One comment about my post depth changed how I set fence posts

Last month a guy on a job site told me I was digging my post holes too wide. He said I was wasting concrete and time. I used to dig holes almost 12 inches across for 4x4 posts. He told me to go down to 8 inches max and pack the dirt tighter around the base. After trying it on the last 3 jobs I saved about 2 bags of concrete per hole and the posts feel just as solid. Has anyone else had a customer or coworker call them out on something they thought was fine?

2 comments

2 Comments

troy_owens1mo ago

Funny you mention that... my old man used to swear by digging holes twice as wide as the post and filling em with gravel for drainage. I tried that for a while but ended up with posts shifting in wet weather. Then a buddy told me to just use a metal spike driver instead of digging at all. Tried it on a small shed project last spring and honestly those posts haven't budged an inch. Now I'm wondering if I've been overcomplicating the whole thing for years.

phoenixh741mo ago

Tried those spike drivers on a fence line last summer @troy_owens and same result. Six months of rain and not one post shifted. Makes me wonder why I spent years digging and mixing concrete.