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Some years ago a 30ft Palm tree in our pool yard was blown over in a storm damaging our colorbond fence. Two colorbond posts were damaged (bent but still functional) and I'd like to replace them. The fence shares the pool enclosure and rear reserve.
Because of our location, we have been told by the council we'd need to erect a pool safety fence around the work while the retainer wall was cut, the posts replaced and situated, and the concrete retainer wall reconstructed in that section. A contractor said it would be about 3 days work.
I have figured out a workaround for the fencing requirement, but this is the only method I can come up with for replacing the posts.
The aim would be to:
Practical, do-able, dreaming?
Could you take a picture for us @Ask_Itee?
From your description, I can't really see a need for the retaining wall to be deconstructed, nor why that would be the best plan of attack. I think you're bang on the money with breaking the post footer from above, digging it out and then concreting in your new posts. I'd imagine this could be done in one day or two at most as a D.I.Y. project.
My only suggestion would be to pick up a budget-friendly rotary hammer drill so you can drill through the footer in several locations and then switch it to chisel mode to break up the footer. Remember to wear your PPE gear, including safety glasses, gloves, and enclosed footwear.
Please let me know if you have further questions.
Mitchell
Thanks MitchellMc,
That I do have - long masonry bits (6mm, 12mm,, 18mm) and a two good hammer drills.
yes to elaborate on my plan.
I am trying to think of Plan B if the retainer wall and posts go down further than 300mm and I can't think of a way to shear/cut the posts off as low as possible. It would be awesome if I get to 300mm depth and have passed or be very near the depth of the post embedded in the retainer wall, but if Murphy's Law applies to the job, they'll be 350mm down to the bottom.
Any ideas anyone? I could go longer drills I suppose!
Thanks for the PPE reminder - must check if I need anything
Hello @Ask_Itee
It sounds like a good plan; my only other recommendation is to have a look at getting a Cyclone 1650 x 25mm Hex Fencing Bar just in case you need to go deeper to break up the concrete footing. I also propose looking at the Saxon 170cm Black T Steel Fence Post as a temporary post while you break the footing apart. My only other suggestion is to check the weather and make sure that you've got a few sunny days ahead so that your post hole will not fill up with rainwater.
Please keep safety in mind, make sure everyone is informed, even though you are working in an open area friends and family members might lean into the unsupported fence panels. As @MitchellMc mentioned please make sure to wear proper safety equipment while digging and breaking apart the concrete footing.
Please keep us updated with your progress, we look forward to the start of your fencing project.
If you need further assistance, please let us know.
Eric
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