Chat with a concrete guy changed how I plan post holes

I was talking to this old concrete contractor named Don at the supply yard last Tuesday. He saw me loading up bags of quick set and asked what I was doing. I told him I was post hole setting for a 200 foot cedar privacy fence over in Oak Hills. He just nodded and said you know you can mix in a little lime with that concrete to make it flow better around the post. I always just dumped the dry mix in the hole and added water. He explained that the lime helps the concrete settle into every gap so you don't get voids near the bottom of the post. I tried it on the next six holes and I could see the difference in how solid the posts felt after setting. Anyone else ever heard of adding lime to the mix for fence posts?

3 comments

3 Comments

thomas_sanchez1mo ago

Have done this on a few fence jobs myself and it works good. A buddy who does flatwork turned me onto the lime trick a couple years back. I usually add about a shovel scoop of hydrated lime per bag of concrete and it makes the mix way creamier, flows right into the gravel at the bottom of the hole. Take it slow with the water though, too much and it gets runny.

the_thomas1mo ago

Ha, @thomas_sanchez I feel like I'm the guy who adds too much water every single time.

aaron7401mo ago

Learned that trick the hard way after pulling a rotted post with a big void underneath it.