Setting a Sturdy Post: Easy Dry Pour Method

The fences for our chicken moat garden are coming along nicely. Check out how easy it is to set a fence post in this video :)

[@user-cr4kp3jd2b]

My only tips - flare the hole toward the bottom and then make sure the top of your concrete is 3-4" below the surface, and then pack dirt above. If you get frost, the ground surface freezes first and will lock that slug in there so it doesn't heave. Combined with the flared hole/slug shape, it will be rock solid!

[@denvermoodley423]

That intro… pleasant attitude. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼…If you in business… that’s a golden feather in your hat.

[@pipi7731]

thanks my fence fell down in a storm and I need to fix a few of the posts that broke. Your video really helps.

[@BlankityBlank]

I dug my holes at the end of summer and everything below the surface was still moist. I felt confident dumping the concrete in dry and have had no issues.

[@rocknrollin88s]

Your happy attitude made my day, and project much better. Thanks brother 🙏 💪

[@trinitye124]

I knew My dad always soaked his holes and used this method! Thanks for the refresher!

[@MartinKendrik]

Fantastic, will be using this method for all my posts next month.

[@nsanerydah]

Wow. Great ingenuity. Never would’ve thought of that.

[@Losky79]

Thanks for the video, saved me a bunch of time and headaches. Especially since I’m doing it all by myself!

[@penguinbadgerturkeybear4343]

Thank you for that. Didn't realise you could just pour the concrete in dry. I like the rocks tip too!

[@Leafcripe]

I’ve done it this way and had to dig one up and the concrete was rock solid

[@do7hemath937]

Did you have to dig it up because the post rotted & broke?

[@beverlyschulz1062]

Thank you. I love this.

[@kevingipson5356]

Nice work brotha..To ensure my posts are the same height, I measure/mark bottom of posts to desired depth. (Painting that portion will also extend the longevity of the posts).

[@buckshotgeorge7201]

Sure is beautiful land n trees wherever you are...

[@davemath8548]

Thanks made my day.

[@do7hemath937]

Always pour enough concrete so that it will be ABOVE GROUND LEVEL BY AT LEAST A HALF INCH. Dirt & grass growing around the 4x4 and water settling around it is what causes it to get weak and eventually it will literally rot & break the 4x4 especially when you have high winds. Some people paint the wood and some use treated wood to keep it strong. But it will still last longer if water doesn't collect at the base.

[@andrewburrowmusicofficial]

Nice, thanks for the video!

[@MrR409a]

Thx for posting. Keep it up.

[@dottieshaw7522]

Thanks. Very helpful.

[@jaymann53]

If any of you critics left a bag of quickcrete outside in the weather for any length of time, you would know what happens. It gets rock hard solid. Nothing wrong with this method.

[@geronimopascuale9208]

All concrete has a Strength Braking point because is engineer to meet different specifications and applications, when you pour a driveway or sidewalk or any structure, you just don't spread the sand, gravel and cement and let the Rain do the Job. Wrong

[@jaymann53]

@@geronimopascuale9208 you are wrong.

[@geronimopascuale9208]

@@jaymann53 an you should educate before commenting

[@geronimopascuale9208]

you are commenting out of feelings with not Knowledge about it@@jaymann53

[@jaymann53]

Wrong. I put in 160 feet of vinyl fence this way. Dry set. I filled the inner with mixed (water and redimix) because i know moisture wont get into the vinyl post. 80 mile per hour winds. Still standing...wrong. i know a thing or two about a thing or two.. if you kniw anything, you know solid vinyl is a wind sail. Thus guys method is just fine. I want you to read the quick set bag and look at the directions also.

[@hindesite]

Nice and looks like it works way better than the foam products :-)

[@do7hemath937]

No 1 talks about keeping the concrete wet for a few days after the first pour. They use this method on bridges and highways using sprinkler systems and/ or plastic or wet burlap. Depends on how hot it is, but I've done this & it makes the concrete/ cement stronger. I do like how you explained that the mix is going to absorb the water from the wet ground around it.

[@percival23]

For things like Bridges & sidewalks ..yes, you want to keep it wet. But that is not really necessary for just a simple concrete post. Besides ..the concrete base is surrounded by moist ground soil. It will probably be wet for it's entire lifetime.

[@do7hemath937]

@@percival23 it depends on where you live. There are hot & dry areas. & the time of the year you pour the concrete factors in also. When I wrote my comments it was July or August & it was crazy hot. I'm talking about the grass is dead because its not getting any water. The world & the climate is changing too and the cold weather is alot shorter than it used to be. Idk how old my fence is but I've had to replace over 10 4x4s and a couple of them, I've had to do more than once. High winds, even when its not hurricane season will test the strength of your wood & concrete. I've taken short cuts on some of the 4x4s and it just doesn't pay when you have to go buy more concrete and dig another 2' hole. Even if you rent digging equipment.

[@oneofthosepeople2101]

Thank you.

[@nigelclark7360]

Good stuff.

[@MrWhitelightning73]

Outstanding

[@tyleryoung31]

adding concrete to the bottom creates cupping which will rot your post. add gravel for it to sit on and let it drain through the bottom

[@bigp6071]

Actually, adding gravel to the bottom of the whole does the opposite of what you think it does. It’s holds the water. Your better off fully encasing the post with concrete.

[@rickr9055]

Geat video, thanks.

[@isovideo7497]

I use a Ryobi 40V electric auger to do the holes - with extenders I have gone down 48" and 10" wide for 4x4x12' posts. Much faster than using a post-holer. Also I use Quikrete fast concrete mix - it is more expensive but allows mixing in the hole, and the post is good and solid after a couple of hours. Wouldn't do it in the rain though.

[@MrLordfizee]

Ty saved me a lot of time

[@cheeseymccheese7249]

Thanks man!!

[@TerryMasri]

I've seen this method before where they use a stick of some sort to stir the concrete after pouring water over it to allow the water to penetrate all the way through. That might mess up your plumb but you can easily readjust with a leveler after mixing. Simply pouring water on the surface of cement and the ground surrounding it raises my suspicion that the water would not penetrate all the way through the cement mix. It's just an observation that I can't back up due to lack of experience. I'd love to hear the opinion of someone with experience with this method.

[@geronimopascuale9208]

Hi terry, This method is probably the fast method to do post setting for wood fencing, The concrete will absorb any moisture like he explain and as long as there is moisture the Hydration will always occur , but this method for Strength is probably not good because the Water to Mix Ratio, most manufactures require a specific amount of water to meet the specification of Strength, but you never fill the entire hole with concrete and then pour water, you pour one bag and add the specific amount of water at a time to make it more water to cement ratio, Time would tell on his case. Nice video by the way and I appreciate the time that he took to make it. Cheers

[@do7hemath937]

@@geronimopascuale9208 keeping the area around the base wet for 3 days REALLY helps. It will make the pour sronger. Quikrete will harden fast but the mix doesn't stop absorbing & needing water after your 4x4 feels sturdy. With that being said after 72 hours of water I'm sure there wont be a dry spot of concrete in the ground. At the same time I wouldn't pour 2 bags then add water either, but it's a method some people use. You use more water if it's hot outside but you never flood it, just keep it moist.

[@mmccrownus2406]

coat the posts in a mixture of deisel and used motor oil OR burn the outer edge so black charcoal coats the part to go below gown OR coat in asphalt also, you might silicone caulk the endge where the concrete meets the wood, so water can't get down in that area.

[@Twobirdsbreakingfree]

Do you use a compass to make sure that the posts have their all four faces oriented in the exact same planes?

[@jieiku]

Set the FIRST and LAST post, then run a string between them, you can use the string to make sure your in between posts line up the way you want them to.

[@Cliew5473]

Thank you for this. I'm curious as to approx. how much water you used for each hole, after filling them with concrete, and if it's possible to over-fill or under-fill with water, thus causing the concrete to not harden correctly? Thank you again! :)

[@WelcomeBackWoods]

You can under water, and the concrete would not harden correctly. From my experience, you cannot over water.

[@PA96704]

No moisture rot on wood? Don't you need to paint the bottom ends?

[@stephanelandry]

Is this with regular premix concrete or quickset concrete.

[@johnatella8498]

I'd like to know this too.

[@garymitchell6522]

Post a digging of the install recomendations?

[@BlackHamRadioUniversity]

I am installing a steel/metal fencing post. The hole that I dug is 3 feet 9 inches deep with a diameter of 14 inches. How bags of Quikrete do you think I would need assuming I want the Quikrete to come up to ground level.

[@paulpersons799]

I would get 2 bags

[@BlackHamRadioUniversity]

@@paulpersons799 How deep was you hole in the ground?

[@BlackHamRadioUniversity]

@@paulpersons799 I thought 2 bags would do it also but several people have told me that i will need about 10 bags for a 3 ft 7 inch hole.

[@BlackHamRadioUniversity]

@@paulpersons799 I finished the project. I ended up needing 10 bags. The holes was 14 inches wide and the dept was 3 ft 7 inches. I needed 10 bags.

[@paulpersons799]

@BlackHamRadioUniversity oh geeze, I guess that's a wife hole though and almost 4 feet deep. I think I didn't read u post fully. Lol

[@emiller9426]

I see you waited about a week before applying force to test those posts. Is a week the minimum curing time you'll allow before working with these posts, hanging rails etc?

[@percival23]

Concrete is pretty close to max psi after a week. But it's not fully cured till about 30 days.

[@eyeshutter2thinkniwt531]

I noticed that you didn't tamp the fill down. Is that something I need to do or are you confident in how sturdy they are without doing so?

[@gregoryv8026]

Don't do this... Please no

[@WORDTOMICHAEL]

@@gregoryv8026 you don't suggest to tamp? or don't suggest to use the dry mix like what the video shows? thanks

[@gregoryv8026]

@@WORDTOMICHAEL I always mix the bag with water before I put it in the hole. I fill the hole entirely and I use a trowel on the top, in a water shedding shape.

[@WORDTOMICHAEL]

Gregory V thx

[@aniyahdilovelilioness747]

What does adding the rocks do?

[@adrianpolley9419]

allows moisture to drain away quicker.

[@aniyahdilovelilioness747]

@@adrianpolley9419 Many thanks 😀

[@billllib9000]

How much water you adding?

[@thomasschaubroeck9945]

None, the moisture from the soil will be adequate.

[@tyson9419]

1 gallon per bag. Just follow the directions on the bag.

[@lesliegrier1058]

What can I use instead of rocks?

[@guidedbygreen1480]

A brick or big rock I guess...

[@j3205]

The concrete sucks all the moisture out of the wood...and after about 5 yrs..the wood is so brittle a gust of wind snaps them like matchsticks 😊

[@debracook2904]

so what do you use?

[@j3205]

@@debracook2904 personally I use treated wood, and a mixture of the dirt that was dug up and sand.

[@bing12345678901]

The hole need to be bell shaped (wider at bottom) and you should pack concrete in hole as you go. Water the posts as you would a tomato plant for a week during the dry season.

[@planktonus]

No rebar ?????

[@WelcomeBackWoods]

No need for it

[@gregoryv8026]

I build fences for a living. This method does not give the best result. Mix the cement in a wheelbarrow and shovel it into the hole. More work but a result that is stronger and will last over time.

[@hindesite]

Never let perfection be the enemy of good enough. I have always poured wet concrete, but to be honest I also have low fences that are just tamped sand (with cleats nailed to the posts below ground) that work 100% just as well.

[@beauhughes6299]

Dry pouring is best method imo you set all corner and end posts first let dry for a day come back an string line the straight runs before digging rest of holes no post bracing required

[@markegan2480]

Sorry son , always mix it in wheelbarrow then pour it in ,

[@safrafikret]

This is how you rip off customers. You are better off just doing it with dirt only and no concrete. Do it this way, and then dig the post out a week later amd see if your concrete is fully hardened. It won't be

[@WelcomeBackWoods]

I have ripped out several fences that I have installed this way; all with fully formed plugs. Sounds like you aren’t using enough water.

[@safrafikret]

@@WelcomeBackWoods I mix mine at all times, I don't trust this method

[@tyson9419]

Lol ok keyboard warrior. This method is LITERALLY following the directions on the Quikcrete bag. There's videos of guys that did this method and dug up the post to inspect it. Concrete gets totally saturated and set!

[@hobo1704]

It's how rapid set is made, it's a chemical reaction, not the same as normal cement

[@shorty808100]

That’s the only way to do it if you’re wet pouring a fence your stupid, hell I live I CO and I can dry set out here, dude a torpedo level for a 6’ post those posts aren’t level you should be using at least a 2’ level