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Was setting posts too shallow for years until a job in Oregon

I had this fence I put up near Portland last fall that started leaning after two months, and I couldn't figure out why. Then a old timer walked by and asked how deep my holes were, and I told him 18 inches for a 6 foot fence. He laughed and said I needed to go down to 30 inches minimum for that soil type. Has anyone else found out their hole depth was way off after thinking they had it right?
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3 Comments
charlieh74
Oh man, 18 inches for a 6 foot fence is definitely not enough in most places. Portland soil is heavy clay that holds water and shifts a lot, so you gotta go deeper to get below the frost line and into stable ground. I usually do 30-36 inches for anything over 4 feet tall and have never had a post lean since.
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bell.jessica
Oh man, @charlieh74 is totally right about that clay soil being a pain. I learned that lesson the hard way too after my first fence post looked like it was doing the limbo.
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garcia.cameron
garcia.cameron3d agoMost Upvoted
Wait, you mean my 12 inch holes weren't enough? Oops.
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