Cheap Fence Posts?

ctpres · May 4, 2007

Thru 5/9 HD selling 4x4 8ft treated posts @ $4.97 ea. Any reason not to use in 4 rail wood fence project? Plan on setting in concrete w buid-up @ ground level. Sandy soil. Fence for looks mostly.

nolefan · May 4, 2007

Should work fine. Its what I used for my fence posts and there still doing great after 10+ years with the exception of the weedeater damage along the base!

mikim · May 4, 2007

I used 4x6 's on this entry -- 4x4's I've used in the past twisted on me.... this has been up since Thanksgiving 05 .... no twist yet....plenty of shrinkage on the boards though... where I butted them up on the post there is a 1/2 inch gap on a couple of them now. I may have to reset the screws holding it on.

forgeblast · May 4, 2007

I have 4x4s except for where the gate hinges are attached (4x6 there) and they hold up great. other posts talke about putting pressure treated into concrete. I used stone for mine. But then again i dont have a sandy soil. Its rock with little bits of dirt inbetween.
Forgeblast

zzvyb6 · May 5, 2007

I just saw Lowes selling treated landscape timbers here for $1.97. I had them throw an enire pallet on my trailer for this price. Work better than any cedar posts I had used in the past. These are 3x5 8' posts with 2`flat sides.
Put them in the ground wide sides out. I have some that have been in the ground for 20+ years. None have ever rotted. Use them for brace posts, too. Yes they are $4.97 at HD.

kmdigital · May 5, 2007

zzvyb6 said:
I just saw Lowes selling treated landscape timbers here for $1.97. I had them throw an enire pallet on my trailer for this price. Work better than any cedar posts I had used in the past. These are 3x5 8' posts with 2`flat sides.
Put them in the ground wide sides out. I have some that have been in the ground for 20+ years. None have ever rotted. Use them for brace posts, too. Yes they are $4.97 at HD.

That may be the case for you, but my experiance has been that landscape timbers may be very poorly treated and some rot out very quickly while others last much longer.

Soundguy · May 6, 2007

I'm in that boat as well. I've used landscape timbers for fencing, and one lot from one place willlast like a PT post.. and then the next lot from another store will rot out like I burried #2 white wood spruce. I think I all comes down to how well it got treated.

Soundguy

SOS · May 6, 2007

I used 4x4 for the post with a 1/2 bag of cement and 6x6 for the gate. The cross boards were 6 by 8 by 4/5. The costs were $4.50 per post, $4 per cross board so it was a little expensive but since it was beside the house I thought it should match the deck. I plan on doing a property board fence but I want to do this much cheaper as it will be out of sight. What have you all come up with for cheap posts?

mjarrels · May 6, 2007

Best fence posts I ever had were utility poles cut to length and sawed down the middle... last forever!

mark

knute_m · May 6, 2007

zzvyb6 said:
I just saw Lowes selling treated landscape timbers here for $1.97. I had them throw an enire pallet on my trailer for this price. Work better than any cedar posts I had used in the past. These are 3x5 8' posts with 2`flat sides.
Put them in the ground wide sides out. I have some that have been in the ground for 20+ years. None have ever rotted. Use them for brace posts, too. Yes they are $4.97 at HD.

You better look close at the label. I am rather furious at Lowes right now. I too bought a bunch of them for $1.97 from the Lowes in Winchester, VA -- thinking they were pressure treated, and suitable for landscaping. They looked like pressure treated wood! They are labeled "8' LANDSCAPE TIMBER", barcode 00738 50600.

I loaded my pickup with them last weekend - with no help from anybody at Lowes -- just a comment from an employee that other's needed to get past where I was attempting to load my truck!!

I got them home, and transferred them from my truck to my trailer, which I dragged to my project with my tractor. After I set about the 6th one, the barcode label caught my eye:

ABOVE GROUND USE ONLY
NO RETENTION GUARANTEED
SURFACE TREATED FOR COSMETIC PURPOSES

They have all the customary "Important Information" about using the right kind of hardware, using a mask and goggles, not using in direct contact with aluminum, and on and on . . . .

I guess I'm going to return them. Why would anybody sell a landscape timber that is for "above ground use only"??? It sure seems like misleading, if not downright dishonest advertising.