Appreciation post: A homeowner in Springfield changed how I think about post holes

I was putting in a cedar fence for this older guy, and I was using my usual method of digging down about two feet. He came out with a coffee, watched for a minute, and said, 'You know, the frost line here is 36 inches. My last fence looked like a roller coaster after two years.' I checked the local code when I got back to the truck, and he was totally right. I've been going deeper on every job since. How many of you adjust your hole depth based on the local frost line?

3 comments

3 Comments

charles72013d ago

Classic case of the old guy with the coffee knowing more than the pro with the tools. Bet he saved you from a whole lot of "my fence is trying to escape" calls next winter. Goes to show the real code book is sometimes just some dude in a bathrobe.

lily_cooper13d ago

Forgot to mention he was wearing slippers, not a bathrobe.

the_jenny13d ago

Man, that's the kind of advice you remember forever. It's so easy to just do things the way you've always done them (like that two-foot standard), and then a simple tip from someone who's been there changes everything. I've seen fences heave up in the winter because the posts weren't deep enough, and it's a real pain to fix. Good on that guy for speaking up, and good on you for listening. It saves so much trouble down the road.