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Fence post lifespan


madbopper
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I've got the same problem, posts rotting off at ground level in less than 5 years. Even a 7"x7" gate post just snapped where rotted at ground level in 4 years. I am on heavy waterlogged clay though.

 

I've started milling my own 4"x4" oak and chestnut posts, as untreated green oak.chestnut will last me longer than any modern softwood pressure treated with the rubbish they are allowed to use these days.

 

I'm tempted to buy some good old fashioned creosote, and soak the bottom couple of feet of the new posts for a month or two. There's creosoted softwood fence posts here that the previous owner put in 40 to 50 years ago that are still going strong. Do it once, do it well! Just be aware that creosote if frowned on these days, but I don't think it's banned for this use, please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

HI OIL ok to use creosote in the trade it home owners who can not use it or the trade to sale to thanks jon:thumbup:

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I'm tempted to buy some good old fashioned creosote, and soak the bottom couple of feet of the new posts for a month or two. There's creosoted softwood fence posts here that the previous owner put in 40 to 50 years ago that are still going strong. Do it once, do it well! Just be aware that creosote if frowned on these days, but I don't think it's banned for this use, please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

It's not banned for commercial use once it's thoroughly in the wood. The point is because it is phenolic it is a carcinogen, so best to handle it with gloves. This mutagenic propensity may be part of its effectiveness. Horses don't seem to gnaw creosoted timber like they do the copper based ones.

 

Nowadays creosote isn’t coal tar derived like it was in the days every large town had a coal gas plant so it may not be as deadly as then.

 

If you are treating an absorbant timber and have no access to a pressure chamber you can hot and cold dip it. The principle is to have dry wood so the cell sap spaces are empty of liquid, heat the post up and the air in the clls expands and leaves the wood, allow the wood to cool in a bath of creosote and as the air in the clls contracts it sucks the creosote in. Pressure treament systems apply a final vacuum to suck out excess creosote (VacVac process) as creosote is expensive and to leave a dry surface.

 

In the old days having the creosote catch fire was a regular occurrence, I would have liked to try a flash steam coil to run the heating and reduce this risk.

Edited by openspaceman
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the problem you've got is the concrete posts arnt as good as they used to be the wooden tanilised post last 15 years a local fencing supplier told me this

 

My local supplier offers this 15 years guarantee but only on Kiln Dried treated posts, couple of quid extra on the price

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