Title of Question:
How to set posts?
Name:Art City: Tigard
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| Question: How deep should the post hole be for an eight foot post? Is a mix of soil and gravel good for filling the hole around the post? Other suggestions? |
Post Your Answer To The Question Above:
| Answer: Caution - here! Almost all communities now defer to BOCA codes, therefore, to be in complete compliance with your communities codes, you should always follow BOCA code for your particular area. (42" deep for Michigan - having dug plenty of them). Best bet: contact your local building department, speak with an inspector, see what he or she wants... this almost never fails.
That said, the soil condition has generally dictated the depth of posthole: sandy, silty, loamy, wet (or over water) posts must be set deeper than those in rock or heavy clay. Depth of freeze is another consideration. The old rule of thumb was a third of the length of the post - but doing this today without a building officials blessing just might find you digging them up and starting over again!
Depending on the soil conditions, soil and gravel is not too bad, providing that you tamp after each small shovelful, starting with the first, otherwise the post will never, ever firm up. Straight gravel or peastone tamps in quicker, and for steel posts, nothing beats a cheap bag of quik-crete. |
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