fencing advice...

psd99

psd99

psd99

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Joined
7 Sep 2008
Posts
5,846
Hey guys,

I'm looking to buy around 22 fence panels @ 1830mm each
(yes that is a LOT OF fencing and I know my life is going to suck lots lol)

I'm going to also need the following:

- 23 fence posts concrete
-22 gravel boards concrete

What about postcrete, how many bags do you think I will need? is 20/22 overkill?

any other useful advice about this project would be greatly appreciated. thanks.
 
One per post minimum is my experience. If there is a sydnams near you the quality of the panels that have is very good, even three years later they are looking as new. Think we paid £22 per panel
 
BigBoy said:
One per post minimum is my experience. If there is a sydnams near you the quality of the panels that have is very good, even three years later they are looking as new. Think we paid £22 per panel
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thanks I might grab some bags of sand and cement too just in case..

I'm expecting this to cost £800 minimum :( although I might space out the works we will see.
 
We did 14 new panels, 8 foot posts (needed due to high wind area) gravel boards and it took 47 bags of postcrete, but we did go over kill on purpose. Roughly 3 bags (1 bag = 20kg) per post.

This was all pre-treated wood/posts, post tops and solar panel LED lights.

£1200 we me and my uncle doing it (he’s a builder) but I did give him extra. Took us two days and some of the removal of the old posts were a nightmare. (this included a skip)
 
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One per post isn't enough really, it's accepted in housing estates where they are installing miles of elcheapo fencing. If you're using decent timber sizes and quality, for my own house I'd use two per post plus I would make sure the posts are properly treated. You'll be kicking yourself in five years when it's all falling over because either the posts have rotted at the base or there isn't enough concrete.
 
Maccapacca said:
One per post isn't enough really, it's accepted in housing estates where they are installing miles of elcheapo fencing. If you're using decent timber sizes and quality, for my own house I'd use two per post plus I would make sure the posts are properly treated. You'll be kicking yourself in five years when it's all falling over because either the posts have rotted at the base or there isn't enough concrete.
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I'm not thinking of using wooden posts..... I'm going for concrete ones but I might have to change my mind on this considering the costs!
 
I only had to do 12 panels a few years back (again concrete posts and boards) and we used 1.5 bags per post. So far so good and not a single bit of movement.

Not sure what the ground is like where you are but I would strongly consider hiring a Post Hole Borer, we made the mistake of not doing this and it took ages digging the holes. Plus in theory with PHB you will need less postcrete as the holes should be of a smaller diameter than what you normally end up with when digging yourself.
 
GSXRMovistar said:
Not sure what the ground is like where you are but I would strongly consider hiring a Post Hole Borer, we made the mistake of not doing this and it took ages digging the holes. Plus in theory with PHB you will need less postcrete as the holes should be of a smaller diameter than what you normally end up with when digging yourself.
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That is a great suggestion. Digging the holes is a pain and the worse the job you do the more postcrete you need.
 
I regularly do fencing as part of my job.
Its much cheaper to buy a ton bag of Ballast and 5/6 bags of cement, (900kg : 150kg = 6:1 ish which is strong enough for fencing in hard ground)
This should do about 15-25 holes depending on how big you dig them.
If the fencing is going along a garden a post borer will save time and materials as the hole will by smaller diameter. If the ground had a lot of flint or rocks, a post borer will struggle.
Put the concrete mix in dry (dont add water when mixing it) pack it down in layers around the post. Soak the mix at the end of the day, 1 watering can per post is enough (reason for this is wet concrete is like jelly and does not support the post properly while working)
Fit gravel boards as you go, (keep level) if windy leave panels until next day, its easy enough to slide them in.
If the ground is very soft, 8 foot posts may not be enough, as a 6 foot panel and 6 inch gravel board will only leave 18" in the ground, in harder/chalky ground this is enough
Buy closeboard (vertical slats) panels, as these are by far better quality than the cheap overlap (horizontal) panels.
Use a string line from 1 end of fence to other end. this will keep it straight, if possible if you set this line as the finished height of the fence, then you can use the line as the top of each post, therefore making it easy to measure if the holes are deep enough.

edit
Just had a quick look, this is what we buy at
6x6 close board panel = £32.00
8ft concrete post = £14.00
6" concrete gravel board = £9.00 = £55 per panel

1 ton ballast =£38
5 x opc =£22
 
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from experience fencing panes are very weak and flimsy and are wind traps and don't last very long, especially if exposed to a lot of wind.

We removed ours and went for fencing boards with a 12mm gab between each. Privacy wasn't an issue as property backs onto a field(if want privacy then have no gaps) The cost of the board vs panels is about the same. but by time you add the posts and bracing and the abundance of screws it does work out more expensive. However the quality look and durability will be a lot better. The only exception to this is purchasing high quality think fencing panel which are about 2x the price of you basic.
 
A bag and a half for every post minimum. I wedge a few bricks in with that as well. If I was doing that many I would hire a cerment mixer. Will save some money. Or you can buy postcrete lose. So if you know someone with a flat bed truck you could same some cash there as well
 
thanks for all of the suggestions guys

- I noticed a lot of people have mentioned feather edged boards and fencing boards. is it something like this?
https://www.travisperkins.co.uk/Clo...Su00XgsjbtJeY6f6mU0aArQPEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

- Good suggestion on an alternative to post crete, I like the idea of the big bag of ballast and cement bags - much more cost effective and I need to work out the differences in price.

- The tool to dig the hole is about £50 online, I will ask around if someone has one of these.

- Adding bricks into the ground too, I could smash up some extra bricks I got that look unsightly.
 
One advantage of using bags of postcrete despite the cost is the minimal amount of mess it makes. Leave the bags in a nice stack, grab one when needed, dump in hole, add water. No fuss mixing or having to shovel/move wet mix around your garden.
 
GSXRMovistar said:
One advantage of using bags of postcrete despite the cost is the minimal amount of mess it makes. Leave the bags in a nice stack, grab one when needed, dump in hole, add water. No fuss mixing or having to shovel/move wet mix around your garden.
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Good point but if each bag is like £5 and it looks like I will need about 30-35 bags
so thats £175 right there...

A bag of ballast is £40 I doubt the cement be that much but I got to look into this further when I get time.
 
From experience of doing a few much smaller fencing jobs than yours:

*If you are going for the lap panels, try and go pressure treated over dipped. Also these little clips are a time saver. https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Timber-Fence-Panel-Fixing-Clip/p/541399

*Go for the longest posts you can for better stability in wind. As everyone has said 1 bag of postcrete is not really enough.

If it's a long length of fence then you want it to be as strong as possible. Is it worth saving a few quid to have to re-visit the job again to sort out a problem with it?

Balance up the cost of the materials with how good a job and how easier a job you want to do. Postcrete will be more for a big job, but it is so much less work to use it. Concrete posts will be stronger and last longer, but timber is cheaper and more flexible to work with. If I had 23 post holes to dig, getting a tool to do it/make it easier would definitely be worth having.

Doing it yourself will save your loads of money over paying someone, so even if you have to spend a few more quid on materials and tools you are still saving money.

Dave
 
psd99 said:
Good point but if each bag is like £5 and it looks like I will need about 30-35 bags
so thats £175 right there...

A bag of ballast is £40 I doubt the cement be that much but I got to look into this further when I get time.
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other factor is a lot of postcrete will set in 10-15minutes. you own mix could take a lot longer.
 
pigeonguyuk said:
other factor is a lot of postcrete will set in 10-15minutes. you own mix could take a lot longer.
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Not if you use rapid setting cement, iirc about £5/6 a bag for 25kg,
Upto you op but
1x ton bag of ballast is £40
7 x rapid cement is £35
But you have to mix it yourself, 6 shovels of ballast in a wheel barrow and 1 cement, mix it dry and fill up hole.
This is roughly 60kg in weight (could be more.) that's the same as 3 x 20kg postcrete

Edit, I am wrong calling it a ton bag, they usually 800 to 900kg depending where you get it.
Plus 7 25kg of cement makes about 1000kg of concrete.
That's the same as 50 bags of postcrete at £5 each = £250 lol
 
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thanks for all of the great replies.

I have been making use of the good weather, starting with clearing bushes on the borderline with some very sharp thorns. I even noticed that my neighbour has been using one of my trees for a garden washing line....lucky I am such a nice guy!!! lol

I will need to clear a final bit of shrubs and then I will be ready to actually buy all of the parts:

- 12 x 6 foot feather edge panels
- 13 x 8 foot slotted concrete posts
- 12 x 305mm x 1830mm gravel boards

- 1 x jumbo bag ballast
- 6 x 25kg bags of quick setting cement

I really hope that 8 foot posts will do the job!!!!

this is costing me somewhere between £600 to £900, so I am trying to bargain perhaps with cash in my hand let's see.

I also liked the idea of the post borer, but two final questions:

1. which post borer shall I purchase?

2. there was talk about throwing the cement in dry? What should my exact strategy be?
 
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