Cedar or PT Pine Fence Posts???

[enrare]

I'm needing to replace 6 rotted cedar fence posts. Which is longer lasting, cedar or pressure treated pine? The existing fences on both sides of my property are probably 20-30yrs old and now at the point where I feel they need to be completely replaced. Problem is my neighbors don't want to share the expense of completly replacing, and are content with fixing and repairing these old fences as they fall apart. Personally I feel this route is just throwing money down a rat hole. After discovering 6 posts needing to be replaced this spring I was hoping people would have come to their sences and realize it's time to replace the fences, but nope....they are asking me when I will have time to help replace the rotted posts

 

[Evilunclegrimace]

Whose fence is it? Yours, theirs, shared?

 

[jhelrey]

Postmaster posts.

 

[Stuart in MN]

If the old cedar posts lasted 20 or 30 years, new cedar posts should as well. PT posts tend to twist and warp. I don't know how old you are, but I'll probably be dead in 30 years so if it were me I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Kaizen]

For the price i'd go with pt. your location would be helpful though. up here I need to put it 4 feet in the hole.
either way no concrete. use a tamping bar and pack in stonedust. rock sold for years and allows drainage.

 

[hellrzr]

From all my research is seemed that pressure treated pine was the best for posts and stringers and cedar for pickets. I did this at the end of last year. For my short fence, like 30' or so, I have discovered 1 slightly warped post and one that has a pretty big weather check in it. Otherwise the posts look good. I had to replace one stringer because it warped and I probably should replace another but it's not terrible and I haven't done it yet. The pickets have warped some and it annoys me so I will probably run another stringer along the top to help keep them straight. But since your question is regarding post I would say that pressure treated pine seems to work fine. I bought mine from Menards but got the pickets from Home Depot since Menards didn't have cedar pickets available at the time.

On the flips side, Stuart makes a good point above and if cedar lasted that long before maybe it would be good to use again.

 

[XS29L9B]

I prefer cedar, and it'll last 30 years. PT, in most climates, lucky to see 20 if in the ground...

 

[FullRaceMerc]

I have been using steel posts as the old wood ones rot out.

 

[Freddo]

I'd also suggest you consider steel posts. Probably a little more cost up front. I put in two fences using steel posts. The first was 17 years ago & the second was 12 years ago. Both are doing great & the posts are as solid as the day I installed them.

 

[nadogail]

I too, have had excellent results from steel posts I made from the load beams of old pallet racks.

 

[Catadj78]

I'd move and get different neighbors... Lol, no really what was there for 20 yrs? Go Back the same way

 

[theoldwizard1]

Pressure Treated.

I replaced about a dozen broken cedar fence posts at my son's house over the past 10 years. The few PT piers we pulled were put in at the same time, showed no sign of rot.

 

[corrie]

Steel posts, when all posts have been changed it will be easy to get new brackets, stringers, and pickets to have a new fence.

 

[Radix2]

The problem with cedar these days is that often it has a lot of sapwood in the boards ( the light colored part) the sapwood is much less rot resistant than the heartwood and will not last long in ground contact. Cedar is also soft and can be damaged in short order by weed whacking...

Since you had good results last time, you could expect the same if you can find top quality cedar, and you must be staying away with trimming.

In general though, treated pine, especially if you get the proper ground contact grades is a lower risk bet for long life.

 

[shedfullatools]

Pressure treated or steel is the way to go imho...

 

[BADSIX]

The problem with cedar these days is that often it has a lot of sapwood in the boards ( the light colored part) the sapwood is much less rot resistant than the heartwood and will not last long in ground contact. Cedar is also soft and can be damaged in short order by weed whacking...

Since you had good results last time, you could expect the same if you can find top quality cedar, and you must be staying away with trimming.

In general though, treated pine, especially if you get the proper ground contact grades is a lower risk bet for long life.

THIS if you can find good quality cedar. I'm for pt here we have 2 or 3 different grades above ground, direct burial and deck.

Jay D.

 

[ddurrett896]

Chain link post + OZ fence brackets then wrap with 1x

 

[enrare]

The problem with cedar these days is that often it has a lot of sapwood in the boards ( the light colored part) the sapwood is much less rot resistant than the heartwood and will not last long in ground contact. Cedar is also soft and can be damaged in short order by weed whacking...

Since you had good results last time, you could expect the same if you can find top quality cedar, and you must be staying away with trimming.

In general though, treated pine, especially if you get the proper ground contact grades is a lower risk bet for long life.

You are right about the quality of cedar, which is why I was asking the question. I'm going to go out on a limb and say the cedar found at the home centers is going to be lower quality with more sapwood.

I was reading on a fencing company website and it recommended PT posts and the rest of the fence cedar

THIS if you can find good quality cedar. I'm for pt here we have 2 or 3 different grades above ground, direct burial and deck.

Jay D.

Thanks for pointing out the different ratings for PT lumber. Guess I will be visiting a lumber yard since I'm pretty sure all the PT lumber at Lowes and Home Depot is only rated for ground contact and not direct burial.

For the person who ask early on in this thread, these fences are shared, but since the "nice" faces me it seems more burden falls on me to keep the fences maintained. I don't know, this is my first house so maybe that is the unspoken rule when it comes to shared fences

 

[enrare]

For the price i'd go with pt. your location would be helpful though. up here I need to put it 4 feet in the hole.
either way no concrete. use a tamping bar and pack in stonedust. rock sold for years and allows drainage.

Denver

 

[Stuart in MN]

For the person who ask early on in this thread, these fences are shared, but since the "nice" faces me it seems more burden falls on me to keep the fences maintained. I don't know, this is my first house so maybe that is the unspoken rule when it comes to shared fences

This would indicate the fence actually belongs to the neighbor - it may not be the standard convention everywhere, but typically a person puts up a fence with the nice side facing out from their property.

 

[crguy]

This would indicate the fence actually belongs to the neighbor - it may not be the standard convention everywhere, but typically a person puts up a fence with the nice side facing out from their property.

When I put up a new fence at my place, at My cost, I was sure as hell going to be looking at the good side.

 

[CNGsaves]

I'd also suggest you consider steel posts. Probably a little more cost up front. I put in two fences using steel posts. The first was 17 years ago & the second was 12 years ago. Both are doing great & the posts are as solid as the day I installed them.

^ ^ ^ ^ This. Great advice for 5th post from this GJer !!

Put steel posts in concrete and never need to do posts again.

 

[Elginz]

I would guess they rotted off in the first foot below grade. Wrap them to keep the oxygen from rotting that area, even tar paper helps.

 

[Todd.Brock]

I'd figure out who owns the fence first.

 

[ishiboo]

I asked this exact question and based on the responses, decided to go with cedar.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/357250-cedar-fence-posts-instead-pressure.html

 

[Falcon67]

Everybody here uses heave galvanized steel for fence posts. 8' post, 20~24" down, set in a bag of quik-rete, you need a back hoe to get one out of the ground. Fence ages out, unbolt 12' section, cut it up for scrap, put up new stringers, nail fresh pickets to stringers, done.

 

[Jon_E]

Don't know where the OP is located, but in my area the most common material for posts, if you want them to last a lifetime, is black locust. My parents have some split locust posts that have been in the ground for forty years and they are as solid as the day they were installed. Dig a hole, plant the post, backfill. No stone, no concrete, just compacted dirt.

 

[bczygan]

Check your local ordinances.

Many places require the good side to go towards the neighbor, but a lot also have a system that dictates what face goes where, based on directions, and with special provisions for corner lots.

Also check heights allowed. You need to know where the height is measured from, and the maximum allowed. Some places it is higher or lower than you would think. For instance, here in Detroit it is 8', last I checked (Rules do change).

Bill

 

[Falcon67]

>Many places require the good side to go towards the neighbor,

In the larger city here, ordinance requires that if you have a pool of any kind in the yard your fence must have the smooth side out. Like kids can't vault a 6' fence faster than a cat.

 

[tthornto]

Galvanized Steel! For a 6' fence use an 8' post and put 24-30" in the ground. If you have heavy clay soil you don't even need to dig holes or use concrete. Just drive them in with a post driver or tamping plate on a small jack hammer. If you have sandy or loamy soil then set them with a bag of cement in the hole with a shovel full of gravel in the bottom just like you would a wood post. The brackets for mounting the rails can be a little expensive, but if you use 16' rails with posts every 8' then you can skip the bracket in the middle of the rail and just predrill through the rail and use self tapping/drilling sheet metal screws to attach the rail to the post.

 

[dclassical]

I used PT still good after 15 years. I replaced stringers and pickets (they are cedar) but the posts were all good, expect for 3 that broke during a storm with high winds. Galvanized steel was not an option per HOA (I admit that unless you box them, wood looks nicer).