Serious question about fence posts in clay ground

Everyone says to dig deeper holes to stop posts from moving in clay, but I had better luck with wider holes filled with gravel. It saved time and held up through the thaw. Do you stick to the depth rule or adjust for the soil?

3 comments

3 Comments

grayy7211d ago

Three feet deep was my rule for clay until I tried widening the holes with gravel. Now I skip the extra digging and just pack in the stone, holds way better.

barbaraanderson10d ago

Grayy72's gravel trick might work short-term (I get the appeal, really), but clay shifts a lot over seasons. Deep posts anchor below the frost line, which stops heaving better than wide holes. That extra digging sucks, but it prevents leaning fences years later. I've seen too many gravel-set posts wobble after a few hard winters. Sticking to the depth rule is a pain, but it's the right call for clay.

maxt958d ago

Wait, so you're telling me I've been digging those back-breaking deep holes for nothing all these years? My back hurts just thinking about it. I get where @barbaraanderson is coming from with the frost heave worry, that's real. But man, once I switched to the wide hole and gravel pack method, it was a game changer. The gravel lets water drain down away from the post base so the whole thing doesn't turn into a slick mud pit that moves. For me, that drain has stopped more movement than just going deep ever did.