Concrete Posts.

[RobertBrown]

Glad to see you followed through on this Loyd. Looks like you got a plan.
Looking forward to the results:thumbsup:
When is the first pour?

 

[Lloyd_E]

First pour will be Monday or Tuesday. I need to rebuild the cement mixer stand... another story.

Lloyd

 

[beppington]

Dangit Lloyd! If this works out great, which I suspect it will, I'm gonna be glad for you & mad for me ... I just this evening completed the final touches on 1/2 mile of fencing using 4"x4"x8' PT 7.5' OC (~350 of 'em). 4x4's came from Home Depot, & not impressive quality. I would sure like to have no-rot concrete posts!

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm looking forward to following your progress and seeing how they turn out. I love the idea of a post that will never rot!!!!! Just nervous about the process and what it actually takes to create them. Thanks for going first and sharing your pictures.

Eddie

 

[forgeblast]

Concrete | Concrete Casting Essentials | Mold Making and Casting Materials Rubber, Plastic, Lifecasting, and More
has some good casting/release agents.
We used murphys oil soap, and just spray pam (veg oil) to coat molds.
I was also thinking that to do a round post the cheapest way to go it to go to a carpet place and get the round cardboard tubes they throw out.
Cant wait to see the finished project. Will you be imbedding anything in the mold to attach a fence to to (electric,barbed, etc?) Will you be dyeing the concrete?

 

[Lloyd_E]

forgeblast,

I will try the murphy soap... like it better than diesel. There will be two 4"pex pipe going
through the post. We will bolt sacrificial 2x6 to the post which in turn we can re-nail the rails to. My other buddy has some black paint concentrate - he was formerly a house painter and had his own mixing station -he's going to give us some pigment to try.

Will keep you posted.

lloyd

 

[Lloyd_E]

Hopefully tomorrow...

Form is complete. Marks for location of pex pipe and jig for hole placement in post is made and ready to be placed plus reference marks for 42" auger depth is scribed on form. Once the concrete is set a bit I will scribe posts at various marks - post hole depth, 1 and 2' marks from top and ground etc. Left over wire screen for slab is placed for reference and ready to cut for internal structural support. The pex pipe jig gets screwed into place holding the pex pipe vertical in the form. We will pour the mix around the pipe and into the form.

See pics...

P: form has two coats of oil base paint... just because...

 

[beppington]

I can't wait for the results!

 

[Lloyd_E]

So, went at this alone... took about 3 hours - start to clean up.
I started with soap and water mix 80% soap - 20% water in a large spray bottle. It started to dry out quickly. I ended up brushing on soap 100%. Time will tell. Two guys would be better... one mixing and one pouring. I bent some old clothes hanger wire for handles and placed in a few - end that will be buried. I used an old broom/brush to go over once it started to set - very fast today - very hot. I used the spray bottle to go over it again with 100% water to cool it a bit. Will check on hardness tomorrow and hopefully release from mould Saturday morning. The rough side will be hidden with the sacrificial 2x6 which will be used to nail the rails to.

 

[beppington]

Do you have one of those edge trowels, for rounding the corners/ edges on sidewalks, foundations, etc.? If you could run that down all edges, that would round them off nicely & reduce the likelihood of the corners breaking off.