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Overheard a concrete guy at the lumberyard say he uses rebar stakes for fence posts
Was picking up some gravel yesterday and this older concrete contractor was telling his helper how he's done fence posts for years using rebar stakes driven next to the posts instead of concrete. Said it lets the posts move with the ground freeze and never crack like concrete does. Never heard that approach before. Has anyone else tried that method or seen it hold up long term?
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ellis.felix12d ago
Whoa, hold up. I mean, I've seen some pretty wild fence hacks over the years but this one feels like a half-baked idea. Rebar stakes are for concrete forms and retaining walls, not holding up a fence that's gonna get pushed by wind and snow. Unless his ground is solid bedrock, I can't see how a few pieces of rebar stop a post from leaning over time. Seems like a shortcut that's gonna look real bad after one bad winter.
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logan26312d ago
Hold on, you gotta think about this from a practical standpoint. Rebar stakes driven deep enough act like a giant root system that locks the post in place against lateral movement. That concrete you pour around a post is basically a solid block that the frost can grab and push straight up, but a rebar stake can flex and shift with the ground without breaking anything. Plus, if a post does get pushed by wind or a heavy snow load, the rebar is way easier to bend back or replace than busting out a whole chunk of concrete. Seen plenty of old farm fences that used steel stakes and rebar that are still standing strong after decades, just saying it ain't always a shortcut.
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