Tried rebar stakes instead of wood for a 200 foot job

Everyone told me wood stakes are the only way to go, but I used rebar on a fence last month in that rocky soil near Austin. The rebar bent like crazy on the third section and I had to cut them all out with a grinder. Has anyone else had rebar fail on them or did I just pick the wrong grade?

3 comments

3 Comments

sandragrant7d ago

This is one of those things where folks swear by the old way because the new way usually has hidden flaws. Rebar is cheap and strong but it snaps under repeated stress instead of flexing, which is the exact wrong property for driving into hard ground. Sort of like how everyone found out the hard way that those quick-connect hose fittings leak worse than a cheap faucet.

henryr457d ago

Ha, yeah that quick-connect comparison hits too close to home. Nothing like watching your money spray out into the dirt while you stand there holding a hose that's supposed to be "easy" but somehow needs three o-rings and a prayer. Guess some things just gotta be old school, even if the new stuff looks shiny in the aisle.

kai8397d ago

Honest question though, is this actually that big of a deal? I mean yeah rebar can snap but how many times is somebody really driving fence posts into solid rock where it matters? Most folks I know are just pounding stuff into regular dirt or clay and the rebar holds up fine for years. Feels like we're talking about a super specific scenario that hardly applies to the average person's weekend project. It's like when people get worked up about a certain type of screw being weak when you're only hanging a picture frame.