setting wood shed posts

I can tell you when building pole barns and decks code says you must put down a (cookie) aka round concrete pad for your pole to sit on in the bottom of the hole. As far as back fill I don't know of any code but sand or gravel should give better drainage

Id use quickcrete

Yes I believe quickcrete used to be the rule but it will work well.

How would SAND support side-to-side movement of a vertical post?

I'd go with Quickrete.
Or just #4 size limestone/rocks packed/tamped real tight.

I built a tree cabin 21years ago. It is set 7feet above the ground on 4x6 PT posts.
I dug the posts to 38" deep, filled around with rocks and tamped it tight with bar.

Still standing strong to this day.

I always throw a big rock down in the hole to set the post on. Drill a hole sideways thru the post, and stick a metal rod thru it to lock the post for up and down movement in the quickcrete.

I use quickrete as well.......but leave about 4 inches in the top of the hole for dirt.

On this old house, they use rock dust and very small gravel, wet and tamp. Said it sets up almost as hard as concrete, but drains better.

Never tried it, but worth mentioning.

punchy said:

so my maybe 1/2 bag quickcrete on bottom of hole then gravel tamped to level ground?

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Quickcrete up almost to ground level

The way I've always done it...

Large gravel in the bottom of the hole, with the post to the gravel (don't want to hold rain water against the post; want it to keep going down to drain). Some nails/bolt through the post will give it up/down support. Round the cement off above ground level so most of the water runs away from the post. I mix the cement outside the hole so I know it's all homogenous, then lightly tamp it while shoveling it in.

But, that was for footers for a huge old barn, that originally had the posts set on rocks

When I do my woodshed, I'm not sure if I want to set the posts in concrete themselves, or set a bracket for the posts to rest in.

punchy said:

planning to build a wood shed this year. I am using recently cut cedar tree posts for upright posts. how are you guys setting posts? I have a friend that says to auger hole with tractor, set post, then fill with sand and pour water over sand to settle. any input for making the posts last the longest? I have read some people use gravel.

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Cedar posts will last for decades. Just refill with the dirt that came out of the hole and tamp. Save your money and skip the quickcrete.

I'd put it on skids to avoid triggering a re-val of your assement.

Don't use quickcrete. It will hold moisture and rot your posts. Depending on the type of cedar it may or may not last a long time. I have red cedar in Minnesota and would expect 10-15 years out of it from my experience with fence posts. I would backfill them with sand & gravel. It's only a wood shed, don't need cookies like large sheds - maybe a rock in the bottom if you have them.

I used 4x4 green treated posts, backfilled with the same soil that came out. My soil is mostly topsoil and loam, so easy to work with. I just used a manual post hole digger and a 2x2 or shovel handle to tamp as I backfilled the soil in 6" lifts. Tractor auger would be nice if you have one.

Yes permanent structures will trigger a property reassessment if they see you on Google earth.
Skids for anything we do here, too.
But heres an interesting tip I read from the book, "Raising Sheep the Modern Way" because I liked Bigg Redds idea.
If you charcoal the bottoms of the poles you are setting in the ground, they will never rot. Burning the section of the poles going below ground.
The charred wood is unattractive to microbes and wood eating bugs.
Havent tested this technique of setting poles but thought I'd pass it on.

This is a technique for setting wooden fence posts. Dont know about pole barns.

The heartwood of red cedar will last a long time in the ground, the sapwood however will not. It won't matter what you back fill the holes with, the posts will start to go bad right at ground level, where there's moisture & air. In 5 years the sapwood will be gone, leaving a lose post. It is just a woodshed, but doing something now to get the posts or sills up off the soil will add years to it.

Don't forget that you have to be well below frost level if you are burying a post. Huge difference in where that level is among all the posters. I've got a 40" auger on my tractor and it's not deep enough to prevent frost heaving in my area. I'd prefer to put down a concrete post block and use extra cross pieces to ensure nothing is going to move. I'll be making one as soon as the snow is gone with spruce poles and I'll just cut the ends with the chainsaw to fit into the blocks. Spruce won't last as long as cedar but if it's kept high & dry, it will outlive me - and it's free.

I will be also using douga's method, concrete blocks seem to be the best unless you have a lot of time to dig, my area I need about 32" for the frost line, and the area is very rocky, so I'm going to level the area with fill, then use a 6" layer of tamped stone dust (kinda like prepping an area for a stone patio) set the concrete blocks then use pea gravel for drainage.

For a light wood shed I would want something in the ground to prevent lift off in windy conditions.

ckitch said:

For a light wood shed I would want something in the ground to prevent lift off in windy conditions.

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Just my 2 cents but I think you would be better adding a few 4x4's across the bottom that are bolted on to the vertical posts. Then, put skids on these and wind is not going to take your shed away. If you get a strong enough wind/tornado, it will rip off you roof but that will happen regardless of whether the posts are in the ground or not. The only way to prevent that is to ensure that you have bolted down the roof trusses securely to the uprights and with plenty of cross braces. It's using 2 1/2" nails instead of bolts that will cause the shed to come apart in high wind.

If you're worried about your shed flying away, tie the floor in to the posts. The weight of a few cords of wood will be more than enough to hold it down

I would think just having wood stacks leaning against the sides/back of the shed would be enough to prevent lift-off.
The windy season here is October to February, and my shed has wood in it during that time. The stacks are leaning on the sides of the shed.

If you going into the ground , do it right. Pour a concrete footing below the frost line. Sonet tube or elephant ear form. Come above the ground with a threaded rod to attach the metal fastener to the post.

If you sit on the ground use the concrete blocks in Dougs picture.