Installing wooden fence posts
Begin installing wooden fence posts.
Mix a wheelbarrow full of premix concrete according to instruction on the bag. Put a small amount of gravel in the bottom of the fence post hole.
Each post must be plumbed and aligned about one sixteenth to one eight of an inch away from the mason line. Have someone hold the post making sure not to touch the line, using a two way post level, level it.
Start shoveling some concrete in the hole all around the post. The post will slightly move as you are putting in the concrete. Fill up the hole about one third of the way and gently shake the post back and fort. This will let the concrete distribute evenly and get rid of any air pockets.
When installing wooden fence posts it is important to make sure the posts stay aligned. Now hold the post and fill up the hole to seven or eight inches below soil line, if you are using our method, otherwise bring concrete to top of the fence post hole, angling sideways away from the post for water run off. Make sure one more time that the post is still plumb and level.
Finish installing posts in the same manner. If you kept the concrete below ground fill up the rest of the holes with some of the removed soil and compact it down by stamping on it. Re level the posts for the last time and if you need any adjustments make it now. This may seem like a lot of leveling but it only takes seconds to re align your posts each time.
After installing wooden fence posts you don't need to brace the posts unless you want to. Most professional installers don't brace the posts. If you mixed the concrete to the right consistency. If your property is windy or you feel better about bracing the posts that is up to you.
Let the concrete set. Twenty four (warm temperature) to forty eight hours or more (cooler temperature), before continuing to work on your fence building project.
Here is some other helpful information you may find useful when installing wooden fence posts.
Don't buy the quick set concrete unless you are a real expert at setting posts. It sets too quickly and you won't have enough time to level out the posts properly. Leveling out the first couple of wooden fence posts will take longer but you will quickly catch on and speed up. You don't need to over fuss at each re leveling, get as close as you can. When you do the last leveling then make sure each post is plumb and level.
Work in an assembly line fashion.
Do one operation at a time. For example when installing fence posts, install all the posts you can with one wheelbarrow. Mix as you go along. Finish installing all the posts before you go back to the first post, to do the next step like filling the fence post hole back with soil. Working this way through out your fence project will keep you organized and saves you time.
When installing wooden fence posts don't set the posts to your fence height. Some posts will be deeper in the ground than others but make sure no fence post is set so deep that it will be to short for your fence design. This can also occur if your lot is sloped and you will need to do stepping.
Normally you should calculate one to two inches of the ground plus the total height of your fence plus one and a half to two inches above the fence where you can install fence post caps.
Don't cut the height of any post until you are finished building your fence. Cutting the post is the last step before installing wooden fence posts caps.
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