Garden fence panels

ergonomics · 1 May 2016 at 20:47

Hi chaps,

That time of year... the suns out and the garden needs sorting. Bought this place in November and now have a dog so first priority is ditch the odd bits of fencing the last owners had.. and replace it with new stuff! I will be doing 25m in the garden and wondering where best to go? Anyone recommend a source of fence panels and wooden fence posts?

Cheers!

kefkef · 1 May 2016 at 22:01

Can't say for Lindon, but around Yorkshire there are 1 or 2 firms always recommended. Maybe Google or ring around a few places. You'll need a decent bit of string for a line, a decent spade and either post mix or stone/sand/cement to mx your own.

In fact thinking about it, look up your local builders merchants and see what they have to offer, they usually partner with firms for this type of thing.

nutcase · 2 May 2016 at 07:48

Don't use wooden fence posts, use concrete.

Simps · 2 May 2016 at 14:03

nutcase_1uk said:
Don't use wooden fence posts, use concrete.

And Postcrete. Put the panels in right away and don't worry about them not fitting after as they're already in there. Postcrete goes off in an hour so no need to worry about wind blowing it over too (providing you have dug nice tight holes--

)

ergonomics · 2 May 2016 at 14:58

What's the advantage of concrete? They're obviously pricier and many of my neighbors have gone for wooden posts as they will last many moons these days (provided its postcrete-d in)

johnny6 · 2 May 2016 at 17:12

Last longer surely. Not as 'nice' looking though.

All I do know that round my way the concrete posts put in by the council in the 50s are still standing, where as the ones replaced by wooden posts over the years have not lasted well with all the high winds of late. Though that's most likely due to the ***** way various individuals have put them in.

b0rn2sk8 · 3 May 2016 at 20:07

All wooden posts rot and snap at the base, concrete don't. The downside is they don't look as good, but you can paint them if you so wish.

There not that much more expensive.

Mark A · 3 May 2016 at 20:17

Wooden posts can last ages if you install them right. Put gravel at the base of the hole to allow water to soak away and after concreting them in use a bit of sand and cement to bring the base above the ground slightly with a slope to stop water pooling around the posts.

Also never cut the post down and install the cut end to the bottom as I have seen people do in the past.

kefkef · 4 May 2016 at 14:46

The original fence that runs down the side of my house has been there for 20yrs, it's wooden posts 4x3's and only 1 has rotted so far which was next to my pond and I used to empty a lot of water over/around it when doing maintenance.

ergonomics · 25 Jun 2016 at 10:23

Following on from this thread - I ended up going for concrete as the price difference wasn't too much. I got a good deal from a local fencing company. 14x concrete posts, 13x concrete gravel boards, 13x fence panels, 14x bags postcrete all for £650.

My only question now is labour. I had planned to rent an auger and do it myself but now it's all concrete it's too much for one person. I had a guy quote this morning - 24 meters of fence, I have all the supplies, he reckons 2 guys for 3 days = £600 labour minimum. Sounds extortionate to me - anyone had similar work done that can share the price they paid?

Gaygle · 25 Jun 2016 at 17:00

He reckons he'll only do 4 or 5 posts/panels a day with two professional fence installers who have the right tools, like augers?? Sounds like they're trying to drag it out.

FWIW, I removed 6 rotten wooden fence posts and installed 6 new posts/panels in 2 days with my 70 year old father helping and having to dig holes with one of those manual fence hole diggers.

If you have a petrol auger and you're digging in open space (no roots/concrete) it is literally childsplay and each hole takes approximately 10-15 seconds to dig. How deep are you digging? If you're going down 2 ft, you'll need at least 2 bags of postcrete per hole.

Simps · 25 Jun 2016 at 21:01

£600 is daylight robbery. Unless you have a load of concrete or massive tree roots in every hole like said above it takes about (at most) 5 minutes to dig a 2 foot deep hole.
I did all of mine on my own after work for 2 nights, about 6 hours. The ground was easy digging and the postcrete is amazing stuff and I had already layed out marked my posts up with the steps.
If the soil is easy digging then no need to hire an auger use one of these... http://www.tfmsuperstore.co.uk/shop/hand-tools-agricultural-post-hole-spade-8806.html
Use a small narrow spade to loosen the soil before grabbing it with the above shovel. I use one of these... http://www.tfmsuperstore.co.uk/shop...newcastle-drainer-shovel-16-yd-5524-9797.html

If its just a matter of putting a line up and going from one end to the other then 2 blokes should do that in a day or day and half easily. All depends on the ground I know.

Above mentioned 2 bags of postcrete per post and that is what I used and it was the perfect amount, so I think you need another 14 bags providing you are going down nearly 2 foot. Also depends on how tall the panels are, above 4ft then 2 bags deffo.

I did 9 posts and 8 panels in 2 evenings after work

koolpc · 25 Jun 2016 at 21:11

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Looks neat. Did you postcrete after you had put the gravel board and panel in between the 2 posts or did you postcrete one at a time?

Simps · 25 Jun 2016 at 21:37

Thank you. I Put the first post in then postcreted that then put the gravelboard and panel in, dropped the post down and up to the edge of the panel. Put it to the line and plumbed it and kicked the open bags of postcrete in to the hole after squirting some water in.

koolpc · 25 Jun 2016 at 22:18

Simps said:
Thank you. I Put the first post in then postcreted that then put the gravelboard and panel in, dropped the post down and up to the edge of the panel. Put it to the line and plumed it and kicked the open bags of postcrete in to the hole after squirting some water in.

Cheers, sounds like a good system.

ergonomics · 26 Jun 2016 at 10:55

Thanks for the replies guys. They are 5ft fence panels and the posts are going 2 feet under.. so i guess i'm ordering another 14 bags of postcrete

I figured once I hired an auger (£80 for the weekend), bought other bits like a shovel, i'd approach the cost of getting someone else to do it. But i lost my words when I was quoted £600. The soil isn't the best.. there's a good amount of grass/weeds going on and it's fairly dry but should be root-free. Onto the next quote I guess.. if i'm looking at extortion from everyone i will take a couple days off work and go for it..

dink · 26 Jun 2016 at 21:43

Mind if I hijack and ask a quick question? I've been quoted around 800 plus vat for a 7 panel, 6 post 6ft fence (similar to one in pic above) fitted incl disposal of the old one. Is this a fair price? Thanks.

ergonomics · 27 Jun 2016 at 08:15

dink said:
Mind if I hijack and ask a quick question? I've been quoted around 800 plus vat for a 7 panel, 6 post 6ft fence (similar to one in pic above) fitted incl disposal of the old one. Is this a fair price? Thanks.

Hijack away sir! So £1k total? Your materials should be about £300 (maybe a bit cheaper if wood and no gravel boards) so that seems as steep as my quote for labour! Disposing of my old fence was the easy bit.. got an oil drum and set it on fire for 6 hours.. end result was 1 bag of ash that went in the bin

joelk2 · 27 Jun 2016 at 09:26

anyone got recommendations on where to buy stuff the posts and panels?

locally wickes seem to be the best but the fence panel look a bit naff compared to @Simps picture above.

koolpc · 27 Jun 2016 at 09:30

joelk2 said:
anyone got recommendations on where to buy stuff the posts and panels?

locally wickes seem to be the best but the fence panel look a bit naff compared to @Simps picture above.

You should be able to google your area to what is availabe