Has anyone used oz-posts?

I am in Northern California and much of my fence didn't survive the big storm that went through here recently. So, I am planning to rebuild the fence by moving it and since I have a rather large yard I was looking into various options for fence posts and came upon this site:

http://www.oz-post.com/html.php

Has anyone here tried this, or something similar, and if so, how did it work?

Thanks for any help.

 

Yes, i have used a similar thing, but only for mailboxes. They can be hard to keep plumb as you drive them in, and I don't think I consider them stable enuf for a fence, due to the wind loads.

I can't recommend them...

 

stormdog74,

We've had this discussion before, and so far there's been virtually nobody that has used them that would use them again, at least not for a fence.

The winds that we went thru a couple of weeks ago are the same ones we get every 6 to 10 years, and they take down a lot of fences every time. (Take down a lot of patio covers, too!)

My opinion -- you can use the Oz posts, but you'll replacing the fence after every 40 MPH breeze. You can go back to wood posts, but after they have been in the ground for about 10 years, you'll be replacing them after the next 40 to 50 MPH breeze. Or, you can do what I did about 15 years ago and go to slump block masonary columns. They have been through these 80+ MPH winds 3 times now and they have yet to even lean, let alone fall over!!

 

Thanks for the advice - I appreciate it.

Lefty, this may be a stupid question, but what exactly are slump block masonary columns, and how difficult is the process? I have an acre of land to enclose, so a lot of fencing!

Thank you for your time.

 

stormdog74,

The block columns that I installed are done with 12" X 6" X 12" concrete column blocks -- 12" square and 6" tall.

The process is pretty straight forward. Dig a footing (8" or better by 2' deep) and at the top 4", expand the hole to about 2' square. Fill the footing with concrete, adding a couple of sticks of #4 rebar that sticks about 6' out of the ground and finish the top of the footing so the blocks have a flat, level surface to sit on. Simply mortar the blocks into place, forming the column. (Cut the rebar off a couple of inches below the top of the last block.) Once the mortar has cured, fill the column with concrete and add a mortar cap to the top.

Columns are spaced 10' apart and wood fence panels were installed between the columns to finish the fence. I did the 70' across the back of my lot and about 80' up each side.

That was all done about 15 years ago. The panels across the back have since replaced with vinyl privacy panels.

 

Thanks, Lefty - I appreciate the help.

 

Surrounding an acre with slump block columns is probably out of the budget. When I did the back 70' in '92, it cost about $2500. That includes the columns, a 2' wide footing between the posts for the entire 70', and the wood panels between the columns. The 80' or so up each side was done a couple years later and doesn't have the concrete strip between the columns. That was still pushing $2k for each side. And replacing the wood panels across the back 70' at the end of '07 with vinyl was a bit over $3k -- and that's just for the parts to make the panels!! I put them together myself and installed them myself. But, there is no white vinyl in that portion. The rails are tan and the panels are what's called 'Cedarcrest' -- the colors adds about 10 to 15%.

You might concider doing the entire thing in vinyl. A sizable outlay up front, but once it's in, it's in!! Zero maintenance, unless you break something.

 

Thanks, Lefty - I have come to the conclusion that it will be too expensive for the sump blocks.

So, on to plan B - I am going to go with metal posts (postmaster type discussed on this board before). I have two questions though. One, would it be okay to dig 30 inches deep with the bottom 6 gravel and the rest concrete, or should I go deeper? I am in Sacramento, so no frost to worry about. Also, how far should the posts be apart - I did some measuring and found wide discrepancies in how the builder originally laid them out - some over 8 ft, some under. It looks like an everage of eight feet though.

Oh, one more - do I need to use tubes to get a smooth border between the concrete and dirt? Will do if necessary, but just trying to save money - while also trying to make this the last time I do this in this house (another 20 years or so).

Thanks for the help - I truly appreciate it.

 

stormdog74,

There's no reason for your hole to be 30" deep, and there is no reason to fill the bottom of the holes with gravel if you use metal posts.

There are literally tens of thousands of feet of fence in Redding that have either 1-5/8" or 1-7/8" posts set 24" deep in an 8" hole. If it works here, it'll work there too.

I set my posts 7-1/2' apart and use 16' PT 2X4's for the rails. If the top rail breaks on the even numbered posts, the bottom rails break on the odd numbered. You can use PGT's to attach the rails, or simply thru bolt them to the posts. PGT's add to the cost, but allow you to break the rails exactly on the post. Thru bolting means you run the rail past the post where the joint falls and start the next rail above or below, with a tail going past the post.

PM me your e-mail address and I'll send you pictures.