So, I decided to tackle setting some fence posts myself a while back. Heard about this ‘dry pour’ concrete method, sounded way easier than mixing up a whole wet batch, you know? Less mess, supposedly quicker. Figured I’d give it a shot.
The first part was easy enough. Dug the holes, plopped the posts in, made sure they were plumb. Then I just dumped the dry concrete mix straight from the bag into the hole, right around the post base. Packed it down a bit, like the bag said. Okay, simple so far.
Figuring Out the Watering Bit
Now, here’s where things got a bit fuzzy. How much water? When? How often? I’d read a few things online, got different advice. Some said just a sprinkle, let the ground moisture do the work. Others said soak it good. I didn’t want to mess it up, have wobbly posts later on.
For the first post, I decided to play it cautious. Grabbed the hose, set the nozzle to a gentle shower, and gave the top of the dry mix a light wetting. Just enough to dampen the surface, maybe half an inch down. I thought, okay, let’s see what happens. I came back maybe an hour later, gave it another light sprinkle.
The next morning, I checked it. Felt pretty hard on top. Seemed okay? But I still wasn’t sure if it was getting enough water deep down to cure properly. It was pretty warm out, sunny too. I worried the top would harden fast, but the bottom might stay powdery.
My Watering Routine Trial and Error
So, for the next few posts, I tweaked my approach. Here’s what ended up working for me:
- Initial Wetting: Right after pouring the dry mix and tamping it down, I gave it a good, slow soak. Not blasting it, but using a shower setting on the hose. I aimed to saturate the top few inches pretty well. Maybe count to 30 or 40 slowly while soaking each post hole.
- Second Round: Came back about an hour later. The first bit of water had usually soaked in. I gave it another soaking, maybe a bit longer this time. Really trying to let the water penetrate down.
- Daily Sprinkles: For the next 2-3 days, especially because it was warm and dry weather, I gave each post base a good sprinkle with the hose every morning. Just to keep the moisture levels up while it cured deeper down.
I found this helped a lot. The concrete seemed to set really solid all the way through. I gave the posts a good wiggle after about 3-4 days, and they felt rock solid. Way better than I initially feared.
Important note: This was during summer. If you’re doing this in cooler, damper weather, you probably don’t need as much water, or need to water as often. You gotta play it by ear a bit, check the conditions. Too much water right at the start could maybe wash some cement fines away, but that initial gentle soak followed by another seemed to be the ticket for me. It let the water slowly seep down without making a big soupy mess on top.
Anyway, that was my experience getting the watering down for the dry pour method. It’s definitely easier than wet mixing, especially for smaller jobs like posts. Just gotta make sure that water gets in there somehow for a good cure.
