Appreciation post: The guy at the Louisville supply yard who saved my day with a bent post

I was setting a line of 6-foot cedar posts for a client in Oldham County last Tuesday, and one of them had a slight bow I didn't catch. I was about to force it into the hole when the yard manager, Frank, stopped me. He grabbed a scrap 2x4 and a heavy mallet, showed me how to tap the high spot while bracing the base against my truck tire, and straightened it in about a minute. I would have cracked the post or had a weak corner. Anyone have a different trick for fixing a bowed post without taking it back to the shop?

2 comments

2 Comments

barbaragarcia1mo ago

My uncle's a mason and he always says a bowed post can mess up your string line for the whole run. I mean, if you're doing a tight picket fence, that one post being off can throw the next five out of whack.

milarodriguez1mo ago

Honestly seems like overkill for a cedar post. They move so much with weather anyway, a tiny bow probably works itself out once it's in the ground and under pressure. I've set dozens that weren't perfect and they're all still standing. Frank sounds nice but was it really worth the risk of whacking it with a mallet? Could have just turned the bowed side toward the inside of the fence line where it doesn't show.