# How to treat the ends of poles



## Nimrod (Jun 8, 2010)

I am going to build a small barn in the spring and have very little money. One option is to cut down some of the red and white pine on the property and use them to make the verticals in the walls (think pole barn). How would I treat the ends that are buried in the ground so they don't rot? Has anyone done this? What did you use and how are they holding up?

I have read of Mike Oehler's method but he was able to coat the ends in creosote which is no longer available. He says now he would char the ends and enclose them in 2 plastic bags. Other things I've read suggest coating the ends with used motor oil or black roofing goop. Any thoughts?


----------



## melli (May 7, 2016)

You can buy ACQ liquid (copper or zinc based) and dose the ends...charring works (just not with ACQ stuff on it). 
I've buried nothing but ACQ (PT) posts without any issues. When you get into untreated wood, you obviously need something or they will rot quick (this I do know from experience...lol). 
I would soak them an ACQ solution, then coat them with concrete bitumen sealer.


----------



## ForestToFarm (Feb 28, 2016)

Might want to tamp gravel down in the bottom of the hole to allow for drainage. 

It would be nice if you could get a hold of cedar posts for the pole's that are being buried. 

Talk to local tree service guys. They may be clearing land that has cedar on it. You may get lucky and pick some up cheap. 

Look around for places land is being cleared for residential or other construction. A lot of times all that wood is discarded rather than sold. We have a freind that does excavation and he has offered to bring us any usable logs of any type. Can't wait to get our saw mill!


----------



## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

The best way would to be pour concrete pillars to set the posts on to keep the ends above ground level. 

There is no treatment you can apply yourself that will keep those posts from rotting fairly quickly compared to real treated lumber


----------



## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

Bearfootfarm said:


> There is no treatment you can apply yourself that will keep those posts from rotting fairly quickly compared to real treated lumber


Yes, I agree. Save the money for treated posts. A fence or something easily repairable is one thing, but a building is not something you want rotting out after a few years. 

We tried to be cheap and save money on fence posts and coat our landscape timbers with blacktop tar/coating and they rotted out very quickly. I could have saved time and money and just paid for actual fence posts. 

So, I'd suggest saving time and money and buy treated posts.


----------



## Darren (May 10, 2002)

Fungi is why wood rots. The spores are everywhere. Anything that will stop fungi will stop rot. Fungi doesn't care whether wood is charred or not. Wood is what's for dinner. 

Any chance you can find used pipe that would work?

Creosote builds up and runs out of chimney's when the fire isn't hot enough or the wood isn't the type for incomplete combustion. It might be worthwhile to set up a wood burner outside with a chimney installed the wrong way so that liquids run to the outside rather than inside. Collect the liquids with a pan below the chimney. The pine you have could produce lots of creosote in the right setup. I wouldn't do that anywhere near your house. I wouldn't be surprised if someone hasn't already done this.

I've had wood treated at a treatment plant. It might be worthwhile to check where the closest one is to you.


----------



## ihuntgsps (Mar 10, 2008)

concrete is cheap. auger out holes place some rebar and pour some concrete to below your frost level. Make sure the top of the concrete is a minimum of several inches above the soil. Posts will last a very long time this way and each hole shouldn't cost you more than $10-12 in concrete, rebar, and metal post base/anchor.


----------



## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

We used to dip them in creosote. I'd think some roofing tar would do just about the same thing. If you could get your hands on some Locust or red Cedar it would last a whole lot longer than pine. My buddy has a 40 year old pole barn he and his dad built with locust posts they harvested from the woods. It's still in good shape.


----------



## mmoetc (Oct 9, 2012)

A lot will have to do with the type of soil and whether you can keep it dry. Sandy soils that won't hold moisture will prolong the life of the posts. Good overhangs and good drainage sloping away from the building will keep moisture from building up in the soil around the posts lengthening their life. If you're going to house animals good bedding and management of it is vital. Don't let bedding, especially wet bedding rest against the posts or you will invite quicker rotting. This is even true if you anchor the posts to concrete footers. Moisture will always be your enemy.


----------



## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

The experiences I've had tells me cedar logs need to be stripped of the bark first; and even then they will eventually rot ... even when buried with rock and/or concrete. Treated wood will also rot! The one piece of advice I received which works well is to pour your old/used oil into/around the posts.

As for setting posts on concrete: That is really a very good way, especially if you place some flashing over the concrete prior to setting your wood.


----------



## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

Pine here doesn't last long in the ground. How old are you? Are you willing to replace the poles in your life time?. Dad needed a barn for the dairy cows. He had Douglas fir trees on the place. He peeled them and planted them green, drilled a couple small holes in them above ground level and filled with some chemical, closed over the holes with a tin can lid and tar. He was 55 at the time, he passed at 95 and they were still there. Here it is 20 years later and they are still there, the owner says 2 rotted off, he dug the stub out, cut the old post off 4' above ground and scabbed in an old piece of treated power pole. Me, I would spring for the treated posts and scrimp and save on the rest. See if you can find some used posts somewhere. The neighbor to where I am working on a rental I am building right now has an old building that was torn down, piled up on his place. Has some nice 6"x6" pole barn treated posts laying there along with trusses and sheet iron. Said he was never going to get it put up, gave it to me the other day. I don't have a use for it right now but I will think of something. As a kid I seen an old neighbor build a small shed, he pulled an old car innertube up over the bottom of oak poles, used galv wire to tie off the bottom and wrapped around the top. As a kid Dad soaked posts in diesel and penta in an old barrel with the top cut off, kept it in an old shed in the front corner, added a little more each time he changed a new batch of posts. I would say he left each batch in the barrel for 2 weeks. I bought some penta a few years ago to treat a wood trailer floor. Don't get any on ya....James


----------



## Steve_S (Feb 25, 2015)

Various Methods explained here are good with the key being good drainage & reducing the exposure of the bottom of the wood from the elements & critters. IF setting in concrete use a Galvanized Post Bracket and remember to slope the to slope the concrete down @ the top so water does not pool / collect near the wood.

Another way of accomplishing this or for use as Pole Barns, Heavy Decks etc is to use something like what is shown below... I have a few of these, they were not very expensive (my cost in Canada was $65 each) + come with treated structural bolts and they do work as advertised.

Pylex commercial 66 product # 10730 (See Attached Image)
http://www.pylex.com/en/index_en.html
MENU: Products, Commercial Shed


----------



## TriHonu (Jun 8, 2011)

Here is an older publication

*The Soaking Method for the Preservative Treatment of Fence Posts PDF
*
Published by Oregon Forest Products Laboratory, Apr 1955.


----------



## mrs whodunit (Feb 3, 2012)

We used to use old motor oil. Worked very well for the poles used to make sheds.

For the house my Dad built we sunk huge boulders into the ground every 10 feet with just the tops sticking out. On those tops we cut a ring from a plastic 5 gallon bucket and made cement caps for each boulder. There was a pin sticking out of each cap. 40+ foot logs where placed on each boulder and a 3 story house formed around that.


----------



## Abe R Crombie (Mar 13, 2005)

I placed tamarack poles in buckets with copper green(copper napthenate) preservative and bathed them in it with a roller,left them there for several weeks then basted them with a foundation tar type of sealer thinned down with paint thinner.Hung the poles over a 5' deep x 18" hole and brought cement up to the bottom with anchors set in about 12".The poles are your foundation so when they go so does the support and anchor.
Abe


----------



## farminghandyman (Mar 4, 2005)

check with your power supplier, ours have broken poles they will let you have, at least they did in the past,

really the poles will probably be the cheapest part of the building,
get some good poles there the foundation of the building, 
if they rot off in a few years, you will have nearly have wasted the rest of the money spent on the building. 
concrete piers with some steel to attache the upper wood column to would in my thinking be much better.


----------

