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How do I keep my fence from settling so much?
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this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2023
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Are the posts set in cement? Is the house new construction where the ground may still be settling because it wasn't fully compacted?
People often skip cement footers for fence posts which might be okay if the soil is well compacted and the type of fence isn't sensitive to movement but the one place you should always use cement footers is around gates.
If you already have footers then my suggestion would be to set them deeper. It could be poorly compacted soil or the type of soil that's the problem in which case the only way to combat it is to dig down deeper so the footer reaches more stable soil.
Yes, wooden posts set in cement. Not sure how deep, because it was new construction, so I didn't do it. It seems weird that it's still settling, but we have definitely been having insane weather swings since it was built, that we don't normally get.
Austin IS prone to foundation issues because something about our soul isn't great... I'm in an area that isn't too bad, but definitely has some issues.
It does sound like we're going to have to reset those posts deeper.
New construction increases the likely-hood of loose/disturbed soil. You need deeper footings.