c/fence-erectors

Just realized I've been setting posts wrong since a crew boss in Alabama called me out for digging too deep

After that job on a slope near Huntsville where we hit bedrock at 18 inches on one side and 4 feet on the other, do you switch to a step footing or just pour concrete deeper and hope it holds on a grade like that?

My old foreman swore by digging post holes dry, not wet

At a job outside Topeka, the ground was so dry and hard I couldn't break through. Old foreman told me to soak the ground for an hour before digging, said it saves hits on the shovel and your back. I tried it and popped through in 20 minutes flat where I was stuck for almost two hours before. Has anyone else found a good trick for breaking up packed clay?

That Tuesday near Amarillo where I sunk 9 posts in quicksand

I took a job on a ranch outside Amarillo last spring, 400 feet of pipe fence along a dry creek bed. First three holes went fine at 30 inches deep. Then I hit a patch of wet sand that swallowed my auger on post number four. I spent four hours digging out three posts that kept sinking two feet deeper every time I tried to set them. Boss finally made me rent a soil compactor and pour a gravel bed before I could even think about concrete. Has anyone else run into hidden sandy layers that just eat your posts?

The difference in post holes after I finally bought an auger bit sharpener

I spent three years digging post holes for farm fencing with a dull auger bit, thinking the rocky soil was just that bad. Last month I spent $45 on a hand file and sharpening guide and now my tractor digs a clean 30-inch hole in under a minute. Has anyone else noticed how much faster your work goes when you just maintain your tools a little better?

Hit 500 linear feet of privacy fence in one day and I finally get why speed matters

I always thought taking it slow was the key to getting things straight, but last Tuesday I pushed myself to hit that 500 foot mark on a backyard job in Austin. Turns out the rhythm of working faster actually kept my posts more aligned because I wasn't second-guessing every step. Anyone else found that moving quicker improves your accuracy?

Rant: Pounded 60 posts last week with a cheap driver and my arms are still angry at me

Used a $30 harbor freight fence post driver from 3 years ago and it took twice as long as when I borrowed my buddy's $150 one. Has anyone else noticed how much a heavy driver saves your body on big jobs?

Learned the hard way about cheap fence post caps

I bought 50 plastic post caps from a big box store for about $40 last spring. By August, half of them had cracked and fallen off from the sun. I spent another Saturday replacing them all with metal ones that cost me $3 each this time. That $40 lesson taught me to just spend the extra money upfront on fence parts that face the weather. Anybody else get burned by plastic fence parts that don't hold up?

Chat with a concrete guy changed how I look at post anchors

Had a pour-in-place concrete guy tell me last week that I'm wasting time with rapid-set bags for gate posts. Said he's pulled up 8 year old gates where the posts were just sitting in cracked quickcrete. Told me to use gravel at the bottom and mix my own 3000 psi mix instead. I laughed it off at first but then I went back to a job from 2021 and noticed one of my gate frames was already wobbling. Has anyone else switched to mixing their own concrete for load bearing posts?

Overheard a crew lead say my post holes were too bell-bottomed

I was setting 8 posts for a privacy fence in Sandy Springs last Thursday and this older guy walks by, watches me for a minute, says my holes flare out at the bottom. Turns out I've been digging them wrong for 2 years. Anybody else get told that and realize it messes with concrete holding power?

I remember when we used to dig post holes by hand, not with a skid steer

Back in '04, my first fence job was for a horse farm outside Lexington. We dug every single hole with a clamshell digger. Took three of us two full days to set 40 posts. Now I can do that in a morning with the auger attachment on my Bobcat. Sure saves the back, but something about the old way felt more solid. Any of you old timers still hand dig for certain jobs, or am I just being nostalgic?

Overheard a homeowner say 'fences are just boards and nails' last Tuesday

Made me laugh and then think about all the hours I've spent digging post holes in rocky soil or squaring gates that swing perfectly. How do you explain to someone that the ground conditions alone can double a job's time?

Chat with a concrete guy changed how I plan post holes

I was talking to this old concrete contractor named Don at the supply yard last Tuesday. He saw me loading up bags of quick set and asked what I was doing. I told him I was post hole setting for a 200 foot cedar privacy fence over in Oak Hills. He just nodded and said you know you can mix in a little lime with that concrete to make it flow better around the post. I always just dumped the dry mix in the hole and added water. He explained that the lime helps the concrete settle into every gap so you don't get voids near the bottom of the post. I tried it on the next six holes and I could see the difference in how solid the posts felt after setting. Anyone else ever heard of adding lime to the mix for fence posts?

Drove past that new housing development over in Clifton last week and noticed they used all chain link on the back fences

I get that it's cheaper and keeps the view open, but don't solid wood panels give way more privacy and wind protection for those yards? Has anyone else run into homeowners arguing about which way to go on a big build?

Rant: Guy asked me to fix his fence but wouldn't let me dig past the frost line

Had a job up near Green Bay last February where the homeowner insisted I just set the posts in gravel on top of the frozen ground. I tried explaining that a 4 foot frost line means that fence is gonna heave by spring but he kept saying his cousin did it that way and it held for 2 years. I ended up walking off the job because I didn't want my name on something that would fail by March. Anyone else run into customers who think they know more about soil conditions than the guy doing the work?

Spent 4 hours digging one post hole because I forgot to check for a sprinkler line

Was putting up a new section of privacy fence in my backyard in Tampa. Started digging the first hole, hit something hard about 8 inches down. Spent the next 3 hours carefully chipping away concrete and rerouting an old sprinkler line that wasn't on any map. Then another hour fixing the sprinkler head I snapped off anyway. Has anyone else found random underground stuff that took way longer than the actual fence work?

The day a 20 year fence veteran showed me my post holes were all wrong

I've been putting up wooden privacy fences for about 5 years now, always dug my holes about 2 feet deep for a 6 foot fence, thought that was the standard. Then I'm working a job near Raleigh last month and this old timer named Hank comes by, watches me for a minute, then says real quiet 'son, your holes need to be below the frost line or that frost heave is gonna push your posts up every winter.' I had no idea frost line even mattered for fences, I just figured deep enough was deep enough. So which is it, do you guys actually measure frost line or just go with the local standard depth?

Shoutout to that time I messed up a fence line in Austin

I was putting in a 150 foot run of chain link near some big oak trees and didn't check for roots deep enough. Hit a gnarly one with the post hole digger and bent the whole thing sideways. Had to dig it out by hand for 3 hours in the Texas heat, then backfill with gravel instead of concrete. Anyone else ever wreck a tool on hidden roots?

Serious question, I read that the average fence post hole is only 24 inches deep in my county

Found that in the local building department's inspection data, and it's way shallower than the 36 inches we all aim for. Anyone else see numbers that make you question the standard practice?

I picked cedar over pressure-treated for a 6-foot privacy fence in a wet part of town and the extra $300 was worth it.

The cedar has held up better against the constant damp and I haven't seen a single spot of rot after two full seasons, so what's your go-to wood for high-moisture areas?

Finally gave up on that old manual post driver for a pneumatic one

I had a job putting in 40 cedar posts for a horse fence last week. For the first ten, I used my trusty old manual driver, the one that weighs about 30 pounds. My arms were shot by lunch. After that, I rented a pneumatic driver from the local supply house. It drove the posts in half the time with way less effort, and they went in straighter because I wasn't so tired. Anyone else make a switch like that and kick themselves for not doing it sooner?

Just finished a 500 foot cedar fence job in Tacoma and the client tipped me $500 cash

We wrapped up the install yesterday, and when I handed over the keys, the homeowner just gave me an envelope. I've been doing this for 15 years and never got a tip that big on a single job. It wasn't even a crazy hard install, just a clean property line. Has anyone else had a client surprise them with a bonus like that? What did you do with it?

The way people set post depth now drives me nuts

I mean, back in the day, we'd always go a solid 2 feet down for a 6-foot wood fence, especially in places with frost like upstate New York. Now I see crews setting 4x4s in maybe 18 inches of concrete and calling it good. That extra half foot of post in the ground is what keeps a fence from leaning after a few hard winters. I learned that from an old timer named Frank on my first job in '08, and I've never had a call back for a leaning post. Does anyone else still stick to the old rule, or am I just being stubborn?

Talked to a city inspector in Tacoma about cedar posts and his one line changed my whole plan for a job

A guy in Boise told me my post caps were 'aggressively ugly'

He said the big, square ones I was using on a cedar fence looked like they were trying too hard. I argued they were sturdy and kept the water out. But after that job, I switched to a simple, rounded cap style for most residential work. Has anyone else had a client's blunt opinion make you change a standard part of your build?

I was setting posts with a 4-inch gap from the property line for 8 years until a surveyor in Austin told me the code is 6 inches.