I finally tried setting posts with gravel instead of concrete

I did a small 40-foot fence run near Albany last month and decided to use crushed gravel backfill instead of my usual concrete mix. My buddy swore it drains better and won't rot out the posts as fast in wet ground. Got it done in half the time since I didn't have to wait for concrete to cure, and it felt solid right away. But now I'm second guessing because a few of the posts wobble a little when I push on them by hand. Has anyone else switched to gravel and found it holds up long term, or should I have stuck with concrete for this clay soil?

2 comments

2 Comments

graywright8d ago

That "felt solid right away" thing is tricky. I used gravel on a 60-foot fence two years ago and the wobble stopped once the dirt packed in around it over a few weeks.

elizabethpalmer7d ago

Oh man, gravel is the secret weapon nobody talks about, right? I did the same thing on a fence line about three years ago and had the exact same experience. The first couple weeks it felt like I was just throwing money into a hole, but then the rain and frost worked their magic. Now you could probably ram a truck into that section and it'd barely budge. The settling is wild too, I noticed it sinks a good inch or two before it locks in proper.