The reason is that the basement might have not been strong enough to hold on to the fence. After installing the fence, even if a part of the fence gets loosened or leaning up at one end, then there's a chance that the whole fence gets leaning. Make sure that the basement is strong enough to hold on to the fence.
Even if it's not leaning, you may encounter corrosion problems in future.Even if you do not put up cement, put in some rock solid gravels & stones that can hold up the fence for a longer time.A leaning fence may get uprooted at any time, maybe due to the wind or rains. We spent good money having a 6' high cedar fence installed. After heavy rains and strong winds, about 5 of the posts holding up the fencing are leaning about 6' towards the front of the house. We can go to the front of the fence and push the posts straight up again but how do we support.The posts were not cemented in the ground. We called the installer and he wants $500 to fix the posts but can't guarantee it won't happen again.Can anyone tell us how we can go about supporting the posts upright.The key to this one may be in the OP's words in the original post.The basic problem here might be in the type soil. This might be a problem soil, either a type clay or soil that will not compact properly, soils do not drain proper, high water table level, an entire range of things to consider.
If your yard has a severe slope or elevation change greater than approximately. 1 - Pour 12 in. Of wet concrete into the bottom of your hole. 2 - Slide your vinyl post down into the wet concrete and level. 3 - Add more wet concrete around your post to within 2 in. Of the ground surface.
We do know it was wet and then strong forces were present shortly there after via strong winds. Can be lots of lateral force exerted, this may not be the contractors fault in a normal sense.The holes at depth were basically mud, followed by high winds, this result could be expected.Open questions might be how far down were the posts placed??? If done normally and the soils still moved, might point to problem soils. Or it could have been a lack of proper compaction during the initial installation.To cement or not to cement, might not make any difference in really problem soils. Would try to talk to the contractor first in a civil manner and understand the problem better. Try to devise a practical solution.One might be, hope for better weather, temporary bracing to get all posts plumb again. Depending on a better definition of the problem, come up with a solution.
Stabilizing the soil by ramming a dry cement deep into the surrounding area with a power tool like an electric jack hammer with wide faced compaction tool. Dig out the top 18', mix soil / cement and power compact. Compact the lower layers to the extreme, before starting with the cement / soil mix.If you in fact do have a problem soil with some sort of thixotropic properties that basically turns to mud at some depth when ever water and some force is applied then nothing much can be expected to work.
Could still try the cement / soil mix with very hard compaction. Basically you are making a 'Rammed Earth' area around the post. That is actually better longer term that a poured concrete. The further out you can make the compaction zone the better.At this point I would be thinking improper compaction in the original installation. You want to hard ram the soils in layers with a heavy blunt headed ramming bar if not using concrete or some very poor soil type that is way into the abnormal category. Would go back and try to do some test posts with power ramming compaction with a cement mix in layers.Might keep my legal options open but try to work with the contractor first in a civil manner.
Shrill tones and threats are not good for openers. I would document everything extremely well in pix's and film, keep a notebook by date of the events as they unfold and things develop. Including phone calls. Would write up a history to this point, get all my paperwork in good order, in case it gets to that point.
You can mount posts right in the ground and they may last for years (or not), You need gravel below them and prefereably around them. It sounds like the posts were not put deep enough into the ground. I always put them at least 3' deep. Thus if you want a 5' fence get 8' posts.
For a 7' fence get 10' posts.Setting them in concrete (cement is the stuff that holds concrete together) can cause them to rot and break off unless it is done correctly. Make certain that the concrete extends above ground level (us a coffee can as a mold).
They should last longer in concrete if it is done correctly, however gravel can do just as well. They make special post hole mix of concrete. It is not as hard as regualr concrete (important if you ever need to remove it). Rather than mixing it up, you just dump the post hole mix into the hole and then soak it with a hose to make it set.Another good method is to dig a hole about 3' deep. Put some gravel at the bottom, fill it the rest of the way with concrete, mount some galvanized post brackets in the conrete (you have to place them before the concrete) and then just bolt the posts in place. THen when your posts rot, you just bolt in new one.
You also only need posts the ehight of your fence. A bit more expensive, but much longer lasting. THis is a pretty permanent method, so jsut use this if you ar ecertain that you will always want a fence here. It is very hard to remove.
I think for future reference, to avoid court altogether, being very clear what the best practices are, stipulate in a contract, and a bit of discrete supervision during the job could spare you grief. Prevention is a better investment. Homework= forewarned is forearmed.You should always have in the contract stipulate how work is to be done.
That is part of judging bid between contrators. Its plain bull as far as not cementing post or even allowing the post ends to sit on soil at the bottom of the hole. The end grain is where the post will absorb the most moisture sam as when drying wood where it will lose the most moisture.This is the reaon you will see better woods paint at the ends to dry without splitting.
Natural Racking ChartFence StyleMaximum Slope / Rise footMaximum AngleContemporary2'10°TraditionalWill rack indefinitely, see note below.Post & Rail2' with 8' long rail10°Privacy6 3/4'35°Note: on severe slopes it is recommended that end posts be used and field cut to achieve proper rail positioning. If more rack is required, rail and picket holes will have to be enlarged. On severe slopes the rails and pickets may need to be cut. Hole enlargement can be done with a file or saber saw.Racking Method - 10° or greaterWhen installing a fence on a slope that is greater than 10 degrees, it is necessary to enlarge the holes in the posts and rails. It is also necessary to miter the rails and pickets to allow for the angle. Refer to the maximum slope chart for various fence styles. Posts must be closer together when measured with a level string line to attain even picket spacing at end of fence sections.Maximum Slope ChartFence StyleMaximum Slope / Rise footMaximum AngleContemporary6 3/4'35°Traditional6 5/16'32°Post & Rail6 3/4'35°Privacy6 3/4'35°SPECIAL NOTE: SOCKET GATES WILL NOT RACKCalculate Rise / Foot AngleTo determine the hole enlargement size, first calculate the slope rise / foot or the angle of the slope.