Hot take: concrete anchors for chain link are a waste of time on sandy soil

I tried gravel bags instead of wet concrete on a job in Florida last month and the posts held better after a hurricane scare, has anyone else switched to dry-set methods on loose ground?

2 comments

2 Comments

victor_butler6d ago

MAN I've been saying this for YEARS! Did a big fence job down in Galveston last year and the wet concrete just turned to mush after two weeks of rain. Switched to crushed limestone packed tight with a hand tamper and those posts haven't budged through two tropical storms. The key is really hammering that dry material in layers, like six inches at a time, and wetting it just a little to help it lock together. Concrete is overrated on loose ground for SURE.

olivia_wilson5d ago

Wait is this really that big of a deal though? I mean yeah concrete can get soft if the ground is soaked but if you mix it right and give it time to cure before the rain hits it holds up fine. Ive done a ton of fence work over the years and never had a post wiggle loose with concrete unless the ground was straight up sand or mud. Limestone works fine sure but its not like concrete is automatically trash on loose ground. You just need to dig deeper and add more gravel underneath for drainage. Seems like a lot of extra work with the hand tamper and layers if you ask me.