mm

"mark"

17/07/2006 8:08 PM

Wooden 6X6 in ground

What is the best way to put 6x6's in ground 4' to ensure long life. The wood
is freshly milled Juniper (Tamerac, Larch) and the geography is eastern
canada. People have told me to wrap in plastic and refill with earth, refill
with gravel, refill with concrete.... Which is best?


This topic has 6 replies

Td

"Teamcasa"

in reply to "mark" on 17/07/2006 8:08 PM

17/07/2006 3:14 PM


"mark" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> What is the best way to put 6x6's in ground 4' to ensure long life. The
> wood is freshly milled Juniper (Tamerac, Larch) and the geography is
> eastern canada. People have told me to wrap in plastic and refill with
> earth, refill with gravel, refill with concrete.... Which is best?
>
>
Concrete base/foundation/column, Simpson Post base.
http://www.strongtie.com/products/connectors/AB-ABA-ABE-ABU.html

Dave

mm

"mark"

in reply to "mark" on 17/07/2006 8:08 PM

18/07/2006 8:29 PM

Around here Tamerac, Juniper and larch are all the same tree.

"J. Clarke" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> mark wrote:
>
>> What is the best way to put 6x6's in ground 4' to ensure long life. The
>> wood is freshly milled Juniper (Tamerac, Larch) and the geography is
>> eastern canada. People have told me to wrap in plastic and refill with
>> earth, refill with gravel, refill with concrete.... Which is best?
>
> The _best_ way is to use a concrete footing. If the wood is going to be
> buried then the species counts for more than the method of burial and
> Tamerac is not a good choice for such use. Red cedar (also sometimes
> called "juniper") or pressure treated pine would be a better choice but
> if
> you can get hold of some bois d'arc (aka "osage orange" and "bodark") or
> ipe I think you'd be in better shape.
>
> --
> --John
> to email, dial "usenet" and validate
> (was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

PH

Peter Huebner

in reply to "mark" on 17/07/2006 8:08 PM

18/07/2006 1:07 PM

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> What is the best way to put 6x6's in ground 4' to ensure long life. The wood
> is freshly milled Juniper (Tamerac, Larch) and the geography is eastern
> canada. People have told me to wrap in plastic and refill with earth, refill
> with gravel, refill with concrete.... Which is best?

Dry the posts, take them to a sawmill and get them high pressure saturation
treated before putting them in. That will go a loooong way towards longevity.
I've been ramming pressure treated pine posts into bare dirt for the last 20
years and they're all still there (I have a farm for a main source of income).

If you bed them in concrete, make sure that the concrete gently slopes away
from the base of the post on all sides.

-P.

--
=========================================
firstname dot lastname at gmail fullstop com

JC

"J. Clarke"

in reply to "mark" on 17/07/2006 8:08 PM

18/07/2006 9:19 AM

mark wrote:

> What is the best way to put 6x6's in ground 4' to ensure long life. The
> wood is freshly milled Juniper (Tamerac, Larch) and the geography is
> eastern canada. People have told me to wrap in plastic and refill with
> earth, refill with gravel, refill with concrete.... Which is best?

The _best_ way is to use a concrete footing. If the wood is going to be
buried then the species counts for more than the method of burial and
Tamerac is not a good choice for such use. Red cedar (also sometimes
called "juniper") or pressure treated pine would be a better choice but if
you can get hold of some bois d'arc (aka "osage orange" and "bodark") or
ipe I think you'd be in better shape.

--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

Lr

"Leon"

in reply to "mark" on 17/07/2006 8:08 PM

17/07/2006 9:03 PM


"mark" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> What is the best way to put 6x6's in ground 4' to ensure long life. The
> wood is freshly milled Juniper (Tamerac, Larch) and the geography is
> eastern canada. People have told me to wrap in plastic and refill with
> earth, refill with gravel, refill with concrete.... Which is best?


I would stay away from concrete and wrapping with plastic. Both will retain
moisture.
I would go with gravel.


m

in reply to "mark" on 17/07/2006 8:08 PM

18/07/2006 3:51 PM

On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 20:08:03 GMT, "mark" <[email protected]>
wrote:


I would agree with the gravel(crushed stone), 1/2 to 3/4 inch
aggregate size. If the posts are cut from the heartwood of tamarak
grown in wet areas, all the better.


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