jdrower

Hurricane Irene pushed our neighbors trees onto our wooden fence and it's leaning over more than 45-degrees. I can get it upright but the ground in Eastern North Carolina is flat and right now pretty saturated. I can see a gap between the 4x4 post concrete and the nearly adjacent earth in 16 consecutive locations.

My concern is that after the ground dries out the gap will still be there and the fence will not be strong enough to remove any bracing after righting the fence.

I could pour in plastic cement but that doesn't seem like a good long term solution.

I'd be grateful for suggestions.

Thanks
JD in Greenville

nealtw

I would stand it as best you can and brace it until thing dry out and then you may have to dig around the posts and add concrete.

TxBuilder

Yeah, like neal said, you're going to need to stand it up to try out a bit and then put the posts back in the ground with new cement. Gonna need a few extra hands, too. So call those neighbors who let their pesky trees fall on your fence!

jdrower

Thank you Gentlemen for your valued input.

My concern was not bonding between the old and the new concrete.

Would you recommend doing every other post and then waiting a few days for the concrete to cure before doing the alternate posts?

I was wondering if I could, without additional excavation, get similar results by filling the gap with play sand half way up, filling it with water for compaction and after the water percs into the ground, filling up the rest with more sand. I'd be grateful for your thoughts.

Thanks
JD

nealtw

I would attach a 2x4 to the top of each post and tie it to a stake in the ground about 8 ft away to hold it straight and plumb while it drys out, once the dirt is dry you just need to firm up the post. I wouldn't worry about it bonding and if you think sand will do the job, try one.

jdrower

Neal
Thanks for taking the time for a reply. I confess to being fuzzy about what you mean by "firm up the post." Perhaps it's a colloquialism with which I'm not familiar.

Best regards
JD

nealtw

When I said "firm" I ment what ever it takes to stop the posts from moving. Depending on the dirt or mud you have around your post, when you stand them up it is soft. I would not try to push the dirt down or anything, when it all drys out dig a little on each side and mix up a couple bags of concrete. Sand may do the job, but if it dosn't you would have to dig it out again.