zoothorn

Danti6 my stick goes pretty much unaided right the way down. It has remained exactly as it was a thin soup, not set whatsoever. Shalli dive into town & buy 2 more bags??? Itll be 30 mins until im back if so.

If i have put 1/2 too much water in, which i suspect i have, will the concrete set below a layer of water sat ontop? In which case couldnt the top water layer be removed.. or just left to evaporate?

My zoot stick? Where what is this? You mean poke a stick in it? I am reminded of my extension footings.. a similar looking zoot soop. Omg i panic with this damn stuff. Tbh i cant look.

@joe90 John i need your help urgently. Just posted 2 replies/ crete gone in. Thanks zoot

It looks stupidy thin to me, nothing like the clips which are mostly powdery. I had no powedery situation at all.. totally different. This is a disaster surely.

Bingo thats what i needed, of course! Ok done this & 3 bags of crete gone in. Im panicking, as this water crete ratio is so damn vague. 1/3 rd fill hole with water, 1 bag of crete in. Well it needed 4 buckets full of water to get my 1/3 rd water level. Then 1 bag.. seemed stupidly thin, so i put a 2 nd bag in... still seems stupidly thin... so ive put a 3 rd bag in.. but it still seems too thin. And im only 3/4 of way up the hole. What am i doing wrong here?? I mean its now too late, if i have put way too much water in, which i have no idea if so. If this is acceptable/ if it will produce a solid conctete... then 4 bags per hole?? That seems over double what ive been so carefully researching up on, i had expected to use. That might not even grt me to the top either. Urgh.

@Onoff hi there Onoff, yes good points. Im doing the line by eye admit to site the 1 st post that is.. looks pretty good. If this one is a mite twisted 'back' it could benefit the gate opening a bit past 90*: was my thinking: ie slight 6" more space on drive when opened fully. But i will use a line for siting Post2. Tbh i dare not whack my stones down now.. i might bodge it up. Thanks zoot

Hi dangti6.. yup understood seems sensible to agitate. Ok got it braced ok, popped stones gently round base. Now i have concern here: the btm of hole slushy clay/ got out as best i could, put a red thick tile in, post ontop. Its the base moving/ sliding on the tile putting it out of kilter whilst i pour the mix in Im worried about. If I really push& wedge in big stonesbefore, I might put it out. I think the idea is - not- to do this? My other concern is the depth. Ive only gonna have it 31" at best in the hole, it was collapsing & i was getting nowhere trying deeper. So had to stick here. Is 31" top of hole ok? Maybe 30.5" of mix depth? It does have a bit more width involved, say a good bucket diameter.

Ok that's what i wanted to read! Water out of hole, half gone overnight helped.. now widening a bit. So can 'offer in' my post soon.

@joe90 Hi John. One thing just occurred.. my posts will be fairly close to the tarmac edge of the road, about 1-1/2 ft. My gravel drive obviously meets the road, presuming this is all mine here as it were. Do I need to establish precisely where my boundary edge is here tho relative to the road? Or is my distance ok/ just crack on? I have to bear in mind my creep n'bors will use any excuse to hamper me.. a visit from council is their default way, along with the continual dog dirt. thx zooter.

Chaps. Ive watched postcrete youtube clips, presumably I do the same with my blue bags, but cant quite understand the way you dont mix it. How does the water & dry contents mix perfectly evenly, without mixing it? Surely dry lumps of it in the mix, no? The principle seems odd to me. Anyway i gotta get water out, chip away some more hole side.. then seat my post so concreting isn't imminent! More likely end of the day with my snails pace. thx zooter.

I only figured out this 5 bar/ 6 bar difference today... had assumed these std timber gates were just " 5 bar gates". But no all it seems are 6 bar. Apart from one. Their bloody 4' one. Inept not to tell me, or to know or care their stock was different one to the next, getting annoyed at me being 'fussy' try8ng to explain i needed them to " match". (When i hadnt the knowledge at this point to ask to simply order 6 bar: but as their paperwork says they all are 6 bar it wouldve made no difference). And a rude couldn't care either attitude to me too. But got lucky. The only other place selling them here, had an 8' (6 bar) so ive nabbed that.. & ordering me a 4' (6 bar) for a week+. But still possible it'll be a sodding 5 bar too.. so gotta dive in once arrived, check they match. Last resort: two six footers (& i can see match/ are identical 6 bars). But from this wretched 1st place. Hole still full of water!

Gordon bleedin bennet.. my gates arrived, the 4' is a 5 bar, the 8' a 6 bar. Place didnt tell me about this. So refund squeezed out/ stesss/ & panic on to find from elsewhere now so another delay. I cant have more than a 4' hanging from this LH lower slope post, as its a full foot less buried.

Chaps, I dug me hole a bit off.. IE my post if I plonk in middle, is approx 2" off where i need it. This means once gates on, with other post in, the smaller RHS gate pinching into my bush. Is it ok to plonk my post 2" off centre of my hole? Like this..

Hi Ferdinand. Good plan, saves me buying a flippin diddy bucket. Helluva job getting in to hoik earth out handful by handful (cant afford a double scooper long handle extractor thing).. i really didnt need this. Anyway must start early tmrw, camera on tripod to deter the creeps. thx zoot.

Oh really? Well hole is half full you see.. so a good 2-1/2 full buckets in there i reckon. Hole is exactly a bucket diameter.. a bit too big but I got an extra bag three-in total. Heavy metals leech make it brown, i think, not the grey clay.

Yup, except it wont fit. Easier said than done getting this water out. I see on clips etc it says use clean water.. I guess for a reason. So gotta go buy a small damn bucket so scuppered post in today, even getting water today out ready to do post tmrw, as n' bors will see me prepping & dog dirt likely in it overnight (hole just behind a blind spot bush theyve thrown the stuff at my car from b4). So Ive covered over hole again. Good my 20 kg bags ok tho. Thx zh

Hi there Peter. Understood, have a red thick tile or two to get height right: this needs to be spot on so gate sits level with post top. Ok after our last week deluges, my hole cover hasn't worked: my hole's half full of dirty brown water. Does this all need removing? I must get this post in today as my n'bors started up the dog faeces deposits again : the hole/ around it they'll be eying up with relish to scupper with more if my back is turned. Cannot leave till tmrw. Damn bloody water. Really didnt wanna find this in there.

Hi chaps, back on here.. paid for, but still waiting for gates (& DG window waiting for). So only have posts, & can only do 1st for now. Ok so dug me hole. Bit too wide prolly. Bought this stuff for "postcrete " what they threw in my boot/ had no idea it wasn't branded Postcrete till i got home. Is this ok? 3 bags. My 6 x6" post lower 3 ft, had 2x paints of preserver. So Im all set to seat this post in. The higher sided one, going deepest in ground. The 8 ft gate from this. Thanks zoot.

I think Im just gonna paint the lower end, standing it up in a tray easier said than done in a low cottage! Is the idea to paint the whole shebang, gates inc, before putting the hardware on? I got bartoline wood preserver I use for my "cambrian log chalet" (ok, shed then). Its all already tannalised is why I ask.. my cabin wasn't of course. thx zh

Hi Ian, good of you to mention this.. here is actually no concern re. theft, so Im better off both pointing up. Thanks though, Zoot.

Hi there Onoff, understood suck up idea, capilliary action at zoot acres! Cant believe it but we still have no rain, zero for weeks out west here.. now is it worth nabbing the opportunity to get the post in now, before rain comes say midday, without adding extra sucky gubbins?

Aha ok making even more sense, I can see the logic of the big washer replacement too Peter. I was wondering about coating it: when you say 'on the bottom' of it, do you mean the fallible base or the whole 3' its going in the ground? Appreciated, zoot.

Hi markc, i was wondering if the idea was tap the top one in.. hardly ideal, but at least it's the right way, ie if swells then i can tap the b'stard in. Ok so I've dug me 'ole. Nearly killed me, 5 hours, wiv me head in the 'ole last hour (no long handle thingy whatnot to scoop earth out). Ideally I'd set post in place & postcrete it now till 10pm.. because we got rain coming in early AM tmrw/ weathers breaking.. but Im so exhausted I can't face it tonight. Will me 'ole be ok for few days with heavy rain coming? Thx zooter tooter.

@PeterW Peter hope you're enjoying the sun ifyou got it.. baking down on my back digging a hole, me not enjoying it! Invaluable hellp as usual cheers. That all maakes sense now.. but the top hinge, so this isnt adjustable then? thanks zoot