I have a 40m run of fencing to do down one side of my garden and wondered if anyone on here could offer some advice. I am doing the job myself to keep costs down and have the dilemma of wooden posts vs concrete. I’d prefer wood for aesthetics but there is the obvious potential reduction in lifespan. Is modern pressure treated timber likely to last 10 years + in the ground? Also has anyone fitted DuraPosts? More expensive but look much nicer than concrete posts. I am fitting 6’ framed closeboard panels suspended 100mm from ground level to avoid the need for gravel boards. Any advice would be much appreciated.

No help for you’re question but was watching YouTube the other day and now there is a foam for securing fence posts in the ground who knew ?

Down under these days for timber paling they use square steel posts in a concrete footing, usually zinc plated, not hot dipped galvanized.

Horizontal timber beam top & bottom, palings done with nail gun. Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

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Have a look at these .

https://www.kedel.co.uk/mixed-plastic-lumb...yFEALw_wcB

Two years ago I installed a memorial bench made of the same material on a Pennine farm hillside . It is impervious to the worst weather , it will be there in 50 years . I made the choice after looking at cost v maintenance. 2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

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Labradorslave wrote:

I have a 40m run of fencing to do down one side of my garden and wondered if anyone on here could offer some advice. I am doing the job myself to keep costs down and have the dilemma of wooden posts vs concrete. I’d prefer wood for aesthetics but there is the obvious potential reduction in lifespan. Is modern pressure treated timber likely to last 10 years + in the ground? Also has anyone fitted DuraPosts? More expensive but look much nicer than concrete posts. I am fitting 6’ framed closeboard panels suspended 100mm from ground level to avoid the need for gravel boards. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Just renewed all of ours last year.
All concrete posts 8ft. and 6ft. gravel boards at the bottom. No wood now in contact with the ground.
Much better job but more expensive and harder work. Each post is approximately 40 kg.
I would advise having someone to help. Now at the point when I learn something new something old is lost out the other side !
Now retired so it doesn't matter anymore.
Freelander now gone.

Duraposts are the way to go , timber posts will require replacing in 8/10 years , concrete posts/gravel boards are very heavy to install , I've put up plenty of fencing over the years and I'll only fit Durapost now .

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I have a long (about 120ft) exposed fence on one side of my garden, which kept blowing down.
So some 30+ years ago I decided to build the best strong fence I could.

I used 8ft+ slotted solid recycled plastic posts (sold at the time by B&Q) because I found the concrete versions too heavy to handle. These were concreted in to a depth of about 18 inches and spaced out by 6ftx1ft concrete gravel boards.
I then fitted in standard 6x6 closeboard B&Q wooden panels.

These panels lasted until a few years ago, and I have since replaced them with stronger versions that I have home-built on a jig using triangular arris rails and good quality (thicker) feather edge fencing strips, using wood screws not nails.

All the wood is pressure treated and I have run inverted plastic guttering along the top as protection against the rain.

One other thing is that, as I am getting weaker with age, I have made the panels slightly undersize so that I can fit them flush with wooden strips screwed into plastic post slots.



The posts have lasted well and have not shown any deterioration, and seem as good as when I bought them, and I would expect this fence to last a good 25 years or more. The secret is to keep any wood away from the ground surface, and use screws instead of nails.

Another method of keeping wooden posts away from the ground, is to use concrete spur (repair?) posts. These are short with holes that allow you to bolt a wooden post onto above the ground. I have used these to fix the old chain link fence which runs alongside the local path. Fence and posts have lasted without further maintenance since 1986.

https://www.diy.com/departments/forest-gar...780_BQ.prd






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Last edited by IanMetro on 22nd May 2022 8:04 am. Edited 1 time in total

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience. My garden is fairly free draining but after reading your feedback, I will give up on the wood post route. I don’t fancy digging the whole lot up in a few years. I think I will invest the money I saved by doing it myself on the DuraPost system. Many thanks again👍