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Old timer at the supplier told me to dig post holes 6 inches deeper than frost line
I took his advice on a job in Buffalo last winter and set 8 foot posts for a 6 foot privacy fence. That extra depth cost me a full day of auger work and I was cursing him the whole time. Now that the ground has thawed and settled, every single post is perfectly straight and level - do you guys always go deeper than the frost line or do you cut it close?
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victor_adams5mo ago
That "frost heave" is no joke. I've seen it wreck cheaper jobs where guys tried to save time. They dig right to the frost line, maybe an inch or two over, then come spring the whole fence is at a tilt. Your neighbor's yard starts looking like a drunk landscape. I go full deep every time now. Way less hassle than having to pull and reset posts in the mud. Extra hour of work beats coming back next year and doing the whole job over.
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milestaylor3mo ago
Man, EXACTLY. I saw a guy try to get away with only digging down like 18 inches on a property line once. By June, half the panels were sagging worse than a wet towel. He ended up having to rent an auger and redo the whole thing in August heat. Paying for it twice just to be cheap. Totally not worth it.
4
paigem455mo ago
Did you ever see that old This Old House episode where they talked about frost heave?
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