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Before
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Before
AfterSakrete Fence Installation: The Los Angeles Owner’s Guide
Installed Sakrete fence post work in Los Angeles typically runs $4,130 to $10,620, depending on linear footage, post count, and whether the existing concrete bases come out clean or need demolition. We keep Sakrete fast-setting and high-strength concrete mixes on our trucks, and most fence post replacements we handle in one visit. The symptom pattern we see most often: a gate post goes soft at the base, then wind or a shoulder lean finishes it, and the owner notices the gate dragging on the latch side or a section of fence leaning a few degrees off plumb.
Which Sakrete Models This Applies To
This page covers fence installation where Sakrete concrete products anchor the posts: Fast Setting Concrete Mix, High Strength Concrete Mix, and the 50-lb bagged products homeowners find at Los Angeles home centers and lumberyards. The compatibility issue that actually matters is post size versus hole diameter. A 4×4 post needs a hole at least 10 inches across and 2 feet deep for a 6-foot fence; a 6×6 post wants 12 inches and 30 inches in Los Angeles soil, which runs from sandy loam in the Valley to hardpan in the foothills. If the hole is too narrow, the Sakrete cures into a thin collar that cracks at the top edge within two seasons. We match the mix to the post material too: pressure-treated posts take standard Sakrete mixes, but steel posts in coastal Los Angeles neighborhoods like Playa del Rey need a mix with lower water content to prevent premature corrosion at the base.
Signs Your Sakrete Fence Installation Is Failing
- Gravel-crunch sound when you push the post. The concrete has separated from the post or fractured below grade. This is the earliest warning sign, and it means water has worked into the interface between wood and concrete.
- A straight crack running vertically through the concrete collar. Sakrete shrinks as it cures, and in hot, dry Los Angeles summers the top of the pour dries faster than the core. The result is a hairline crack that widens into a structural split over two or three years.
- Post leans and stays leaned after wind. The concrete base has lost its grip on the soil around it, usually because the hole was dug too shallow or the soil was loose backfill. A post that returns to plumb on its own is a different problem; one that stays leaned is a failed base.
- Gate hinge screws pull loose, repeatedly. When the post moves even a quarter inch, hinge screws lose their bite. Re-tightening them works for weeks, then the gate sags again. The fix is rarely the hinge; it is almost always the post below the soil line.
- Water pools at the post base after rain. Los Angeles gets most of its annual rainfall in a handful of storms, and if the Sakrete pour is below grade or the surrounding soil has settled, water sits against the post and accelerates rot in the first six inches below the surface.
BeforeAfterReplacement Cost & What’s Included
For a Los Angeles fence with Sakrete-set posts, the installed range is $4,130 to $10,620. A simple three-post repair at one section of fence lands at the lower end; a full fence rebuild with 20 to 30 posts, gate hardware, and old concrete demolition lands at the upper end. What drives cost: how many posts need new holes, whether the old concrete comes out with a breaker bar or a jackhammer, post material (pressure-treated versus steel versus redwood), and access from the street to the fence line. Every quote from us includes the Sakrete mix specified by bag count, post hardware, labor for digging and setting, and haul-away of the old concrete. Under Clause 1 of the Haven Standard, that price is written and flat before we open the first bag.
DIY or Call Us?
Setting one fence post in Sakrete is a Saturday project for a competent homeowner with a post-hole digger, a level, and a wheelbarrow. Setting ten posts in Los Angeles soil, where you may hit hardpan at 18 inches in the northeast Valley or buried irrigation lines in older neighborhoods like West Adams, is a different job. The danger here is not dramatic; it is load-bearing. A fence section that fails in a Santa Ana wind event falls on a car, a child, or a neighbor’s property. If the fence is taller than 4 feet, runs along a property line, or carries a gate, we recommend a contractor. Our technicians train on post setting specifically because plumb, square, and depth are the three measurements that determine whether the fence lasts five years or twenty. Call (470) 298-9650 and we will give you a written number for the whole job.
FAQs
Sakrete concrete post bases in Los Angeles typically last 15 to 25 years when the holes are dug to proper depth and the mix is poured correctly. The limiting factor is usually not the concrete; it is the wood post rotting at the soil line where irrigation water and winter rain keep the base damp.
A leaning post can sometimes be straightened and re-set if the concrete collar is intact and the post itself is sound. If the concrete has fractured or the post shows rot at the base, replacement is the honest fix. Call (470) 298-9650 and we will tell you which situation you have after one look.
A single post replacement takes about half a day, including digging out the old concrete and hauling debris. Fast-setting Sakrete mix is workable in 20 minutes and sets in 4 hours, so the fence section can be reattached the same afternoon. A full fence line typically runs two to four working days.
Yes. Our trucks carry Sakrete Fast Setting Concrete Mix and High Strength Concrete Mix in 50-lb bags, plus 4×4 and 6×6 post anchors, gate hinge hardware, and both pressure-treated and redwood posts. Rowan Construction Group is an independent contractor and not affiliated with Sakrete.
Written by Grant Rowan, Owner, Rowan Construction Group at Rowan Construction Group, serving Los Angeles and nearby areas.