Have you ever needed to dig post holes for a custom home project, maybe for a kids cubby house?
Then you’ll have probably asked these questions:
1 – How do I dig the holes? What are the best machines for post hole digging? Can I do it by hand?
This depends on how many holes you have to dig. For 2-4 holes you could probably do it by hand with a post hole shovel and a crowbar. This will save you some money as hiring (or buying) special post hole digging machines can cost a lot. If you are digging more than 4 holes you will probably want to use a machine called an auger. An auger is very efficient at digging holes up to 100 mm deep, which is deep enough for any pergola or cubby house post.
— a post hole auger
2 – Do I need to concrete the post into the ground?
Whether fixing timber or metal posts in the ground you’ll wand to concrete them in. These will be the footings of your cubby house or patio for your home, so you want them fixed in nice and sturdy.
3 – Any preference on using timber or metal posts?
Concrete may bond to metal better than wood so I’d probably recommend metal footings. If you are using timber simply screw some batten screws into the timber before pouring the concrete in. These will act as braces that once set in the concrete will prevent the timber from being pulled out.
4 – How do I make sure they point straight up and not fall over on an angle?
There are numerous ways to line up your posts. Suspending them so gravity does the work would be ideal however could be tricky to setup. Timber stays that affix temporarily to the posts until the concrete sets are your best friend. Two stays per post to prevent the post from leaning away from vertical. You use either a spirit level or plumb line (basically a piece of string with a weight on the end) to line them up with vertical.
The blog post Digging Post Holes and Setting the Posts – Renovate Forums was originally published on: Homes and Living
from https://homeandlivingau.wordpress.com
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