What standard depth guidance suggests for a six-foot post above grade.
Leaning fence posts replaced and set to LA soil specifications.
The concrete collar is broken out and the post base inspected before a new post is specified. Every job starts below grade, because that's where every post problem starts.
We follow up the same business day.
We'll follow up shortly. Need it sooner? Call 844-997-7555.
LA clay soil moves every year, and that movement cracks the concrete around your posts.
Here's what most homeowners don't realize: the post itself often isn't the first thing to go. It's the ground underneath it. Expansive clay soil swells when wet and contracts when dry, and much of the LA basin sits on it.
| Wet winter | Dry summer | Next winter | Through spring | Eventually | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Below grade What's actually happening | Soil swells Rainfall absorbed, clay pushes outward against the collar. | Soil contracts The clay pulls back. Lateral stress cycles at the collar. | Collar cracks The concrete fractures under repeated pressure and wind lever action. | Water infiltrates Moisture reaches the post base and stays trapped inside the collar. | Post base decays Rot at and below the soil line, inside the collar, out of sight. |
| Above grade What you can see | Looks fine | Looks fine | Looks fine | Looks fine | The post leans The first visible sign, arriving last. |
Full removal of a failed post, collar included, followed by a correctly set new post.
It is not a patch. It is not shimming a leaning post back upright. It means extracting the old post, breaking out the concrete collar, inspecting what the soil left behind, and setting a new post to a depth and concrete volume that matches what the ground is actually doing at that location.
The result is a fence line that runs straight, holds plumb, and doesn't shift again with the next wet season.
The visible lean is almost never the full story. The collar tells you what actually happened.
A property near Culver City. The homeowner called because one post had a noticeable lean, maybe eight or ten degrees off plumb. From the street it looked like a straightforward job: set a new post, pour concrete, done.
We exposed the collar before quoting anything. What we found was a collar that had cracked longitudinally, a vertical split running the full depth of the pour. The soil had expanded outward during the previous winter, the concrete split under that pressure, and the two halves rode up unevenly as the clay contracted in summer. The post base had been sitting in trapped moisture for at least a season. It came out soft.
What standard depth guidance suggests for a six-foot post above grade.
Plus a larger concrete volume to widen the bearing surface.
The soil at that site was particularly expansive at the two-foot level. That's what soil-matched setting depth means in practice: the depth is determined by what the soil is doing at that location, not by a default number.
Re-establishing a straight fence line required a string-line run the full length of the fence before the new post was plumbed and poured. We checked it twice before the fast-set concrete went in, which mattered here because the gate panel hung off that post and the homeowner needed it functional the same day.
The fence ran straight when we were done. It's still running straight.
Eight steps, no shortcuts at any stage.
The existing concrete collar is fully exposed before any replacement decision is made.
The condition of the post base at and below the soil line is checked and noted before extraction.
Clay content, moisture, and soil stability at the planned setting depth are observed before the new depth is specified.
Old post and broken concrete are fully removed. No partial collars left in the ground.
Setting depth and concrete volume are calculated for the specific post height and soil conditions at that location.
Structural alignment is confirmed with a string-line reference before concrete is poured.
Where fence downtime is a priority, fast-set mix restores function the same day.
Post plumb is verified and documented before the job is closed.
Expose, extract, specify, set, verify.
We expose what's underground before we write a single line on a quote.
The job starts with exposing the concrete collar fully, typically by hand-digging around the collar perimeter. Extraction requires breaking out the concrete before the post can be withdrawn. We break the collar in sections, remove the pieces, and pull the post. At that point we can see the actual post base condition, the actual soil condition, and the actual depth of the original installation. That information drives every decision that follows.
All three are specified from what the ground tells us.
New post material is selected by fence type: wood for wood fences, steel for iron and chain-link applications. Setting depth is calculated from post height above grade and soil behavior at that specific site. In expansive clay locations we typically run deeper than standard minimum depth charts suggest. Concrete volume is sized to provide adequate bearing surface against seasonal lateral pressure. The post is braced and plumbed before any concrete is poured.
Plumb check, string-line check, fence function check, in that order.
Once the fast-set mix has reached initial structural strength, we verify post plumb with a level, run a string-line across the full fence span to confirm alignment, and check any gate or panel hardware attached to the replaced post. If a gate is involved, we verify swing clearance and latch engagement before we leave the site.
Getting depth right on the first pour saves you from repeating this job in three years.
A question we hear often: "Can't you just pour more concrete around the existing post and reset it?"
If the post base has no decay and the collar crack is minor, resetting the existing post is a legitimate fix. We'll say so.
The post base is generally already compromised. Resetting a decayed post in new concrete delays the problem rather than solving it.
When we specify a new post, we document the soil condition at depth, measure the post height above grade, and calculate the below-grade depth accordingly. Wood posts going into clay-dominant soil get a wider concrete volume than posts going into sandy or decomposed granite soil, because the bearing surface needs to resist seasonal lateral pressure from all sides, not just push straight down.
We won't pour concrete around a post we haven't inspected. That's not a policy. It's just how the work gets done correctly the first time.
Our crews dispatch from our Wilshire Boulevard location and reach job sites throughout the LA basin. That matters when a compromised post is also holding up a gate or a fence panel under load. Call 844-997-7555 to confirm your area.
A leaning post in LA clay soil doesn't correct itself. A properly set replacement post holds for years.
Tell us how many posts, the fence material, and what you're seeing above grade. We'll take it from there, starting from the ground up.
Collar exposed and inspected before any quote.
Does a gate hang off the post? Tell us, and we'll plan for same-day function.
We'll be in touch to schedule your post assessment.
Iron Men Gates and Doors Design · Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
844-997-7555 · [email protected] · Serving Los Angeles County since 2014