posted
I am installing some trail wayfinding signs on unpainted cedar posts, then putting them in sandy ground about 30". They want them unpainted to better blend into the woods and look natural. I plan on putting on some flat/matte clear urethane though. It is at a summer camp & the posts MAY need to be removed and installed at a different location, as the clients buildings change function etc. They don't want them concreted in the ground.
It was suggested to wrap the bottom of post in a garbage bag to protect it from moisture and last longer. Does anyone else do this? Has anyone tried it and loved it/hated it?
I could see how it would help IF the bag never gets a hole in it (but with a hole, I think it would become a great place for water to collect and rot the post out faster.)
Thanks. Phil.
-------------------- Phil Steffen, 29 Van Rensselaer St City of Saratoga Springs DPW Saratoga Springs NY 12866 Posts: 563 | From: beautiful Saratoga Springs NY | Registered: Aug 2001
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I use a product that you can get at Home Depot called Dock & Fence post preservative. It is green in color, much like pressure treated lumber, so you'll want to keep it below your ground line.
In my opinion the bag idea is a very bad choice.
-------------------- Bob Rochon Creative Signworks Millbury, MA 508-865-7330
"Life is Like an Echo, what you put out, comes back to you." Posts: 5149 | From: Millbury, Mass. U.S. | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
I have also heard (but not tried yet) wraping the portion of the post from just above the ground to 12 to 16 inch below ground with thin copper will stop the rot that comes with the wet dry cycle that develops at the point where the post meet the ground. If you hav ever pulled a old cedar fence post they are always really rotton right at/just below the ground level.
I will be trying this on a set of post I will installing soon myself. I think it will also look nice.
As for the bag idea - not very good I think.
-------------------- Mark Pinkse Laird Signs Iron Bridge ON. Canada Posts: 52 | From: Iron Bridge, ON Canada | Registered: Nov 1999
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I don't know about NY but in FL, untreated western red cedar will rot in the ground and termites will eat it up. Even redwood posts will rot below ground. We have ahd some success with wrapping the bottom in roofing felt, then covering with aluminum flashing and sealing the seams with roofing tar. Maybe Mark's or Bob's ideas would work better.
[ September 03, 2010, 02:17 PM: Message edited by: Wayne Webb ]
-------------------- Wayne Webb Webb Signworks Chipley, FL 850.638.9329 wayne@webbsignworks.com Posts: 7404 | From: Chipley,Florida,United States | Registered: Oct 1999
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Some time ago on a project in a park the park engineer insisted that I backfill posts with only pea-rock or very small crushed rock as that technique allows moisture to flow away from the post and be absorbed by the surrounding soil keeping the post drier. And since then I have backfilled all posts that way mainly because it is much easier to tamp or compact the rock than the crumbly dirt and I find the posts are more firmly set and stay that way.
-------------------- Happy Signing...... Marty
M.F. (Marty) Happy Signmaker Since 1974 Happy Ad Sign & Design Regina SK, Canada S4N 5K4 306-789-9567 happyad@sasktel.net www.happyad.ca
Get Happy & Get Noticed! Posts: 773 | From: Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada | Registered: Jan 1999
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Wood rot can be slowed down and almost stopped.
Here are a couple of wood preserving techniques. Decay is caused by microbes and termites in the soil. Wood is breakfast, lunch and dinner to them. Once the holes are dug I pour in a hand full of termite pellets or insect pellets in the bottom and while the hole is being filled I keep dumping in more insecticide.
We use sand instead of concrete. The advantage is two fold. Sand will hold as well as concrete and allow moisture to percolate through. It also tightens around the post with time. If a post ever needs removing, a house jack will pry it out with ease.
All my instillation are done by “Bob Cat Jim”, a delightful fellow who comes at my bidding. He unloads the Bob Cat and the work goes fast. Two holes cost me $150. As an observer I enjoy installation.
[ September 03, 2010, 06:37 PM: Message edited by: Joe Crumley ]
-------------------- Joe Crumley Norman Sign Company 2200 Research Park Blvd. Norman, OK 73069 Posts: 1428 | From: 2200 Research Park Blvd. | Registered: Sep 2001
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An old time ranch foreman taught me to build a campfire and put the ends of the redwood fence posts into the fire and char the bottom foot or so. We also put the end of the post that would have been the top of the tree into the ground. After placing a few rocks in the bottom of the hole to promote drainage, we'd plant the post. Posts here rot more from high ground water than bugs. The char would prevent bugs and is far more environmentally sound than coating with "green death."
-------------------- The SignShop Mendocino, California
Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity. — Charles Mingus Posts: 6716 | From: Mendocino, CA. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Thanks for posting this trick. I see how this technique would work since burned wood in the forest isn't bothered by insects.
-------------------- Joe Crumley Norman Sign Company 2200 Research Park Blvd. Norman, OK 73069 Posts: 1428 | From: 2200 Research Park Blvd. | Registered: Sep 2001
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I don't know how big of a deal the bugs are (No termites really in upstate NY) Microbes might be an issues. Water rot certainly is. Thanks for the input guys. PHil.
-------------------- Phil Steffen, 29 Van Rensselaer St City of Saratoga Springs DPW Saratoga Springs NY 12866 Posts: 563 | From: beautiful Saratoga Springs NY | Registered: Aug 2001
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