A homeowner in Austin told me my post holes looked sloppy

She pointed out that the concrete was spilling over the edges and said it made the whole fence line look messy. I used to just dump the mix in and call it good, but now I take an extra minute to shape a neat mound above ground level with my trowel. It costs me about 5 minutes per post, but the finished job looks way more professional. What's your method for keeping post footings clean?

3 comments

3 Comments

felix_fox2mo ago

You just dumped the mix straight in without a form... That's wild to me. I always build a little cardboard tube or use a sonotube to keep it all contained. Letting it spill over seems like it would weaken the post base anyway.

stellat871mo ago

Ever try the slurry method with a bit of rebar? I had a gate post that kept coming loose, so I dug the hole extra wide, dropped in two short pieces of rebar crossed in the bottom, and poured a wet mix while someone held the post plumb. The concrete filled all the gaps around the rebar and it's been solid for years.

tarak172mo ago

Look, @felix_fox, I get the worry about strength. Did the same spill method for a chain link fence post five years back. Just dug a deep hole, wider at the bottom, and tamped the concrete slurry in real good as it filled. That post hasn't moved an inch, even with a big dog yanking on it. The key is using enough mix and really packing it around the post.