Chit-chat with an old timer changed how I think about post holes

Had coffee with a guy who's been putting up fences since the 70s. He said dig your holes a foot deeper than spec and add crushed rock for drainage. Never really thought about water pooling around posts rotting them out down the line. Has anyone else tried this on clay-heavy ground like we got here in Ohio?

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jordanr894mo ago

I dug about 40 post holes last summer in central Ohio clay and tried the crushed rock trick on half of them. The problem with going a foot deeper than spec is you need to calculate the frost line first. Around here it's 32 inches, so if you're digging 3 feet deep plus a foot more, you're at 4 feet which is fine. But if your spec was only 2 feet deep because you're setting a mailbox or something, adding a foot plus rock might actually push the bottom of the post above the frost line in heavy clay. I found that 6 inches of gravel at the bottom worked better than a full foot, plus it keeps the post base above standing water without risking frost heave. The old timer probably meant a foot deeper than the minimum recommended depth for your specific post type, not just adding a foot onto whatever you were planning.

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sethp264mo ago

Hmm, rock helps drainage though @jordanr89, even if it shifts the frost line a little.

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