Talked to a guy at the lumber yard who changed how I set posts

I was picking up supplies for a job in Naperville and this older fella, Bob, saw me loading quickcrete. He said the best fence he ever built used crushed stone instead of concrete because it lets water drain away from the wood. Been using that method on my last 3 jobs and the posts feel way more solid. Anyone else try this or stick with traditional concrete?

2 comments

2 Comments

alicea2621d ago

Concrete has been working fine for me for 15 years. Bob's method might work in some soil types but around here with the freeze-thaw cycle we get, crushed stone can shift over time. Had a neighbor try it and his gate post leaned bad after two winters. Concrete locks everything in place and stops frost heave better than gravel ever will.

taylor17421d ago

Yeah that freeze thaw cycle is a real problem. I'm in zone 5b myself and I've seen too many posts shift after just one winter using gravel. My father in law tried it on his mailbox post and within a year it was leaning like the tower of Pisa. Concrete just gives you that peace of mind especially with the heavy wet snow we get here. I mean maybe it's not perfect for every soil type but for us it's the difference between fixing something once and fixing it every spring.