Fences are an integral element of the arrangement of suburban areas. Protections serve not only reliable protection against curious looks and uninvited "guests". They are the final touch on the integrity of the architectural ensemble. Beautiful, elegant and reliable fences, being the "face" of the site, are designed to maintain its aesthetic qualities. When arranging any fence, special attention is always paid to the selection and installation of elements such as support poles. Properly made do-it-yourself fence posts will increase the strength of the structure and complement it in design and style.
Selection of materials for the arrangement of poles
Choosing the material for the support posts, it is necessary to focus on the fact that they must withstand the load created by the fence sections, mechanical shocks and powerful wind loads. In suburban construction, the construction of fences most often uses metal, wooden, concrete or brick poles.
Metal poles are universal in application, as they are suitable for the construction of fences made of metal grating or mesh, wooden fences, plastic sections and corrugated board.
Metal constructions are made of hollow pipes and are characterized by strength, stability and durability
A quality tree is expensive. But, unfortunately, even high-quality tree species are not particularly durable in the open. In comparison with metal poles, whose service life is about half a century, wooden structures, even with proper treatment, can last no more than two to three decades. Therefore, most often they are used in the arrangement of low hedges, front gardens and temporary fences.
Wooden poles - one of the easiest options for arranging the fence, but far from the cheapest. Wooden fences are always aesthetically pleasing and prestigious
It is advisable to install concrete and brick poles only with heavy fences. However, sometimes people install brick pillars as decorations. In this case, they serve as an excellent “calling card” for a rich site.
Concrete poles are relatively inexpensive and technologically advanced. They, like metal support poles, are durable and durable.
Brick pillars are one of the most expensive options for arranging a fence. Due to the variety of modern finishing materials, brick fences are a worthy decoration of the facade
Marking the fence
When deciding to build a fence, it is necessary to outline its location on the site and calculate future pillars. Proper calculation will prevent warping and blocking of the building envelope during operation.
On average, the distance between the posts does not exceed 2.5-3 meters
The required number of columns is calculated depending on the length of the entire enclosing structure and the size of the fence sections.
Technological options for installing posts
The method of installing poles for the fence is determined by the design feature of the fence and the nature of the soil.
The universal way - concreting
The installation of fence posts in a universal way is well suited for the installation of metal, reinforced concrete and wooden structures on stable, non-saturated soils. This method involves digging a hole under the support, installing the column itself and filling the remaining space with concrete.
The use of a drill will significantly facilitate the process of digging holes and excavation
You can increase the efficiency of drilling with the help of water, which is poured into the hole and wait 10-15 minutes so that the earth in it becomes softer and more pliable.
To install poles up to one and a half meters high, it is enough to dig a hole with a depth of 0.5 m, and for the installation of higher supporting poles - 0.8 m. On average, a post is buried 1/3 of its length.
Having decided to dig support pillars for the fence on non-porous soils, you can completely dispense with the use of concrete
Tip. It is enough to use a drill, the diameter of the blades of which fully corresponds to the diameter of the column. This will avoid "fluffing" of the borehole area: the pillars enter the ground tightly and do not require additional concreting. But such a method requires proficiency in strictly vertical hole drilling.
But how to install fence posts on "complex" soils with a high level of groundwater? Indeed, in such conditions it is necessary to deepen the supporting structure below the level of freezing of the soil, and this is a troublesome and costly event with traditional concrete concreting. In such cases, before installing the supports, the bottom of the pit is lined with a layer of rubble 15-20 cm high.
Pillars are immersed in a hole and vertically aligned with a building level or plumb. After that, the empty space around the entire circumference of the pillars is filled with a layer of rubble
Such a crushed stone "pillow" simultaneously acts as a drainage of the supporting structure and softens the effects of frost heaving forces. The crushed stone layer should not reach the ground level by 12-15 cm: the remaining space of the hole is concreted with fresh mortar.
Clogging of supporting pillars of metal structures
Pole driving is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to mount supporting metal structures.
This method is effective in the construction of fences on low-stony soils, which include layers of dense rocks
You can hammer small one and a half meter posts for the fence using a conventional sledgehammer. For the installation of three-meter supports, you can use the "headstock" - a device for hammering piles, pipes or poles into the ground
The design is a meter-long pipe segment, one of the ends of which is tightly welded and weighted to 15-20 kg. When boarding up the headstock, the guide of the structure is located in the pipe, which allows to increase the accuracy of striking, since it must be performed strictly along the axis of the object.
When driving the posts using the headstock, difficulty can arise when lifting the structure. You can facilitate the work by welding long handles to it, which, as they are clogged, are rearranged to the most convenient position.
Construction of a concrete base for a brick fence
Traditionally, such pillars are erected on a concrete strip or column foundation. The strip foundation is a continuous reinforced concrete strip with a depth of 500-800 mm, the width of which is 100 mm greater than the width of the fence.
Since the brick pillars are heavy enough structures to put brick pillars for the fence, it is necessary to make a shallow base
To erect such a foundation, it is necessary to dig a trench. Pipes are driven into the bottom of the trench, which subsequently will serve as the basis for the brick pillars.
The trench is covered with a 300 mm layer of sand, gravel, broken brick and rammed tightly
A formwork is installed around the perimeter of the trench in such a way as to prevent the loss of moisture from the concrete mortar and provide waterproofing to the structure.
The formwork assembly is clearly shown in the video:
After arranging the formwork, they begin to knit the reinforcing cage and fill the trench with concrete mortar. Concrete hardens within 5 days, but the fence can begin to be erected a couple of days after laying the foundation.
Installation of pillars - screw piles
The use of piles can significantly reduce the cost of the construction process. The cost of a screw base is an order of magnitude lower compared to a traditional columnar or tape.
In recent decades, when constructing fence posts, screw piles are often used as a reliable foundation.
Piles are easily mounted manually or with the use of small-scale mechanization. They, like “screws”, are screwed into the ground, compacting the inter-blade space as they deepen, and form a reliable foundation for heavy building structures.
