Fence Posts

Concrete fence posts are an integral and key structural support, set into the ground at regular intervals to reinforce fence panels and to hold them in place.

If the fence posts are too weak, the fence may collapse under pressure or in strong winds.

For most privacy and general-purpose fences, 6 or 8 feet between posts is standard.

The backbone of any fence in your garden, our concrete fence posts are strong and durable.

Whether you’re looking for intermediate, recessed or end posts, we have them in stock.

Allow a minimum of 600mm of post in the ground, which is the depth Mick George recommends across its wooden post range. For a standard 1.8m (6ft) fence that means buying a 2.4m post, leaving the full panel height above ground. Taller or more exposed fences benefit from going deeper, around a third of the post’s total length, and the hole should be roughly three times the post width so there is room for Postcrete around it. Slotted concrete posts follow the same rule: a 2440mm post suits a 1.8m panel with a gravel board underneath, and a 2743mm post gives extra depth or height.

Choose concrete if you want the posts to outlast the panels, and wood if you want a lower cost and a more natural look. Slotted concrete posts are steel reinforced, do not rot and hold panels firmly in exposed, windy spots, and panels simply slide in and lift out for replacement. They are heavy, usually a two-person lift, and cannot be cut or screwed into. Wooden posts cost less, come in natural or brown, can be trimmed on site, and take screws for gates, trellis and decorative panels.

Use a 100 x 100mm post for a 6ft (1.8m) fence panel. The 100 x 100mm wooden fence post is used with closeboard fencing and full-height panels; buy it at 2.4m so 600mm sits in the ground. The 75 x 75mm post is made for lighter, lower fencing such as a picket fence. 

Set the post in concrete when you are digging a fresh hole; fix it on top of concrete only when a sound slab or footing is already there. Where a wooden post must sit on an existing patio or concrete base, a bolt-down post shoe does the job, and a post spike is the no-dig option in plain soil; both are on our fixings and finishings page. Whichever method you use, slope the top of the concrete away from the timber so water drains off rather than pooling against it. 

For panel fencing the panels set the spacing: a standard 1.83m (6ft) panel means posts at about 1.83m centres with slotted concrete posts, or 1.93m centres with 100mm wooden posts because the panel sits between them rather than inside them. Closeboard fencing built from rails is more flexible, with posts typically every 1.8m to 3m depending on rail length and how exposed the site is; a shorter bay is stiffer. Post and rail and agricultural fencing with round or half-round posts is commonly run at 2.7m to 3.6m centres, with the rails nailed across. Measure the run first and adjust the end bay so you are not left with a gap. 

Use an H post for slotting decorative panels in without fixings, and a mortised post for building a closeboard fence from rails rather than panels. The Planed H Post is a 2.4m 90 x 90mm planed post with a 47mm groove down each side, so panels drop into the groove the way they would in a concrete slotted post. Wooden mortised posts are 75 x 150mm with mortice holes cut through the face so rails are scarfed together inside the post, giving a stronger joint than a nailed rail and the traditional one-sided closeboard look. 

A prick post is a light 38 x 87mm intermediate post fitted halfway along each bay of a mortised post and rail closeboard fence to stop the rails sagging. It is not a structural post: the mortised posts carry the fence, and the prick post is simply driven or set into the ground between them and the rails are nailed to it with galvanised nails. It comes in 1650mm and 1800mm lengths to match standard closeboard heights. On a 3m bay with three rails it makes a noticeable difference to how rigid the finished fence feels, especially once a gravel board and capping are added. 

A pressure-treated softwood fence post normally lasts around 15 years in the ground, and often longer in free-draining soil. All the wooden posts in the range are pressure treated against insect attack and fungal decay. When a post does rot through, a concrete repair spur bolted alongside saves replacing the whole post and panel.