Concrete Posts.

[Steve_Miller]

Thanks all.

A lot of great ideas especially the height imprint - every foot should work.
I also like the idea of dismantling the form; top and bottom could be hinged while the
2x6 form walls could be pegged into position and held in place with weight during the cure time. I am thinking of using epoxy or 4-6 coats of gloss varnish on everything and spraying with release agents...

keep them coming...

Do you live anywhere near South Shore Ready Mix? If so maybe you could broker a deal of some type and have your form near their truck wash area and have a returning truck each night dump excess concrete in your mold as someone always has excess concrete. Do you know any of the drivers or could you get to know them and slip them something if possible? :twocents:


Steve

 

[not2old]

Buying concrete from a plant is going to e MUCH cheaper than using bagged concrete. I figured a 8'x6"x6" post would take about 2 CF which would take 4 80 pound bags of concrete at almost $4 a bag which is $15-16 a post. OUCH.

If I got a truck load of concrete at $85 a yard it works out to a bit over $6 a post. But one would have to have a bunch of forms ready to handle a cement truck load.....

Coloring the concrete would be a big plus. I noticed that the bagged concrete company sells color for concrete. Our house has colored concreted floors. I had to go to a mason supply store to get the tint and drop it off at the plant. I forgot the exact ratio but it was 2-3 bags of coloring per 7 yards of concrete. Or there abouts.

Course 7 yards of of concrete would make about 94 posts.

Later,
Dan

I'm considering making my own by buying the gravel and mixing my own concrete when the time comes to fence my place. This costs a small fraction of the expense of using pre-mixed bags. When I am mixing a small quantity of concrete, I use a 5 gallon plastic pail and a mixer I've welded up and a heavy duty 1/2" electric drill. The mixer looks like a drywall mixing paddle but is about 1/2 the size. I spent 30 years repairing condos, doing a lot of fence repairs, and haven't found any better method, whether using bags of pre-mix or buying gravel by the yard in my trailer.

 

[Egon]

Do you live anywhere near South Shore Ready Mix? If so maybe you could broker a deal of some type and have your form near their truck wash area and have a returning truck each night dump excess concrete in your mold as someone always has excess concrete. Do you know any of the drivers or could you get to know them and slip them something if possible? :twocents:

The quality of the concrete in this type of situation may be suspect.

 

[dcyrilc]

Buying concrete from a plant is going to e MUCH cheaper than using bagged concrete. I figured a 8'x6"x6" post would take about 2 CF which would take 4 80 pound bags of concrete at almost $4 a bag which is $15-16 a post. OUCH.

If I got a truck load of concrete at $85 a yard it works out to a bit over $6 a post. But one would have to have a bunch of forms ready to handle a cement truck load.....

Coloring the concrete would be a big plus. I noticed that the bagged concrete company sells color for concrete. Our house has colored concreted floors. I had to go to a mason supply store to get the tint and drop it off at the plant. I forgot the exact ratio but it was 2-3 bags of coloring per 7 yards of concrete. Or there abouts.

Course 7 yards of of concrete would make about 94 posts.

Later,
Dan

The hard part about using a truck is that unless you have enough posts to make, the cost of materials for the forms can end up costing as much or more than the savings in the concrete.

 

[jimmyj]

What a fascinating post. What about using sono tubes as a form? Or just leave the tube on and the cardboard will be gone in a couple of years (or you could remove it).

Eddie makes good points on the height etc. You could put tubes through at regular intervals and then just use the ones you want for the rails but it's likely easier to drill.

 

[forgeblast]

You know when you were talking about the tubes i was thinking.....
What if you found a plastic/pvc pipe that was the size you wanted. You could split it so it was easier to open. Slide a cap on the back end, fill with concrete and you could also push your rebar in. Then again, if the fron it round and the back flat (the tube cut in half) it would make putitng the rails on easier, while still giving the illusion that its a round post....if thats what your going for.

 

[RobertBrown]

So where are we at with this Loyd? Did you make a post or posts (other than the few you made on TBN)?
I'm thinking I need a large post to go in the pond. I have a fence across the pond and it's a big hassle as the water rusts the fence and the posts. What happened?

 

[Lloyd_E]

On the list...

Right now I am helping my neighbour build a 12'x18' workshop. We should be finished in a few weeks - weather permitting. Also I just finished a new chicken coop and will be starting a smaller one for meat birds. As usual all of a sudden my life got busy and complicated. The good news is that we gained an hour of daylight!

Will keep you posted though...

Lloyd

 

[RobertBrown]

On the list...

Right now I am helping my neighbour build a 12'x18' workshop. We should be finished in a few weeks - weather permitting. Also I just finished a new chicken coop and will be starting a smaller one for meat birds. As usual all of a sudden my life got busy and complicated. The good news is that we gained an hour of daylight!

Will keep you posted though...

Lloyd

Thanks Loyd,I guess I forgot where you live. I'm several thousand miles to the south and I'm considering a concrete post to be stationed in a pond. A big investment of time and muscle on my part. I was wondering if you might have made a few mistakes that I could perhaps avoid.
Good luck with the chickens, eat a drumstick for me eh?

 

[Lloyd_E]

Ok... so the form is made.

We will be casting next week. We will get 6 4"x4"x8' posts plus 2 4"x5"x8' posts per cast.
I will mark 42" and 48" reference marks on concrete for hole depth. We are planning on placing 3/8"ID tube cut to 4" at intervals in the mould before pouring. The plan is to bolt a sacrificial vertical 2x6 to the concrete post. We can then nail the existing rails to the wood.
The 2x6 will be well above the ground as not to attract moisture.

We estimate post will be between 65 and 75 lbs each - I originally wanted 6"x6"x8'!!!!!
A 2x4x4" gets lag bolted on each end. These can be removed after the cast and set-up
and will hopefully assist removal. I gave the unit a quick coat of oil base paint and we will be using (trying) various release liquids.


Will keep you posted.