Cement or not

mass_burner said:

I'm leary of setting posts for an outdoor shower with cement. I've had to break apart a mess of concrete attached to a rotted light post before. But I also want it strong. I've gotten by with just compacted dirt with a mailbox and light post, but there's not much stress on these.

Will filling a bucket with cement make it easier to dig out if necessary?

Click to expand...

no , but if you mount a big loop in it when wet it makes life tolerable to pull it out after doing a bit of digging- any number of ways to encourage it then

I would be leary of cement too. It is inevitable that wood will shrink over time as it dries, opening up a crack around itself and forming a container in the cement that water will drain into and sit, providing ideal conditions for rot. I have done a fair amount of fencing, and I have always had good luck with just tamping good moist soil all around the post working in lifts so each layer is well tamped before adding more soil. You could throw a bit of gravel in the bottom of the hole for drainage. And of course, use pressure treated posts.

That sounds like it would work.

concrete pier & steel post base.
http://www.lowes.com/pd/USP-Steel-G185-Post-Base-Common-4-in-Actual-3-562-in/3366740

Too late to help you but I would have added a couple metal lifting loops embedded into the side of the concrete pour... similar to the lifting loops they use on covers for the concrete septic tanks.