New wooden garden post installed next to old rotten garden post.

[Funkydad]

Bit of a long one, but I'll try and explain as best as I can.

We moved in to a new build house by a well-known house builder 23 years ago.

They installed a feather-edge fence with wooden posts, concreted them into the ground with a ton of concrete by the looks of it.

The posts have now rotted at the base (23 years, not bad going

)

I don't want to replace the whole fence.

 

I don't have the ability to remove the old posts, I would have to hire a breaker.

I don't have the ability to break up half of the concrete base and put in a concrete spur. (the posts are solid above the rot)

 

I have the post side facing me, and feather-edge and rails fitted on the opposite side.

I am not able to access the opposite side to me, it's full of brambles etc, so cannot get to the rails and so the way they would normally be fitted to the posts.

 

I have had three... yes three different fence contractors out to give me a quote, and they have all said it would be a lot cheaper to have new post installed next to the old rotting ones.

I have never heard from them again! business must be booming! 

 

So my questions...

I want to fit new posts next to the old ones, how far away from the old post should I install the new ones? I don't want to stick them halfway between old posts?

 

Should I just have one post next to an old one, or a new post either side of the old one?

 

Because I can't get to the opposite side, take off some of the slats, and nail/screw the rails to the new posts as you would normally do, how would I go about attaching the rails to the post from my side? With right-angle brackets? If so, which ones? The kind of thing, but bigger,  in the attached link?

 

I have 18 posts I need to sort out, and on an incline.

 

Because I cannot make the images smaller, I have included a link to them.

I hope this makes some sense.

Thanks for any replies.

 

https://imgur.com/a/fence-forum-QIwVa0b

 

 

 

 

 

[twice round the block]

I think I would be inclined to put new post's in on your side of the fence and put these at a midway point between the existing post's so you don't hit the concrete plugs of the original post's.

I'm not sure there is another option due to the heavy duty original post's used, and hence fencing contractors suggesting the same. 

 

As for arris rail brackets.

Due to your rails being square you would probably have to use a modified joist hanger to get a fixing.

 

Edited June 7 by twice round the block

[Redoctober]

I don't know if this sort of thing would assist you and the "new" posts you put in, as and when - but I used one of these on my 8 inch gate post, and it hasn't moved a bit since. 👍

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/182580911495?var=0&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338749393&toolid=20006&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&amdata=enc%3A1aDK-AX40QOqEDDaZfsCHMg1&_ul=GB&customid=GB_159912_182580911495.142099703759~1869130664616-g_CjwKCAjw34qzBhBmEiwAOUQcFyoLMd8BYcXx9-kbIOgidMKkumfbkkJr0d25iWK2Ua7TCxkBReLfaxoCnHAQAvD_BwE

[Funkydad]

1 hour ago, twice round the block said:

I think I would be inclined to put new post's in on your side of the fence and put these at a midway point between the existing post's so you don't hit the concrete plugs of the original post's.

I'm not sure there is another option due to the heavy duty original post's used, and hence fencing contractors suggesting the same. 

 

As for arris rail brackets.

Due to your rails being square you would probably have to use a modified joist hanger to get a fixing.

 

I'm thinking that since each length of the rails meet at a post, if I put a new post midway, then when the old posts go completely, there will be quite a bit of play back and forth etc on the rotten post, eventually loosening the nails whereas if I have a new post around two/three feet away, then it will hold the old post a bitter....I'm not too bothered about the aesthetics, I just want it sorted.

When you say 'heavy-duty posts' What would I need to be asking at a timber merchants etc? The normal posts you would buy from somewhere like Travis Perkins, don't seem to look as sturdy as my current ones. EDIT:  The house builders laid the concrete up just above the ground, so I can see more or less where the concrete plugs are, so I would work the distance from the edge of them.

 

1 hour ago, twice round the block said:

I think I would be inclined to put new post's in on your side of the fence and put these at a midway point between the existing post's so you don't hit the concrete plugs of the original post's.

I'm not sure there is another option due to the heavy duty original post's used, and hence fencing contractors suggesting the same. 

 

As for arris rail brackets.

Due to your rails being square you would probably have to use a modified joist hanger to get a fixing.

 

I'll have a look at some joist hangers.

Edited June 7 by Funkydad

[Funkydad]

27 minutes ago, Redoctober said:

I don't know if this sort of thing would assist you and the "new" posts you put in, as and when - but I used one of these on my 8 inch gate post, and it hasn't moved a bit since. 👍

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/182580911495?var=0&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338749393&toolid=20006&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&amdata=enc%3A1aDK-AX40QOqEDDaZfsCHMg1&_ul=GB&customid=GB_159912_182580911495.142099703759~1869130664616-g_CjwKCAjw34qzBhBmEiwAOUQcFyoLMd8BYcXx9-kbIOgidMKkumfbkkJr0d25iWK2Ua7TCxkBReLfaxoCnHAQAvD_BwE

I have never seen those before.

I'm not sure they would hold the amount of weight of the fence, but cheers for that, I'll keep that in mind for other projects I might do in the future.

[ProDave]

Seriously, anything you do by way of patching up is going to be a short term measure before the rest of the fence goes.

 

The only real solution is take it down and rebuild.  Because you don't want to dig out the old concrete, your new posts will all be displaced one way by a distance.  It will mean short section of fence at one end to reach the new, now offset, post the the remainder of posts fitted at normal regular intervals.

 

While it is down have a serious look to see if the rest of the fence is worth saving, if it is give it a good clean and treat liberally with wood preservative.

 

For the new posts,  use short concrete posts with the wooden ones bolted to them above ground.

[Alan Ambrose]

If you must bodge, then maybe some pointed posts knocked in at 45 degrees in the plane of the fence and bolted to the existing posts. Shouldn’t look too ugly if you attend to the detail.

 

But I’m with @ProDave - consider a full replacement, hedge clip the brambles so you can get at the other side, use best quality matetials and think about the ‘rot at base of post problem’. All so it lasts 30 years this time.

[dpmiller]

Drill the guts out of the old stumps, then plane new posts to be a resonable fit in the holes and beat them in. BTDT...