Post And Rail Choices ?

fatboypee

Hey Guys

Looking for some advice re Post & Rail ?

I got alot to do and, as per everything, no cash...:mad:

Can anyone recommend whats best?:

1. Pressure treated SoftWood
2. Oak posts & pressure treated Softwood rails.
3. Something else ?

Would coating the ends before putting the posts in help preserve them ?
Would Concrete be needed or can I get away with straight to earth?

How long before I need to replace them ?

Got lots to do reckon over 60 posts minimum....

Comments appreciated.

Thanks

FBP.

CJhaughey

fatboypee wrote:

1. Pressure treated SoftWood
2. Oak posts & pressure treated Softwood rails.
3. Something else ?

Would coating the ends before putting the posts in help preserve them ?
Would Concrete be needed or can I get away with straight to earth?

How long before I need to replace them ?

Got lots to do reckon over 60 posts minimum....

Comments appreciated.

Thanks

FBP.

Most of the pressure treated stuff here is pure Sh1te and you wil be lucky to get 5 yrs out of it.
The reason it is so poor is that mills are buying the product direct from the grower and treating the wood while it is still green.
If you look around and ask questions you may be able to find Russian or Baltic timber which is of much better quality, use this if you can it is slower growing and has a tighter grain.
regarding concreting posts in: I would be slow to concrete posts in as you will have a lot of lumps of concrete to get rid of when the posts rot away in due course.
Better in my view is to use the galvanised cruciform 4x4 post spikes that you fix to the bottom of the 4x4 and push into the ground that way the timber is never in direct contact with wet concrete or soil and should last much longer.

I found a site on ebay that has what I am talking about.
I would still go for galv though.
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Fencing-Sales-Direct

fatboypee

CJhaughey wrote:

Most of the pressure treated stuff here is pure Sh1te and you wil be lucky to get 5 yrs out of it.
The reason it is so poor is that mills are buying the product direct from the grower and treating the wood while it is still green.
If you look around and ask questions you may be able to find Russian or Baltic timber which is of much better quality, use this if you can it is slower growing and has a tighter grain.
regarding concreting posts in: I would be slow to concrete posts in as you will have a lot of lumps of concrete to get rid of when the posts rot away in due course.
Better in my view is to use the galvanised cruciform 4x4 post spikes that you fix to the bottom of the 4x4 and push into the ground that way the timber is never in direct contact with wet concrete or soil and should last much longer.

I found a site on ebay that has what I am talking about.
I would still go for galv though.
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Fencing-Sales-Direct

Thanks cj,

So many posts, a fiver a spike is an awful lot of cash (300 pounds sterling just for the spikes :eek: )....

Will probably go with straight to ground allright, simpler to put in then....

Cheers.

FBP.

stifz

I used a local JCB guy to drive the posts in - he ahad a machine attached and had it done in a few hours.

CJhaughey

I had the yard fenced with sheepwire and a single strand of plain wire the guy used a 6t digger and just pushed the posts in with the bucket. took 2 days for 200m of fencing.
I don't particularly like post and rail as it isn't toddler proof;)

fatboypee

I'd get a diggerman if I could but they're so hard to pin down ! The guy we normally get is brilliant and reasonable (35 yooyoos an hour), just he needs 3 months notice and even then can't be relied on.. the rest are the same....

Still, 36 2x3 posts (2.2metre span aparrently) plus nails and rails ordered and arriving tonight, total 550 delivered...

FBP.