Post Bases

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POST BASES

Post Bases

Post mix refers to ready mixed concrete in a bag which is suitable for concreting your fence posts into the ground, post mix is really easy to use as all you need to do, once you have positioned your fence post into the correct place in your fence post hole in the ground is to pour in the fence post mix and add water, the post mix will then harden rapidly to support the fence post firmly in the ground.

Post Mix

How much post mix will you require while this does depend upon the size of the hole that has been dug to place the fence post into as a rule of thumb when talking about 20kg bags of post mix with fence panel posts that are traditionally 75mm x 75mm in size then one bag of post mix will be suitable per post hole but for larger posts perhaps closeboard fencing posts which are traditionally 100mm x 100mm or 100mm x 125mm in size then it is more likely that one and a half bags of post mix will be used on each post hole.

When comparing the merits of post mix with the traditional ballast and cement concrete mix for holding fence posts into the ground, the main considerations for choosing post mix are the speed of and ease of use because it is pre-mixed in the bag, additionally an area to mix the ballast and cement together is not needed neither I suppose are a wheelbarrow and in addition to all these benefits post mix also uses rapid hardening cement so that is sets more quickly the advantage of having the concrete set quickly is that the fence is less likely to get disturbed by wind while the concrete is drying or curing. Ballast and cement is still the chosen medium for many professional fencing contractors who are installing large quantities of fencing as it is more cost effective if you are mixing up larger quantities of ballast and cement a cement mixer can be used which speeds up the process reducing the labour input. It is important to mention that when mixing concrete for fence posts it should be mixed up to a drier consistency than would be traditionally be used when laying concrete bases for general use and the concrete should be a slightly weaker mix perhaps a 6 or even 8 to 1 mix of cement to ballast, most concrete fence post bases don’t need the concrete to be tremendously strong and if the concrete has to be broken out at a later date to alter or replace a damaged section of fencing then it is desirable that it isn’t massively over engineered. So in summary ballast and cement is a great medium for installing fence posts but with smaller quantities of fencing post mix is easy to use and has many advantages.

On the AVS website on line shop post bases or fence post bases refer to any method of fixing the fence post into the ground and securing it firmly. This may be using a Metpost or fence spike or maybe post mix, a ready mixed rapid hardening concrete to concrete the post into the ground or indeed traditional ballast and cement which is mixed up into concrete using water and added to the fence post hole. First let us turn to the met post which is a trade name for one of the best known makes of fence post shoes, in essence Metposts can either be bolt down designed to fit a fence post onto a hard concrete surface or they can be spiked for driving into a soil surface to hold the fence post.

Metposts

Metposts come in two broad categories relating to how the fence post is held into the Metpost fence post base, with the traditional wedge grip Metpost the fence post is driven into the metal met post base and held in by the design of the met post base, once driven in is difficult to remove a fence post from a met post base until it has deteriorated many years later. The second type of met post fence post base is the system 2 met post, with the system 2 met post the fence post is clamped into the met post base using two nuts and bolts which are provided with the met post although it has to be said that as there is quite a wide tolerance in the sizing of most fence posts.

Another thing to bear in mind with met post bases is to choose the right length of fence post, fence post spikes are most commonly used with lap panel fencing using 75x75mm timber posts so for example if you are working with a 6ft fence panel be sure to use a 2.1metre fence post reason for this is that it is traditional to leave 75mm of fence post protruding above the fence and coupled with any steps in the fence due to ground level differences and the height of the fence panel being imperial a 1.8metre long post would be far too short. So the fence posts can be cut off to the correct level after they have been installed by trimming the top of the fence posts with a sharp saw. The top of the fence post should then be re-treated with end coat to protect the cut end of the treated fence post to ensure a long life.

Turning to bolt down met post fence bases these are often used for constructing things like bin storage areas where you are often erecting fencing on a concrete surface and often in a square which is great because that provides additional strength for the fence, met posts can be used on tops of walls but be careful because many walls have a brick on edge running along the top of them and if you fix to these then your fence will only be as strong as the mortar holding the bricks onto the wall, in these situations it can often be better to fix the fence post down behind the wall using the met post at ground level, if you want to project the fence out over the wall fix an additional timber post to the front so that the two timber posts are joined together and this will project the fence out over the top of the wall.