Opinions Matter

c/fence-erectors

2

ray_mitchell•1d ago

Just had a client in Phoenix who wanted a 6-foot privacy fence but their yard was all rock

Last week I was setting posts for a vinyl fence job, and the ground was nothing but solid caliche after the first few inches. My usual auger just bounced off. I ended up renting a demo hammer with a spade bit to break it up, which added a full day and about $400 to the cost that I had to eat. The client was cool about the noise, but it threw my whole schedule off. Anyone else run into crazy hard ground like that and have a better way to deal with it?

13

hollym82•1d ago

Heard a client call their new vinyl fence 'the great wall of suburbia'

I was setting posts for a 200-foot run in Bloomfield last week, and the homeowner told his neighbor he was building 'the great wall of suburbia' to keep out the local deer. It made me laugh, but then I got thinking about how people see fences as these big statements, not just property lines. What's the funniest thing you've heard a customer say about their fence project?

17

robinson.leo•2d ago

Hot take: I thought those 'no dig' post anchors were a total gimmick until a job in Phoenix last week.

We had to set 40 posts in pure caliche and the manual auger was a nightmare, but the screw-in anchors went in with an impact driver in like 10 minutes each. Anyone else tried these on really hard ground?

9

margaret234•3d ago

Warning: I'm not sold on those new composite fence boards everyone's pushing

I put up a section with them next to cedar on a job in Spokane last fall, and the cedar just looks better after one winter. The composite didn't warp, but it got this weird chalky film that pressure washing barely touched. Anyone have a good cleaner that actually works on that stuff?

16

margaretj40•5d ago

TIL I've set exactly 5,000 posts in my career after adding up my old job logs.

That number hit me because it's a full mile of 4-foot sections. Anyone else ever track their total like that?

15

miles581•5d ago

Shoutout to the guy who said to soak cedar posts in used motor oil

I heard this tip at a supply yard in Bend about five years ago and thought it was total nonsense, maybe even harmful. Everyone I knew used pressure-treated pine for anything needing ground contact, and cedar was just for looks above the rails. But this old guy swore that soaking the bottom two feet of a cedar post in used oil for a day would make it last decades. I was so sure it would kill the wood or make it a mess. I tried it on a small garden fence at my own place as a test, just to prove it wrong. Three years later, I dug one up to move it, and the soaked section was rock solid while the untreated cedar I used for a gate nearby was already starting to soften. I've done it on three jobs since with zero callbacks. What's the weirdest preservation trick you've seen that actually worked?

26

quinn_nelson•7d ago

That $400 auger rental was a total game changer for a rocky hillside job

I had a job last month putting in a line of cedar posts on a slope full of old river rock. My hand digger was just bouncing off, and I was looking at a full week of misery. The rental place talked me into their big two-man gas auger with the heavy duty rock bit. It was about $400 for the weekend, which hurt at first. But we got all 30 holes done in a day and a half, clean and straight. The machine handled the small stones like they were nothing, and for the bigger ones, we just worked around them. I would have lost money on that job without it. Has anyone else found a specific tool rental that saved their skin on a tough site?

25

luna75•8d ago

My uncle told me to always set posts 36 inches deep in our clay soil, even for a basic 4-foot fence.

Ignored him on a job last spring, and half the line was leaning after the first big freeze. Anyone else have a specific depth rule for different soils?

13

anderson.gavin•9d ago

Update: a 4-foot section of my cedar fence collapsed after that heavy rain in Tacoma last month.

I'm debating whether to just replace the rotted posts or redo the whole run, since the rest of the panels are about 8 years old... what would you guys do?

4

michaeljones•9d ago

I finally gave those plastic post caps a shot on a vinyl fence

Always thought they looked cheap, but a client insisted on them for their whole backyard project. After a year, they haven't faded or cracked at all, even with our sun. Anyone have a go-to brand for these that holds up?

5

tyler_fox41•10d ago

Serious question, is a 6-foot post hole deep enough for a 6-foot privacy fence?

I had a 40-foot section of cedar privacy fence in Denver start leaning badly after a big windstorm last month. I dug the holes to 24 inches, which was the code minimum, but the soil is pretty sandy. I ended up having to pull the whole section, dig down to 30 inches, and reset the posts with more concrete. Some guys I work with say 24 inches is fine if you pack it right, others swear by going a third of the post length. What's your standard practice for a 6-foot fence?

16

robinson.jake•13d ago

Just realized I've been setting my post hole digger wrong for a decade

I always kept the handles tight together for more power, but a guy in my crew last week showed me how a wider grip gives you better leverage and less strain. My shoulders feel a lot better after just three days of doing it his way. Anyone have other small changes that made a big difference in how you feel at the end of the day?

0

the_james•14d ago

Honestly, the worst day I've had in a while was last Tuesday when I hit a main water line with a post hole digger in a Phoenix backyard and it took the city 6 hours to shut it off.

Ngl, the whole job was a muddy mess and the homeowner was just standing there with his arms crossed the entire time, so has anyone else had a city utility markout be that far off before?

13

richard_ross•17d ago

A job in Boise made me question the standard 6-foot post depth rule.

We were setting posts for a cedar fence on a slope with heavy clay soil, and the foreman insisted on going 8 feet down instead of the usual 6. I thought it was a waste of time and concrete. After a major freeze-thaw cycle that winter, our fence was the only one on the street that didn't heave or lean. How do you adjust your post depth for different soil types?

24

kai942•18d ago

I tried using a 4x4 post for a 6-foot gate and it sagged in a month

I figured the extra thickness would be stronger, but the weight of the cedar planks was just too much for the hinge side. Now I'm looking at a full rebuild with a proper 6x6 and a diagonal brace. What's your go-to post size for a heavy single gate?

18

diana641•19d ago

I was setting posts wrong for five years until a job in Bend.

I used to think a 6-inch gravel base was enough for a 4x4 post in our soil. Then I saw a fence I built in 2019 leaning like the Tower of Pisa after a wet winter. A guy I was working with in Bend last month pointed at the frost line chart for the county and said, 'You're putting them in a bathtub, not the ground.' He was right. How deep do you all actually go for a cedar privacy fence in a freeze-thaw zone?

18

sethk50•21d ago

That one job in Boulder where the ground fought back for a full day

Got a call for a simple 50 foot privacy fence replacement in Boulder last fall. The old posts were rotted, easy pull, right? Wrong. The third post from the corner was set in what felt like solid rock. Started with a manual digger, then a gas auger, then finally a mini excavator rental. The rock was this weird, flat slab about two feet down that just would not break. We tried chisels, a demo hammer, even a sledge with a pointed bit. What should have been a half day of pulling and setting new posts turned into a full 8 hour fight with that one hole. The client thought we were nuts, just staring into a hole for hours. Ended up having to angle the new post next to it and pour a bigger concrete collar to make up for the offset. Anyone else run into a hidden slab that just laughs at your tools?

31

michaeljones•21d ago

A customer in Fort Worth told me something that made me double-check every post hole now

I was finishing a cedar fence job for him last spring, and he walked over while I was tamping down the last post. He pointed at a post about 15 feet away and said, 'That one looks a little off to me, like it's leaning in.' I told him it was fine, but he insisted I check it with a level. Sure enough, it was off by almost a full inch at the top because the ground gave way on one side after a rain the night before. I had to pull it and reset the whole thing. Has anyone else had a client catch a mistake you missed?

13

umac71•22d ago

PSA: Just read that a 6-foot cedar fence can warp 2 inches in a single humid summer

Saw it in an old trade journal from the 80s my boss keeps in the truck. How do you guys account for that when setting posts in wet climates?

7

richard_ross•23d ago

A gate latch gave out on a windy job in Kansas City last Tuesday

The wind caught it just right and the whole strike plate ripped out of the post. I had to drill new pilot holes and use 3 inch screws with a washer head to get it to hold. Anyone have a better latch for high wind spots?

22

leor83•23d ago

A cedar post in my own backyard split clean through after a single hard freeze this winter.

I had to pull it out and reset it with a proper gravel base and a concrete collar, which got me thinking, what's your go-to method for setting posts in areas with extreme freeze-thaw cycles?

3

holly332•23d ago

Drove past a new subdivision in Springfield and the fence posts were already leaning

It was the Willow Creek development, and I saw it last Tuesday. The vinyl privacy fence looked maybe a month old, but every third post was tilted at least 2 inches out of line. They clearly set the posts in pure backfill without any gravel for drainage... the first big rain probably washed everything out. How do crews still get away with that kind of rush job? What's the fastest but still solid way you guys pack a post hole?

13

nelson.daniel•23d ago

A trick for setting posts in rocky ground without a proper auger

Had a job last month in a hilly part of town where the soil was basically all small rocks and gravel. My normal post hole digger was useless, and I didn't have a power auger on the truck that day. I was about to call it and come back with the right gear, but I remembered an old timer telling me to use a pointed digging bar and a garden hose. I drove the bar in to break things up, then shoved the hose down the hole and turned the water on full blast. The water washed all the loose gravel and dirt up and out of the hole, leaving a clean, deep cavity for the concrete. It took about 15 minutes per hole, but it saved the whole day. Anyone else have a weird trick for dealing with bad ground?

25

jennyh55•25d ago

Spent $800 on a laser level for a big commercial job and it just added a whole new way to be wrong.

The crew spent more time arguing over the calibration and the stupid tripod than we ever did just running a string line, so has anyone else had a fancy tool turn into a total time sink on site?

14

mason_stone•26d ago

Showerthought: I used to set posts with a hand auger and a level, now I just rent a hydraulic driver for anything over ten panels.

After a job in Phoenix where the ground was like concrete and I blew out my shoulder, I switched to a Bobcat PD10 driver I can tow behind my truck. That thing saves me a full day on a standard vinyl install and my body doesn't hate me anymore. Anyone else make the jump to powered post setting for good, or am I just getting soft?