Preventing post rot after the fact?

[piaffepony]

My outdoor arena fence posts are the 7” round PT posts from TSC. They were set in concrete 5 years ago. The bottoms weren’t coated, we didn’t use enough concrete to keep the soil and moisture away from the base and half of the posts have broken off at the concrete. No surprise there!

I bought more posts and coated the bottoms and painted the crap out of them before we set them. However, storm debris took out another 7 posts. I had a ton of volunteers come help set a total of 15 posts. I didn’t have time to coat the newer posts before they were set in concrete.

1. Will coating the bottom of the posts with tar (open to product recommendations) where it meets the concrete work ok? Would a wood crack filler around the bottoms work or be better? Or will it be all for not?

2. Anything I can do to the original posts that probably have a little rotting to extend their life a few more years?

3. The newer PT posts are still damp.. will any post treatment stick to it?

 

[RNeumann]

The premise that concrete keeps moisture out isn’t correct. Concrete is a sponge that holds moisture. Unfortunately the posts you bought won’t work and no coating will change that. Their are hundreds of “pressure treatments” and the TSC ones don’t work for your needs- read inferior treatment.
Either switch post material or switch the way the posts are set. If the water table is low enough switching from concrete to gravel would be a start.

 

[SPYDERLK]

My outdoor arena fence posts are the 7” round PT posts from TSC. They were set in concrete 5 years ago. The bottoms weren’t coated, we didn’t use enough concrete to keep the soil and moisture away from the base and half of the posts have broken off at the concrete. No surprise there!

I bought more posts and coated the bottoms and painted the crap out of them before we set them. However, storm debris took out another 7 posts. I had a ton of volunteers come help set a total of 15 posts. I didn’t have time to coat the newer posts before they were set in concrete.

1. Will coating the bottom of the posts with tar (open to product recommendations) where it meets the concrete work ok? Would a wood crack filler around the bottoms work or be better? Or will it be all for not?

2. Anything I can do to the original posts that probably have a little rotting to extend their life a few more years?

3. The newer PT posts are still damp.. will any post treatment stick to it?

You should probably plant the pressure treated posts directly in the soil without coating. They seem to rot more readily inside a semi sealed coating. Ours planted bare are looking good after 10yrs. - - Also, maybe, there are differently treated posts on the market. We have never bought ours from TSC.

 

[oosik]

If if were me, I'd quit worrying about the posts you have in now. As they rot out replace them with REAL railroad ties. I've had ties in a swampy area now for 38 years with no evidence of rot. You have a pretty tough environment if a 7" post rots off in five years.

I'm not speaking of the product sold at Lowes, Walmart or Home Depot. The ties I got were directly from one of our local RR supply facilities. They were heavy, gooey, and smelled strongly of asphalt tar preservative. Even after 38 years - they still smell strongly on a hot summer day.

 

[RoyKing]

Lowes sell a rot treatment base on cu. Yearly spraying of the posts and don't bother with concrete, put same dirt back in the hole and water it as you go and they will settle in quickly.

 

[piaffepony]

They are already set... I can’t change it now. Now I’m just trying to minimize the future damage.

 

[nybirdman]

What the Amish do is;drill an angled hole below the ground line and fill with used motor oil.Refill every couple of years.Do know how well that goes with the environment tho.

 

[bcp]

Something can be done, but I don't remember much about the news article. Sometime in the 80's, I think, they drilled holes into the interior of the post near the bottom, put something in, then sealed the hole with a wooden plug.


Hundreds of posts in the stockade at Fort Vancouver:

Fort Vancouver National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)

Bruce

 

[Snobdds]

What the Amish do is;drill an angled hole below the ground line and fill with used motor oil.Refill every couple of years.Do know how well that goes with the environment tho.

I do a yearly treatment of motor oil (new cheap 30 wt) thinned down with diesel. I never replace post...

The greenies hate me...

 

[zzvyb6]

Buy lengths of angle iron and pound them alongside your round posts. Drill holes in the iron an secure with big nails. Old highway sign steel is the best because its pre-drilled. This will relieve some of the strain on the existing posts. What's between the posts (boards, wire, nylon webbing)? Keep that as tight as possible to have the neighboring posts help the weak ones. I just run a new post alongside the old ones and NEVER use boards because of the length compromise issues.