoms in a bucket of "something" that the termites etc hate help ?
Just the section of the post that would be underground ,
californiamilleghia said:
Would dunking the posts bottoms in a bucket of "something" that the termites etc hate help ?
Just the section of the post that would be underground ,
The posts are set in concrete.
Since wind damage is a potential problem, perhaps you could make it less solid. Make it with gaps between the vertical boards or wi)th the boards set at an angle (as viewed from the top & bottom) and spaced apart to allow air to flow thru.
They make these plastic post protectors but I don't know why they should cost as much as they do.
I mean, some kind of paint for uv protection?
I have a cedar fence and there's a small fence on the side yard. I put a black steel fence post in concrete and they sell brackets so you can hang wood and stick build a fence. That way they're not sitting in water.
These are 5"x5" cedar posts in concrete for 18 years.
In reply to M2Pilot :
It took nearly 70mph gusts to knock down part of the old fence and many of the 8' sections didn't take more than a couple of hard kicks to break the rotten posts and fall down. I have a feel the wind speeds necessary to knock down this fence, would mean we have severe damage to our homes anyway.
In reply to VolvoHeretic :
Dang! Wish we had seen those when we were buying materials. Although since the posts are already set, note sure just putting them above the concrete would do much. We also left some extra space between the pickets and the ground to help prevent rot there.
Even though they are pressure-treated, would a stain or paint help add any extra protection/longevity.
I need to update the original post since I wasn't clear, the fence is already built.
Datsun310Guy said:
I have a cedar fence and there's a small fence on the side yard. I put a black steel fence post in concrete and they sell brackets so you can hang wood and stick build a fence. That way they're not sitting in water.
These are 5"x5" cedar posts in concrete for 18 years.
That's basically what the ones looked like that we broke off. And based on the what the previous owners son told us (he passed away so his son sold it), the existing fence was 15-17 years old.
Both of us hope not to be in these houses more than 5 years, so it shouldn't be our concern. They want to move back to the country and buy some land, and we'd like to get out of OKC and possibly Oklahoma if we can.
I put up 5"x5" posts hoping they lasted longer.
It's pretty common to set posts in concrete without any protection. I've seen shows like this old house or some other home improvement show where they paint something on the post, or use some special PVC sleeve to keep water away from the wood, but the bottom line is that you could dip it in plasti-dip and the water will still get in. Pressure treated lumber reduces water infiltration, but doesn't eliminate it. The top of the post is wet, so the bottom of the post is wet. We're talking about wood. It is entirely made up of tiny straws called zylem and phloem whose only job is transporting water up and down a tree. Coating the underground part might buy you a couple years, but I wouldn't stress about it.
As far as keeping the above-ground part nice, every handful of years buy yourself a 5-gallon bucket of stain and hose it down with a paint sprayer. If you pressure wash first, make sure you have 5 good dry days in a row before staining to cook out all the water you just squirted in the fibers. A good oil-based stain will repel water for a long time.
Now that the post is encased in concrete, when both the post and the concrete dry they will contract leaving a nice big space for water to become trapped in. You need to keep the crack caulked forever more as best you can.
At this point, I would maybe drill an appropriate sized hole through the concrete next to the wood and epoxy (JB Weld) a 1/2" copper tube in the hole so that you can pour copper sulfate into the caulked crack every year to kill any fungus and bacteria that grows in the wood.
The way it was explained to me back in trade school, wood cellulose cells are shaped like a smooth plump grape. Air drying it leaves it in a plump shape and it is very water soluble. Kiln drying at 170 degrees shrinks the cells into a raison shape and makes it more water resistant and even saturating it in water it still keeps its shriveled up shape. However, pressure treating and then air drying kiln dried wood re-plumps up the wood and removes it's water resistance. I don't know if any of that is true...
Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:
It's pretty common to set posts in concrete without any protection. I've seen shows like this old house or some other home improvement show where they paint something on the post, or use some special PVC sleeve to keep water away from the wood, but the bottom line is that you could dip it in plasti-dip and the water will still get in. Pressure treated lumber reduces water infiltration, but doesn't eliminate it. The top of the post is wet, so the bottom of the post is wet. We're talking about wood. It is entirely made up of tiny straws called zylem and phloem whose only job is transporting water up and down a tree. Coating the underground part might buy you a couple years, but I wouldn't stress about it.
As far as keeping the above-ground part nice, every handful of years buy yourself a 5-gallon bucket of stain and hose it down with a paint sprayer. If you pressure wash first, make sure you have 5 good dry days in a row before staining to cook out all the water you just squirted in the fibers. A good oil-based stain will repel water for a long time.
That makes perfect sense, about if the top is wet, the bottom will be wet.
What about rolling on the stain? I don't really have any other use for paint sprayer. So I'd hate to spend $120+ on something for one job that will only be used every few years.
Use a pump-up garden sprayer and then go over it with a wide paint brush.
Roller, brush, sprayer, all good.
VolvoHeretic... that is very interesting. I believe it.
Sorry, but you folks get tornadoes and such, right? I'd plant a 3" pipe in the ground, your call on material. Another consideration is the pickets, 1/4" gap or staggered, one on the north side, one on the south allowing air to flow. At 60 mph you wouldn't want a sail.
914Driver said:
Another consideration is the pickets, 1/4" gap or staggered, one on the north side, one on the south allowing air to flow. At 60 mph you wouldn't want a sail.
This is what we call shadowbox here in Florida. It helps air go through at the expense of some privacy (depending on how big/small the overlap is).
914Driver said:
Sorry, but you folks get tornadoes and such, right? I'd plant a 3" pipe in the ground, your call on material. Another consideration is the pickets, 1/4" gap or staggered, one on the north side, one on the south allowing air to flow. At 60 mph you wouldn't want a sail.
Yes we do get 'naders here. We did leave a small gap between the pickets. The link you shared, since we set the pressure-treated posts in concrete "Installed into a concrete base, a pressure-treated post can last 20+ years."
And neither myself or my neighbor intend to be in these homes more than another 5 years.
As for the 60 mph wind parts, it took nearly 70 mph wind gusts to partially blow down one 8' section of the existing 15-17 year old wood fence. So I'm not particularly worried about it. If that fence comes down, that means our houses have likely suffered very severe damage.
But, if you want, I'm more than willing to let you come here and dig up the approximately 1500lbs of concrete we used to set the new posts. 
To prevent water wicking down the posts from the top, maybe some of these.
Amazon.com: metal post caps 4x4
VolvoHeretic said:
To prevent water wicking down the posts from the top, maybe some of these.
Amazon.com: metal post caps 4x4
I'm not knowledgeable on these things like Curtis, I wonder if it still wicks in from the side? Although those caps do look nice. But I wouldn't see them. Neighbor gave me the "pretty" side of the fence.
Protecting the wood is still a good idea with some sort of a stain or paint (or the stuff listed above). When I built out my fence, the company I contacted for materials gave me the option of Post on Pipe. I set these into concrete. And while we don't get the winds you do, we get a ton of moisture (Seattle). If anyone is looking for the future these are pretty cool.
The posts are like a thousand vertical straws so that any water hitting the top will wick its way through all of the way to the bottom, the sides not so much. I made the mistake once of stacking a bunch of logs vertically instead of the correct way horizontally, basically reconstructing the cut up tree trunks. They never dried out, rotted, and turned into sawdust by the time I got all of them split and burned up.
I like that popsicle post idea.
