Treated Pine post in the ground

[gsouth]

All,

Another project I am working on is building a privacy screen. The posts arrived yesterday, treated pine 100x100. They will be going directly into the ground and I have a quick question.

Should I paint (or other treatment) the post before putting it in the ground? The post that arrived has faded and doesn't have that really green tinge that most TP wood does - just looking for ways to ensure it will last in the ground for as long as it can.... (I can't put it in stirrups as the base of the post where it would go into the stirrup would be underground thanks to a retaining wall, so it has to go into the ground)

Thanks
Geoff

[knucklehead]

Painting can only help to protect the post especially the end grain.
The most important thing is to make sure that the hole drains properly. Dig it deeper than necessary and backfill with gravel, rocks etc. This will make sure that the post doesn't sit water.

[echnidna]

painting the sidea is ok but dont paint the endgrain on the end in the ground. This will prevent water that seeps down the post from exiting and will shorten the life of the post

[gsouth]

Thanks for the responses.
I have almost finished the hole, and it looks like the post will be sitting in pure rock, and to make matters worse it looks like ground water is abundant in this area - overnight the hole filled with water, and we didn't get that much rain here....

Geoff

[elphingirl]

Hi Geoff

Treated pine is rated as Durability Class 1 suitable fro inground use - so long as you don't cut the end that is being buried (if you do, you can paint it with the green CCA liquid - but you don't get the benefit of the pressure treatment they give it during intial treatment.)

Knucklehead is absolutely right though, it is still better to not have pooling water. I would definitely add a layer of screening rock at the bottom of the hole, and if the ground water is high, can you make a small channel with a mattock to drain water away from the hole and fill this with gravel too?
Cheers
Justine

[Zed]

if your on rock ramset a stirrup with a long leg to the rock or pour some concrete so that the wood is proud of the hole.... no rot.