How to finish fence posts?

[elbow]

Hey Guys

I have been putting up a fence and the last piece of the puzzle is what should i do next with finishing the fence posts? I would like to add come more concrete just to give them a little more support and also finish off the immediate area around them. The pics are numbered, 1,1a,1b are the same post and 2 is the other post. With the series 1 post, i would love to bring the concrete height as high as the blue wall, but it would then sit higher than the flat concrete. also you can see from all the series 1 pics, there is earth around that space - I'm not sure whether i could build a collar so the concrete rises around the post only - how would i do that? or are there other suggestions? You can see from pic 1c that there is more earth so i somehow need to keep the concrete isolated.

Regarding the other post, pic 2, i would like to add more concrete around the back and sides, but not the front where u can see a bracket - i need this to be unblocked so i cant put concrete in front of it - Again could i make a collar somehow? Any suggestions would be greatly received.1c Apologies for out of order pics  😲211b

[MitchellMc]

Hi @elbow,

You can certainly do what you've mentioned, and typically, you'd use a formwork made from timber to achieve this. Take some timber and form a box around the post to suit your needs. You'll need to add some temporary stakes into the soil so that the formwork can be screwed to stop it from shifting whilst you pour the new concrete. Melamine coated chipboard makes excellent formwork, as concrete doesn't stick to the surface.

Let me mention @Nailbag and @Dave-1 to see if they have some suggestions.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[elbow]

aha thats seems to make a lot of sense and thanks for your suggestion - One additional question i just thought of, do i need to do anything to bond the top later of concrete to the existing layer?     ill see what the other guys say as well - really appreciated  😁

[MitchellMc]

You don't need to bond the surfaces, but you'll likely find that a crack will develop there over time due to movement @elbow. To prevent this you could drill into the existing concrete and drive in some Ankascrews, leaving half of them exposed. When you pour your concrete, the screws will act as anchor points to physically connect the new concrete to the old. Also, painting some Bondcrete on the old concrete will assist with a good connection.

Mitchell

[elbow]

Hey Mitchell thats really awesome, thank you  😁

[Dave-1 · Accepted solution]

Afternoon @elbow 

@MitchellMc has beaten m eto the punch

He has suggested exactly what I was going to right down to the melamine for the formwork, I have used melamine for repairing my patio and with anchor screws into the existing concrete to help it grab and it worked a dream.

Dave

[MitchellMc]

@Dave-1,

Great minds! 👍

Mitchell

[elbow]

Hey Dave Well that's settled then 😂 - thank you for confirming and thank you for your help, much appreciated!

[Nailbag]

as per both @MitchellMc @and @Dave-1 suggestions, this is the stuff mate. Just a much smaller piece!

Nailbag