# 6' wood privacy fence questions



## snosurfa7 (Nov 30, 2007)

Plan to install 6' wood privacy fence running about 70' down both sides of the yard with a gate on each side of the house, two 5.5' sections. 

Fence posts will be 8' apart using pre-fab panels from your choice of big box lumber store. 

Gate will be braced with simpson ties or similar and also have wheels.

4x4 fence posts with 6x6 (maybe even 8x8) ends all down 4' deep (I know thats overkill but I live in an area near the beach with the occasional hurricane and will have a heavy fence gate on both sides).

My three questions are:

1) Concrete on just the end posts and packed gravel on others? Or concrete on all? I don't relish the idea of pulling out fence posts 4' deep stuck in concrete. Not that I would but it is a possibility given the high winds this area sees from time to time.

2) Should I hook the fence gate up to its own separate fence post or just tie it into the rest of the fence? Part of me says tie it in, the gate will pull one way the fence the other and even it out. But part of me says keep it separate, maybe tie those two fence posts together because if I don't I worry about a gap forming between these post for the fence and a post for the gate.

3) Diameter of hole for 4" post? 6" post? etc...

Thanks, I know #1 has been covered many times but looking for some additional advice if possible, I want to do this right the first time.


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## hyunelan2 (Aug 14, 2007)

I would concrete every post. Fence posts have a nasty habit of loosening themselves up - especially a privacy fence that is being blown back and forth by wind. It's going to be less work in the long run to have to pull fence posts in concrete once, 20 years from now. Rather than end up trying to fill in the holes as they open up over the years (and probably end up filled with concrete anyway.

My gates are on the same post that holds the fence. No issues - 10 years old, treated wood.

Diameter - smallest you can dig. To get to the fence post depth needed, it will be plenty wide to fit a 4x4 or 6x6 post.


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## snosurfa7 (Nov 30, 2007)

Thanks for the reply. Other question is that the quickrete website is saying I need approximately 7 bags per hole for a 4" post? That seems like an awful lot of of concrete per hole...What do people usually put in?


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## hyunelan2 (Aug 14, 2007)

The quikrete fence setting .PDF says to add concrete until it is 3-4" from the top. So, the amount you'll need would depend on the hole size and depth. A 12" diameter hole, 4 feet deep is 3.14 cuft. Taking into account the area occupied by 4x4 (true) and filling it to 3" from the top, leaves 2.5 cuft of concrete needed. An 80 pound bag is .6 cuft, so about 4 bags per hole. I guess if you're using the 40 pound bags, 7 is possible.

http://quikrete.com/PDFs/Projects/SettingPosts.pdf


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## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

Rent a auger......trust me.....rent the auger.....digging that many holes by hand is not fun....and it makes for a much cleaner hole.


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## cdnNick (May 28, 2011)

Have you considered something like this? http://www.homedepot.com/Building-M...splay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051

You attach it to the concrete then the post to the anchor, if the post is damaged you can just pop it out and replace it without digging up all the concrete. We have another system here in Canada to you set into the concrete then the post attaches to the anchor, when I redid my fence last year I wish I had used that.


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## Ravenworks (Oct 31, 2010)

ddawg16 said:


> Rent a auger......trust me.....rent the auger.....digging that many holes by hand is not fun....and it makes for a much cleaner hole.


Can't say it enough _*RENT AN AUGER*_ !!


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## MikeVila (Nov 2, 2008)

Just did footings for deck this weekend. 24" deep and 10" diameter. RENT auger no matter what you think you can do. Took 2 80lb bags per hole.


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## ratherbefishing (Jan 13, 2011)

I don't know much about concrete or fence posts. But renting an auger (building a deck or planting trees) is one of the smartest things I've ever done.


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## jlazer99 (May 16, 2011)

hyunelan2 said:


> I would concrete every post. Fence posts have a nasty habit of loosening themselves up - especially a privacy fence that is being blown back and forth by wind. It's going to be less work in the long run to have to pull fence posts in concrete once, 20 years from now. Rather than end up trying to fill in the holes as they open up over the years (and probably end up filled with concrete anyway.
> 
> My gates are on the same post that holds the fence. No issues - 10 years old, treated wood.
> 
> Diameter - smallest you can dig. To get to the fence post depth needed, it will be plenty wide to fit a 4x4 or 6x6 post.




I agree ..


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## cortell (Nov 27, 2010)

If you go go with an auger, please realize the danger involved. Using an auger will require you to get any and all utility (gas, electric, water) lines marked by the city or the utility companies. This is what happened when my neighbor chose to avoid that inconvenient step...he nearly blew his house and mine up when he hit the gas line. Very scary. When you dig a hole by hand, you'll know when you run up to something. Not so with an auger.


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## MikeVila (Nov 2, 2008)

811 is all you need to call!


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## jlazer99 (May 16, 2011)

MikeVila said:


> 811 is all you need to call!



811 new #


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## biggles (Jan 1, 2008)

by the beach how deep can you dig before you hit wet sand/dirt?i'm 100' off the south bay of LI and dead of summer if i dig down in a dirt yard i get wet sand..might want to TAR the ends of the posts let them sit it the sun to cure:wink: diameter of the hole post in ground you can run your fist around the post in the hole one bag of quick set 30 minutes per hole it cures after level up, move on... http://www.diychatroom.com/f16/so-here-new-post-tard-rail-1991-a-139512/ the center of the post on the runs is like the studs in a wall taking 2 section each..blowing sand maybe a 2x4 under the section to lift off the sand before screwing(pre drill holes) or nailing in....mixing in some stones to the pour won't hurt...are the post going to be pine or PT wood?where the gates are going to swing off of suggest wider diameter hole and treat yourself to 2 bags per gate post...


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