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Why Do Wooden Fence Posts Rot Through At Ground Level & Fail? (1 of 2)

Posted By  Postsaver Team  On September 17, 2014

Why Do Wooden Fence Posts Rot Through At Ground Level & Fail?

For this destructive process to be successful, all that is needed are a few simple ingredients, wood, moisture, oxygen, decaying organisms, nutrients from the soil and a temperature above 10 C, and away you go.

At depths over 200mm below ground level, the conditions for any serious form of rot and decay are greatly reduced if nothing else because the temperature is generally well below 10c and oxygen and nutrient supply is restricted.

So this leaves the ground line section of the pole in conditions ideal for rot and decay, combine this with the fact that this is also mechanically the most highly loaded section of the pole and it’s hardly surprising that this is the common point of failure for timber poles.

So why do we need to worry about this? Wooden poles have traditionally lasted a reasonable period of time.

Traditionally wood has been treated with preservatives to prevent decay giving many years or decades of trouble-free service in a wide range of soil and timber types. Environmental pressures have resulted in changes to legislation affecting wood preservatives.

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Postsaver manufactures and supplies guaranteed post rot protection that is proven to extend the life of wooden fence and gate posts. Our patented rot protection is independently tested and proven in volume use since 1994.
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*When applied to posts that meet the requirements of BS8417:2012 - UC4 (Use Class 4). See guarantee for details
**Based on not having to replace your fence in 10 years time due to post failure.


Postsaver uses long term independent test data on the effectiveness of barrier sleeves and wraps to reach all the conclusions given on this website (test data available on request). Based on this data, Postsaver believes longer life, maintenance of strength over time, improved safety and reliability, extended inspection periods and reduced maintenance requirements are reasonable claims. This is subject to Postsaver products being correctly applied as per our instructions and used on correctly preservative treated (for long term in-ground use - use class 4 or higher) wooden fence posts that are free of decay at the time of rot protection application. The claims made, real or implied are not warranties. It is the responsibility of the user to evaluate and satisfy themselves that the performance of the product meets their specific safety, reliability, extended inspection, repair and any other performance or cost-benefit criteria before using Postsaver rot protectors
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