Had a real wake-up call about post hole depth last month

I was putting up a 6 foot privacy fence in Cedar Rapids, using my usual method of digging about 24 inches deep for the posts. The ground felt solid, so I figured it was fine. Then we got that big storm three weeks ago, the one with 50 mph winds. Went back to check the job and three posts were leaning bad, like a good 4 inches out of plumb. The client was not happy. I pulled one and saw the concrete base had basically just rocked in the hole, it wasn't anchored deep enough at all for that height in our soil. I've been setting posts for 8 years and just always used that 2 foot rule of thumb. What other depth guidelines do you guys follow for different fence heights?

3 comments

3 Comments

blake79226d ago

Oof, guess my rule of thumb was just a thumb.

calebc4026d ago

Man, that reminds me of the time I totally misjudged how deep to plant some bulbs. Let's just say my garden looked weird that spring.

blair_ward3926d ago

Honestly I've always gone deeper than that, like a third of the post height at least.