Hot take: everyone in my neighborhood is putting their fence posts in wrong

I've seen three houses on my street this month set their 4x4 posts directly in dirt without any gravel at the bottom of the hole, and my buddy's new fence in Denver is already leaning after one winter. The water just sits there and rots the wood, but people think concrete alone will fix it. What's the weirdest shortcut you've seen someone take on a basic project like this?

3 comments

3 Comments

mary_foster921mo agoMost Upvoted

What about the people who skip the concrete entirely and just pack dirt?

finley_price241mo ago

Honestly, my own first fence was the learning experience. I was so proud of getting the posts in and level, only to realize I forgot the gravel too. Spent a whole Saturday fixing my shortcut, which of course took twice as long. In my case, the weird part was using way too much concrete, like I thought more was always better. It just made a huge mess and didn't actually help the drainage problem at all.

scott.miles1mo ago

Oh man, @finley_price24, that's the classic move right there. You see it all the time with concrete. People think if a little is good, a whole bucket must be great. It just creates a big solid block that traps water right against the post. Then the wood rots out in a few years. The gravel at the bottom is the real key to let that water drain away. It's a tough lesson but you only make that mistake once.