Question about cedar fence posts and ground contact

I put in a cedar fence for a client in Boise last spring, using regular pressure-treated posts. By fall, three posts had soft spots right at the dirt line. I switched to using cedar posts with a brush-on wood preservative on the buried section for a job this March. Checked them last week and they still look and feel solid. Has anyone else seen a big difference with that extra step, or did I just get lucky?

4 comments

4 Comments

ray6137d ago

Yeah, that soft spot at the dirt line is the killer. I had the same thing happen with some posts a few years back. Started using that brush-on preservative on the buried part every time now and it's been a total game changer. Stuff seems to actually stop that rot from getting started. Your March posts still being solid is a really good sign, definitely not just luck.

kelly_rivera6d ago

I mean, that brush-on stuff can be a total pain to apply evenly though. Idk, maybe it's just me but I've seen it crack and peel after a season or two. Sometimes just using the right pressure-treated wood from the start is less hassle.

fionanguyen6d ago

That "crack and peel after a season" thing is real. My buddy used that brush-on stuff on his fence posts. Looked okay for a bit. Then last winter, big flakes just came off in sheets. The wood underneath was already soft and gray. He had to replace three posts that spring. Total waste of a weekend.

johnson.eva4d ago

Honestly, is it really that big of a deal? I see people talking about this like it's a total crisis, but I've used plain pressure-treated posts for years and maybe one in twenty gives me trouble. Sometimes wood just does weird things, you know? It feels like we're all looking for a perfect fix that doesn't exist. Maybe the ground was just extra wet that year or something.