Half a dozen fence posts rotten and breaking at base - cheap alternative to replacing them?

[Rollerball]

Note that this isn't a 'solid' fence - therefore no panels, just three horizontal bars and some wire along about a fifty foot length., therefore relatively little wind resistance. There's about 14 posts in total.

About half a dozen of the posts are rotting at the base and today's strong winds have broken some beneath ground level and they're now leaning by about a foot. Well, they were but I've patched it up for now. Also pulled back the central one with a strong piece of rope that's anchored into the ground for now.

The posts are about 6 feet tall with a cross section of about 5 inches by 3 inches.

I don't want to pay a small fortune to get them replaced. For now I've knocked in some wood on the leeward side and nailed it on place. The more permanent options I can think of are:

a) Brace each post with a suitable piece of wood each side at an angle, but as the fence borders a road I'm not sure if this is practical even though there is a grass verge. Tractors sometimes mount the verge so would knock over any braces on that side.

b) knock in some new tall vertical posts on one side and bolt them to the broken posts. Or is there a better way to fix them instead of bolting? Some kind of metal straps perhaps?

c) Knock in some much shorter posts to support the break (which is what I'm temporarily done on two of them). However, not sure if those are going to be good enough in the long term. They stick up about a foot from the ground and are sunk into the ground by about a foot. Temporarily nail them to the broken posts but perhaps metal straps of some sort might be better?

I think that option 'b' is likely to be the best but any other ideas please?

The key things are to keep this cheap but also for any patches to be pretty strong.

 

[Notch7]

concrete repair spur?

or have a look on facebook marketplace for some old fence posts -then cut them into 1200mm lengths and use as repair spurs.

ideally if using timber wrap the bit in the ground with flashband, use heat gun and seam roller

 

[Rollerball]

Thanks - those concrete repair spurs aren't cheap are they? £25 each for a bit of molded concrete with a few holes? Somebody in the chain is making a killing there. Must cost all of a quid each to make.

It is though similar to my idea of sinking some posts into the ground (yours too).

I like your other ideas too, thanks.

 

[Why Not Indeed]

Concrete repair spurs will never rot. Timber in the ground will always rot in the end. How much is your time worth?

 

[Rollerball]

Good point.

 

[DiyNutJob]

Maybe more value in full concrete posts? https://www.avsfencing.co.uk/fencing/fence-posts/concrete-fence-posts/

Maybe learn to pour your own concrete into a simple mould? Make them only when you need them.

 

[Rollerball]

Thanks, I was thinking that I could perhaps make my own.

 

[Makeitgo]

Seems like the high winds have triggered the inevitable. If 6 of them have rotted, it sounds like it’s only matter of time…

How long will you be responsible for the upkeep of the fence? No point in wasting the effort by fixing in dribs and drabs sometimes. I nursed, botched and lashed up an old Arris rail one for years, but I’ll never get that time back.

For a short term job, maybe you could try “B” as a temp fix, but fix them alongside and in addition to the original ones. I’ve used really big cable ties before, but you need a lot and need to pull them really tightly. Perhaps a perm solution would be a program of replacing the posts properly when time/cash allows and again, doing this beside the original posts. I say this seeing as you only have horizontal timbers and not panel spacing to worry about. Either way, seriously consider buying an old concrete mixer if you have the time not to go the Postcrete route, you could save a fair bit when you do the perm job. Could also use it for the post fabrication…

 

[Rollerball]

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated.

 

[JohnD]

Once you have dug out a few rotten posts, and the useless lump of concrete in the ground, you will resolve never to put wooden posts in the ground again.

 

[ETAF]

I'm assuming wooden, or have I missed something - sorry if i have
maybe some met post corner repair spikes

they have gone up a lot in price at toolstation

But you may find a local fencing company do them cheaper , i did find some cheaper at my local timeber/fence specialist, i think they sold in pairs for about this price
Jewsons also had them cheaper pre-covid though, but do not have the bolts, which i quite liked and have used in past .....
Wikes and screwfix also do them , you just need to shop around for price

also as you need 14 I would see what sort of deal you can get - maybe somewhere like travis perkins , who my do a deal on quantity , i have in the past

Drive-in Repair Spike

For replacement of rotted posts broken at ground level. Powder coated mild steel for protection. Can be used with the drive in tool (code 39219). Lengths are spike lengths.

www.toolstation.com

Drive-in Repair Spike

For replacement of rotted posts broken at ground level. Powder coated mild steel for protection. Can be used with the drive in tool (code 39219). Lengths are spike lengths.

www.toolstation.com

 

[cdbe]

Don't know how much you want to spend, sounds like about 50p! Better to splash out on some of these and some treated posts.

 

[DiyNutJob]

Metal rusts. Then the post falls over.

 

[Eccles]

I have always used repair spikes and generally they last around 25 years before falling over as DiyNut says. However if you use the galvanized types which are slightly more expensive, they don't rust and will be there for ever.

 

[DiyNutJob]

Here's what fall over looks like.