Hot take: I started using a 2x4 as a temporary brace for vinyl fence posts and it's way better than metal stakes.

I was putting up a vinyl fence in my backyard last spring, and the usual problem hit me again. Those posts need to be held dead straight while the concrete sets, and every time I used those thin metal stakes, they'd bend or pull out of the ground if the wind picked up. After the third post started to lean, I was pretty fed up. I grabbed a leftover 2x4 from my shed, cut it into four-foot lengths, and screwed them right into the post itself at a 45-degree angle, then staked the other end into the dirt. The wood is stiff enough that it doesn't flex, and the screw holds it solid to the post. It took maybe ten extra minutes per post, but all twenty of them dried perfectly plumb. What other old-school tricks do you guys use for keeping things square and level?

3 comments

3 Comments

xena_brown5021d ago

Honestly, that 2x4 trick sounds solid. Tbh, metal stakes are faster but they just don't hold if the ground is soft or it gets windy. Ngl, I'd rather spend a few extra minutes per post than have to fix a leaning fence later. A good wood brace is cheap and you know it won't move at all. That peace of mind is worth the little bit of extra work.

the_harper21d ago

Nah, metal stakes are way faster and reusable.

the_ruby20d ago

Yeah Harper, but that reusability goes out the window when a bent stake is just trash.