O/T Concrete & Cement...

[brunswick]

I need to put two 4" wide round wooden posts in the ground and know little about DIY. the net is too general and of little help.


does anyone know the ratio of cement / sand / water i need?

is there not an all in one product that is quick setting these days?

thanks diy gurus

 

[Daffy Duck]

Just need to buy a bag of readymix for posts. Any DIY shop sells it you don't have to pay for sand and cement bags so no waste.
And it's quick drying!

Mind you, no good asking me, I'm a woman....what do I know!!

 

[Chicken Runner61]

how deep are you going?

 

[Aspinal's Body Double]

how deep are you going?

Let's not get personal.

Concrete mix
coarse concrete -
6x small gravel
4 x sand
1 x cement

mortar
4 x sand
1 x cement

 

[1066familyman]

DO NOT put in a wet concrete mix ! It will go rock soild and when the ground shrinks around it the post will rock.

Knock up a weak dry mix of concrete, otherwise known as a lea mix, using 8 shovels of ballast to one shovel of cement. The moisture in the ground ( yes, even in this dry weather ) will be absorbed nicely into the mix in time to give you a solid fix without rocking.

 

[beorhthelm]

buy a couple of metal post holders? £6-7 ea, no mess or fuss.

not heard of wet concrete being a concern with ground shrinkage before, i can see the theory but not sure its a problem unless its extreme drought and shallow hole. i certainly wouldn't trust some lean mix to be strong enough to hold anything substantial, in my experience usually used for paving slabs beds or (without gravel) grouting patios.

 

[CheeseRolls]

Just need to buy a bag of readymix for posts. Any DIY shop sells it you don't have to pay for sand and cement bags so no waste.
And it's quick drying!

Mind you, no good asking me, I'm a woman....what do I know!!

Good call, DIY idiot proof. I used this stuff for a washing line post last year and it was so simple and set solid very quickly. Insert pole in hole, pour powder into hole, pour water into hole. Set solid in 5 minutes job done.

 

[NMH]

I've put in loads, built fences for my garden and neighbours too.

A 4"x4" post only needs a bucket-size of 'crete surrounding it, make the hole deep enough so dirt will cover a couple of inches over the top of it - advise a foot and a few inches deep hole, and don't attach anything until the thing has set right. For longevity it's good to paint the post where it goes into the ground with a preservative or oil-based paint before putting it in. Use a spirit level to make sure it's straight too - as well as making all the posts the same height.

p.s. loads of bullshit on this thread - you never put in a dry mix and let it set, or add water to powder already in the ground! Make a thick mix of concrete in a tub or wheelbarrow and only make enough you can put in before it sets on you in the barrow!
AND DON'T PUT CONCRETE IN THE HOLE BEFORE THE POST! (I know that's obvious, but you'd be surprised how dumb people can be sometimes)

 

[adrian29uk]

Just need to buy a bag of readymix for posts. Any DIY shop sells it you don't have to pay for sand and cement bags so no waste.
And it's quick drying!

Mind you, no good asking me, I'm a woman....what do I know!!

Funny you should say this. Something that really winds my wife up, when we go in to DIY store, builders merchants, she asks the questions and the assistant talks directly to me and totally blanks my wife. After all what does she know lol.

 

[CheeseRolls]

Details on postcrete here http://www.lafarge.co.uk/CementDatasheet/Postcrete.pdf

Correction from my earlier bullshit post, you put the water in the hole before the powder.

 

[Washboard Didgets]

I used to work with a landscape gardener in my school holidays.

Whenever we did fence posts we would:

• Leave the posts overnight with the bottom 10-12 inches soaking in buckets containing a mix of creosote and used engine oil
• Bang a couple of large, long nails at right angles through the bottom part of the post

Then set the posts in holes with concrete.

The oil and creosote soaks into the wood and stops the base of the post rotting and the nails will set inside the concrete locking the post in place. So the posts can't twist or be lifted out if the post contracts.

 

[Daffy Duck]

Funny you should say this. Something that really winds my wife up, when we go in to DIY store, builders merchants, she asks the questions and the assistant talks directly to me and totally blanks my wife. After all what does she know lol.

I get that with some (not all) blokes when I start talking about football and cricket!

 

[beorhthelm]

• Leave the posts overnight with the bottom 10-12 inches soaking in buckets containing a mix of creosote and used engine oil

thats the proper way to do these things, but the 'elf & safety, or more likly the green lobby, take a dim view of such things now. i think someone told me you cant even get creosote anymore (still get old engine oil though )

 

[NMH]

I get that with some (not all) blokes when I start talking about football and cricket!

Being a normal healthy bloke, I would realize you were talking irrelevant drivel that could tell me nothing I didn't already know - and spend my time wisely staring at your breasts

 

[Nottseagull]

I need to put two 4" wide round wooden posts in the ground and know little about DIY. the net is too general and of little help.

Err.... I don't think you actually need to use a net at all.

 

[Emily's Mum]

I think there's something called Postcrete. I used it to put a washing line up. And I am a woman. And the washing line is still standing.

 

[brunswick]

Thanks so much NMH - i really am a DIY n00bian.... you are better that the 10 or so diy sites i have scrawled.

 

[NMH]

Thanks brunswick

Did you get the posts up?
I have to confess, I didn't ask re. the ground quality which would also be a factor in deciding depth and shape & size of the concrete - but you probably are aware about that anyway

 

[supaseagull]

I get that with some (not all) blokes when I start talking about football and cricket!

It's cause you're a mad old bag who talk gibberish!

 

[Daffy Duck]

It's cause you're a mad old bag who talk gibberish!

Stop hijacking this thread! You gave me enough stick the other day when I did it.

Anyway, don't you have gardening to do?