My Daughter's Fence

[bindian]

Last, but not least. View from the patio chairs after dark.
hugs, Brandi

 

[KevT]

You did better than good Brandi!!! You should be proud, and your daughter happy. BTW did I happen to mention when my B-day is??? I wanna a fence too

 

[bindian]

You did better than good Brandi!!! You should be proud, and your daughter happy. BTW did I happen to mention when my B-day is??? I wanna a fence too

Thanks. You will be the first one when I finish all my fences.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

Well, the ground has shunk around the concrete and posts. The whole fence wiggles. I had 5 sacks of concrete on hand, so I used them at both ends of the fence. You could see daylight under the gate end of the fence's concrete. I poured concrete dry and tamped in up under the fence as best I could. Then wet it down good. I only had two boards I wedged in to brace the fence. I will be going back in a few weeks to brace the fence up (correctly) and pour concrete on the downhill (leaning) side and was thinking putting sand on the uphill side of the fence. Or should I put concrete on both sides?
hugs, Brandi

 

[s219]

Wow, that's crazy -- has it gotten super dry there compared to when you installed the fence? I know some clay soils can shrink quite a bit when they dry, but never heard of it being enough to loosen fence posts.

 

[SirReal63]

Wow, that's crazy -- has it gotten super dry there compared to when you installed the fence? I know some clay soils can shrink quite a bit when they dry, but never heard of it being enough to loosen fence posts.

We have some cracks big enough to literally stick your whole arm into. Our gate post, on the hinge side got loose enough side to side to cause the gate to drag, I put about 450 gallons of water on the post and it tightened right back up. I have had to water that gate post 3 times this summer. It is amazing how much clay will shrink when all of the moisture is removed.

 

[bindian]

That area of Texas, to the east and north of the Hill Country, is known as the black land prairie. Down behind the fence, there are gaps in the ground, like Jack stated above, where you can put your arm. But don't. I'm sure scorpions are down there.

When I put the fence in, I told her to buy soaker hoses for the fence and house foundation. She has been putting soaker hoses along the fence and house foundation......even the garage. I don't know when she started soaking. But she is restricted to water on Saturdays. I am not sure if that is the only day. Her front yard and along the sides of the driveway need to have more soil added to raise the grass level above the driveway. She also has a huge gap now under the side of her driveway. I'm thinking about getting a load of top soil delivered and spread it with a small, rented, stand on only, micro track loader
hugs, Brandi

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Very nice job on the fence.

 

[bindian]

Very nice job on the fence.

Thanks. I also suffer from that disorder.
hugs, Brandi

 

[ustmd]

That area of Texas, to the east and north of the Hill Country, is known as the black land prairie. Down behind the fence, there are gaps in the ground, like Jack stated above, where you can put your arm. But don't. I'm sure scorpions are down there.

When I put the fence in, I told her to buy soaker hoses for the fence and house foundation. She has been putting soaker hoses along the fence and house foundation......even the garage. I don't know when she started soaking. But she is restricted to water on Saturdays. I am not sure if that is the only day. Her front yard and along the sides of the driveway need to have more soil added to raise the grass level above the driveway. She also has a huge gap now under the side of her driveway. I'm thinking about getting a load of top soil delivered and spread it with a small, rented, stand on only, micro track loader
hugs, Brandi

Living within a couple of miles of your daughter's place, I would advise caution on hauling in dirt immediately or adding too much more the dry cement to the fence to stiffen up the posts.

The fence was put in during one of the wettest springs on record. The soil was saturated with moisture. Assuming it ever does start raining again (and that is a big assumption), the ground will swell back up/ How much depends on how much rain we get. If you backfill too much around her driveway or the fence, it will crack the concrete or push it out of place.

My recommendation is wait if you can until after we get some significant rain and then assess what is going on.