Concrete question

[woodlandfarms]

I am repairing a couple of fenceposts at my house in LA. I dug the hole, put in the redwood (it is all we have here) and dumped in some concrete. I thought I had grabbed the Post Hole concrete mix, but when I was cleaning up I realized I grabbed mortar mix by mistake. I don't think this is an issue, just a reduced agragate but I had to ask

 

[towmotor]

I guess it depends on what you're trying to keep on one side of the fence; no?

By that I simply am saying that I wouldn't go digging it up or even worrying about it unless the mortar proves (by crumbling) that you should do it over again.

Probably, truth be told, you've done nothing worse than spending more than what was required for the job, owing to the fact that an aggregate mix is usually cheaper (price/volume) than mortar, and that mortar is the "glue" in some structures far more important than a fencepost.

 

[GPintheMitten]

Here's my saying for something like that...

"Three words...Itl be fine...IBF". (It will be fine...but it's better said as 3 words, it works better).

 

[/pine]

guys that set posts for a living will tell you the only reason they use concrete is for the gravel...

Just gravel (no sand & portland) will set a post just fine

 

[LRTX1]

I only imagine much has to do with soil condition. Around here for field fence or barbed wire, I use dry sand. We have a few out-buildings with dirt floors that havent seen light or water in 30+ years, it is a real fine sand. I just shake the post while filling the hole, by the time it gets full it feels like it was set in concrete. I only do this for the corner/brace posts.

 

[bigtiller]

You'll be fine. Whether you used mortor or post hole concrete mix makes no difference, the post will rot off at the same place in the same amount of time. You can slow it down some after the mortor dries by running a bead of calk where the mortor and post meet.

 

[pat32rf]

We just put up a 15'x25' woodshed for an old fella up the road. He had us use 16' 6x6 PT posts set in crushed limestone. Then he dumped old motor oil on top of the stone. The next day the stone had settled 3-4inches and there was NO movement in those posts. Claims that he used to do this on all his pole barns. Every few years he would add a bit more oil. Frost never moved anything either

 

[bobodu]

Wife was setting some tiles and mixed up a full bag of thin set......first time she'd ever mixed anything up. Of course,it got hard. Ended up burying the thing to get rid of it. I thought a couple of whacks with the hammer would do it.....HAH!!

 

[GPintheMitten]

We just put up a 15'x25' woodshed for an old fella up the road. He had us use 16' 6x6 PT posts set in crushed limestone. Then he dumped old motor oil on top of the stone. The next day the stone had settled 3-4inches and there was NO movement in those posts. Claims that he used to do this on all his pole barns. Every few years he would add a bit more oil. Frost never moved anything either

Then you drop a well line in right next to the oil contamination, right? It doesn't take much oil to contaminate an aquifer, but it might take a hundred years or so. Nothing like taking care of the grandkids.

 

[Bird]

[Just gravel (no sand & portland) will set a post just fine/QUOTE]

That's probably true in some places and with the right kind of gravel, but I heard that about gravel and made the mistake of trying it with a pickup load of pea gravel. It looked good when I was doing it, but then in the hot, dry part of the summer that "Wilson Clay Loam" soil dries and cracks and the gravel disappeared into the bowels of the earth and I had loose, leaning fence posts sitting in big holes

 

[jamesa]

We just put up a 15'x25' woodshed for an old fella up the road. He had us use 16' 6x6 PT posts set in crushed limestone. Then he dumped old motor oil on top of the stone. The next day the stone had settled 3-4inches and there was NO movement in those posts. Claims that he used to do this on all his pole barns. Every few years he would add a bit more oil. Frost never moved anything either

not something I would ever post on a public forum, highly illegal to dump waist oil! EPA toxic waste cleanups start at 1 gal and a crazy expensive.

 

[David Devuono]

Makes me think about when my dad was collecting used oil to keep the dust down on the driveway. We had our property logged about 10 years ago. I am still finding empty 5 gallon pails of hydralic fuild. Those machines must have dumped, dripped 100 gallons of hydralic fluid. If I ever have another crew in, I will follow them around and do my own inspections. Anyway food for thought when it comes time to drill a well.

 

[CurlyDave]

I won't even wash a tractor or a car within 300' of my well.

 

[captin_insano]

Theres a couple types of mortar mix, most common you see is type n and type s. If I remember correctly (correct me if I'm wrong) type N is not as well suited below grade. Type s fine below grade. Type n may break down a little quicker exposed to the brines in the soil. That said, its just fence posts, its not like a foundation so I wouldnt worry about it.

 

[captin_insano]

And about the oil thing. I remember when I was a young'n, back in the 80's, the mining company near my Grandfathers would use tankers of oil on the dirt mine roads to keep dust down. All the old timers would oil their drives and the bottoms of their cars. I know of a garage that used to have an oil dumping pit dug in the ground. that land is probably worth a fortune now, it would be like the oil sands of canada. I guess the DEP/EPA isnt all bad.

 

[smiley]

not something I would ever post on a public forum, highly illegal to dump waist oil! EPA toxic waste cleanups start at 1 gal and a crazy expensive.

And about the oil thing. I remember when I was a young'n, back in the 80's, the mining company near my Grandfathers would use tankers of oil on the dirt mine roads to keep dust down. All the old timers would oil their drives and the bottoms of their cars. I know of a garage that used to have an oil dumping pit dug in the ground. that land is probably worth a fortune now, it would be like the oil sands of canada. I guess the DEP/EPA isnt all bad.

Wow, The city of Montgomery Alabama and I suspect thousands of other towns and cities in the country are in big trouble, because I remember as a kid in the 40's & 50's seeing the used oil tankers just drenching the dirt streets in the summer to keep down dust. The whole neighborhood would smell like a grease pit for a couple weeks.