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wood fences

charles prowell woodworks
"A Hole,
A Post that has succumbed to a Hole,
A Hole that is in need of a Post."
Was it Gertrude Stein who said this?
Or possibly Prowell
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Post Holes for CPW Wood Fences

** PLEASE DESCRIBE THIS IMAGE ** Fence Posts, in themselves, can represent a considerable investment. A 6' high fenceline of 500 running feet can translate into thousands of dollars in post costs. To protect this investment and enable the longest life from the posts, we have provided a simple sketch regarding the prefered method for setting posts. This method is the result of 3 decades of experience, setting over 10,000 fence posts.

6x6 Fence Post Stock

Clear Western Cedar

 Excellent rot resistence. Clear, vertical-grain cedar is certainly the most visibly pleasing among all choices. Approx. $20+/ft for 6x6. Depending on your local lumber yard. Clear cedar posts can sometimes require a 4-6 week special order. Seldom a wise choice for an entire fence-line and used, primarily, for Wood Gate posts and a few featured flanking Fence Panels. Somewhat sustainably harvested in British Columbia.

Knotty Western Cedar
(STK)

 Excellent rot resistence. Cedar knotty grade (STK) is approx 1/3rd the cost of clear and normally with an Architectural Grade of only a few select knots. Somewhat ustainablry harvested in British Columbia. Although this is available special order anywhere in the US, it often involves a little leg work for those on the east coast.
Southern Cypress Good rot resistence. Higher density and more durable than cedar or redwood. Sustainably harvested only in the SE United States.  Available from Texas to Florida, and from Florida to the NE.
Con-heart surfaced redwood Redwoods grow in northern California, where Charles lives. Many of them in his neighborhood are more than 2,000 years old. Redwood harvests, with acceptably mature fibor, require 150 years to mature, and although they can and are harvested before this timeline, the grain is too porous and fibrous and therefore Charles would suggest that no one use this species for anything whatsoever beyond the appreciation of their forested existence.
Clear all-heart surfaced redwood An even greater offense. The heart, or center of the tree, with the tightest grain and oldest growth rings and in such a grove where Charles once proposed to his wife--these ancient living goliaths, alive during the march of Cortez' and the Crusades and Ceasar's Rome and just forget about redwood Fence Posts.
Synthetic
(Trek, etc)
Fiber, or Synthetic Composite Fence Posts are not as structuraly rigid as wood, therefore 4x4 fiber posts should not be used for Fences over 4-ft ht. Fiber posts can be finished with solid-body stains or painted.
Eastern White Cedar
 Good rot resistence.   Available for those in the NE.  4x4 approximately $2/ft linear.  Light knots.
Eastern Red Cedar Okay rot resistence. Aromatic. Available as 4x4 and 6x6. 6x6 Approximately $4-$6 a foot with light knots. 
   

Pressure-treated fir or southern pine

 Pressure-treated lumber as a Wood Fence Post is a last resort. It does not bio-degrade and regardless of what you've read or what your lumber salesmen tells you, the toxic poisons cured into the wood are not friendly to the touch (California codes now outlaw the use of toxic-treated lumber in public parks and schools for above-grade exposure). It also drains into the water table and contaminates not only your drinking water, but a mild annihilation of the surroundig eco system.

Please insure your installer understands the preferred methods for setting Fence Posts. By setting your Fence Post in 3/8" pea gravel, you not only eliminate the need for toxic sealants and preservatives, you extend the life of your post by 30 years!

Fence height
 Hole depth
7-ft
42"
6-ft
36"
5-ft
32"
4-ft
24"
3-ft
18"


fence post

** PLEASE DESCRIBE THIS IMAGE ** The logic is simple:

Bacteria and fungus thrive within the soil, and in areas where there is no light or air movement (particularly when the area is moist). We are looking to separate the bottom of then post from the soil for this reason, as well as to create a natural drainage of the standing water than can result from surface rains and snow melts.

In the winters, the post shrinks and a small crack appears between the post and concrete. With posts set in fulkl concrete, water finds its way down into the crack and begins to fester immediatelyin an environment wiithout lightor air. Here the water drains through the 8" 'cap' of concrete and into the pea gravel where it carries on the length of the post and into the bed of 3" pea gravel, AWAY from the bottom of the post. For this reason, there is no point in poisoning the ground with toxic preservatives.

**For Gate hinge posts, we'll use the fulkl post-hole set in concrete, as this is a load-bearing post. But not forgetting the 3" bed of pea gravel at the bottom. Water drains down the length of the post between the shrinking post and the concrete and carries on a little further to finally drain away from the exposed and vulnerable end-grain.

**For areas of deep freezing, it's always best to set your concrete cap a little deeper into the grade, as the frozen grade tends to contract and squeeze the concrete toward the surface--sometimes several inches.

It is not a good dea to seal the bottom ed grain of the post.  Any moisture the posts takes on above grade will then be unable to drain away through the bottom of the post, in addition to the moisture content inherant in the post at the time of setting. 

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Wood Gate Hinge Posts: With the extra load of a hinged gate and the stress of flanking fencelines, hinge posts should sit on a bed of gravel and the entire posthole filled with concrete. No preservative is needed. As the post shrinks in the summer and the gap between the post and concrete allows for water entry, the water will drain the length of the post and AWAY from the bottom of the post, which is protected from the dirt grade by 3" of pea gravel.



Wood Gate  A Fence for a patron in Washington DC, illustrating howthe panels have been set lower than the specified 2" above grade.  An important caveat:  Keep the dirt away from your fence panels and they will last a lifetime. 

We also want to illustrate the investment in a fence of this nature.  These are lifetime products, designed and built to last, and do not allow your installer, whose experience and scope may be limited, to shrug off the methods described above. 

wood gate
Wood Fence Post


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Download PDF Installation Guide

CPW
Post Caps


1. 8 0 0 . 4 6 6 . 1 8 5 0
1 .7 0 7 . 8 2 3 . 3 7 1 1 (PST)
1 . 7 0 7 . 6 2 3 . 1 5 4 5 (FAX)

 

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