New-ish build rotting fence post

Jakea1125

Good afternoon all, 

I’m having some trouble dealing with my house builder with regards to getting a fence post replaced in my garden and bordering a neighbouring  property.

 I first noticed the fence leaning in November, and I’m early December dug up some soil to work out the basing and discovered that the first few inches of wood, buried in the soil, were rotten and has split the post. I emailed the company but had no response until we started chasing them a couple of weeks ago. They claim that as we are out of our two year warranty, it’s not their responsibility to do it, but I am a bit suspicious that a post put in 3-4 years ago has already began to rot in the ground. 

Does anyone have any advice or links with regards to consumer rights, the reasonable life expectancy of a fence post. Is there any legal standing I have at all? 

Many thanks, 

Jake

[Deleted User]

Hi,

if post was untreated and planted into soil, some rot will occur, hard to put a life on a fence post.

Ebe_Scrooge

It could well have rotted in a couple of years if it wasn't treated and if it was in direct contact with the soil.  If it's out of warranty then my gut feeling would be to save yourself a whole lot of hassle and just replace it yourself.  A single post is going to cost a few quid, a few quid for a bag of ready-mix concrete, and a couple of hour's work to remove the old one and put a new one in.

It's your call, of course - but to me it sounds like you could be lining yourself up for a lot of hassle and raised blood pressure for the sake of what is a pretty cheap and easy DIY fix.

Yeah, I know you should reasonably expect a post to last more than a few years, but in my experience many housebuilders cut corners and do things as cheaply as possible.  Is it really worth the hassle?

FWIW, we've just shelled out a fair chunk to have a large run of fencing replaced by a well-respected local company.  He told us how all the houses in this area had fences done as cheaply as possible (and not "correctly") by the builders, and confidently predicted his replacement would last at least 20 years, probably a lot longer - I have no reason to disbelieve him judging from his local reputation.

TELLIT01

I've just had a shock when checking the price of timber posts.  8' posts for a 6' high fence are from about £25 upwards.  I would have paid less than that for good quality panels when I last did the fence.  I do agree though that it really isn't worth the hassle of trying to get anybody to accept liability - they won't.

Concrete posts don't seem to be much more expensive and would only have to be replaced once.

FreeBear

frugalmacdugal said: if post was untreated and planted into soil, some rot will occur, hard to put a life on a fence post.

Based on personal experience, you are doing well to get 10 years out of a modern treated wooden post. 3-4 years for a bit of untreated timber. If you want something that will truly last, then concrete is the way to go.

Eldi_Dos

@Jakea1125, check your other posts to see if it is just one post affected or a more generalised problem, that will help you decide on course of action to take.

If I was replacing just the one post I would not use concrete to fill post hole, but would dig hole deeper and fill bottom with pea gravel then backfill with soil  and then attach panel,if not replacing  with a concrete post.

Doozergirl

Just to answer your initial question, you don't have any legal standing, no.  As you've been told, you are indeed out of that two year warranty period.  

There are no consumer rights with houses.  

mi-key

The other option instead of concrete is to use one of the metal spike type post supports. I put a couple of these in 15 years ago to support a large trellis. The posts themselves sit just above the soil level, so have no problems with rot

[Deleted User]

Hi,

my diy idea would be, dig down below the rot, use a saw to remove about a foot above the dead wood, remove dead wood, throw some cement into hole, then get a wee stump correct length and adjust height, might have to splinter good wood and stump until cement sets.

ThisIsWeird

I don't know if it's the quality of preservative used, or it being applied more poorly - I suspect the former - but posts these days (all treated timber, in fact) is pants. 

As you've discovered, the rot begins at ground level, where the post is pretty constantly damp - it hasn't a chance. 

Are you going to DIY the replacements? If so, there are some tips that may help.

TELLIT01

Quality of timber for fencing certainly varies massively, and price can't always be used as a guide to quality.