FOAM VS. CONCRETE - Fence Post Setting Test. This may be one of the coolest products reviewed yet!

A waste of money. You can tamp it in in the time you're waiting to setup without spending 12 bucks per hole.

Great product for fence posts, but the product is for non-structural purposes only, it won't meet IRC code, anywhere, for use as a deck post footer.

2 questions. Hows it do with weather like rain or snow getting down along the post and heaving it when it freezes? When the post is setting up, does it try to lift the post out of the ground?

For a fence I can see yes for a deck No! A fence moves lateral while a deck has weight going down. So you need a pad in the bottom to support the weight and your deck shouldn't have any side to side or lateral movement. So your porch will still settle. Essentially your post is sitting on that three and a half inches versus where if you had 12 inches of concrete pad on the bottom it would be sitting on that 12-in pad. That's most of my 2cent

Put kickers on the post and get it level first.....then pour the sh*t in.

You posted this video says a year ago. Hows it held it up? Settling, sinking, any adjustments due to the weather and use? Just questions.

Do you need to put gravel at the bottom?

Maybe if you set the post plumb first by using standard staking method you wouldn't need to hold on and wiggle back and forth so much.

How long do you have to wait before you trim off the excess

It's not LEVEL...🤣🤣 But it MAY be plumb...now LEAVE IT ALONE!!

Square and level/brace your post first , then pour your foam . 🙄

Dig all post holes
Place post
Plumb with stakes
Then pour foam mix & not whole bag in one post hole.

Cool video and thank you. Do you think it's necessary to use a full bag on one post with it being = two bags of concrete. Im using for a mailbox post im thinking a 1/4 bag should be sufficient

It would have been nice if he mixed it right. It would have setup faster.

As fun is this is…. Where I live this is 20 bucks a bag, quickcrete is 6 bucks . I work with Sika products daily and they make excellent stuff. Im just not willing to waste money and foam with an experiment trying to establish what half a pouch will fill😂 great video

A trick before starting, you know how expanding foam sticks to everything, put something around the bottom of the 4x4 before you pour. LIke hard plastic cut out of something, one post uses a two liter bottle...Smart..if your messy like me, I always seem to get foam on everything...then slide the sleeve off ASAP!!!.......Just my opinion!!...

Going to use this sometime soon, but I’ll probably backfill with gravel and level it using another piece of wood to hold it prior to dropping in the foam. See how that works out

Bro how many times you gonna move the column and level it??🤦🏻‍♂️

Replacing a mailbox post destroyed by a hit & run driver and this or similar product was used to secure the former post. The hit & run vehicle had shattered both the 4x4" vertical AND the horizonal posts at the top, but the base of the post where secured inside the foam had never budged and was not loose at ground level. I had assumed it was installed in concrete. Pretty impressive. The foam base may have absorbed enough of the impact to prevent the vertical post snapping off at the base, but just a guess. I wasn't familiar with the product until removing the damaged post and doing a web search. The foam was very dense, but could still run my shovel through to remove. I plan to use this to install my new post.

As a carpenter I would never of done what you just did there, I would secure all posts with braces first to keep plumb and then fill the holes all in one go. As a side note I’m a big fan of expanding foam so using this is interesting

Holes not wide enough, that too is why it’s pouring out

You should have them posts plumb already with 2x4 kickers.

Hopefully you’re still checking comments, did this stuff kill the lawn surrounding the post hole? Wondering about chemicals in the dirt

This hole is too small. Thats why you have so much foam extruding. The hole should be 3 times the size of the post. For a 4 X 4 the hole should be 12 X 12 square.

can you use regular expanding foam for a 2x4 into dirt? It will be a holding up a 1lb security camera

You need to plumb the post and put just a couple sgort boards on it to hold level, then ad the stuff

12 minutes of wasted time of my life watching this stupid video cuz you didn't compare nothing to nothing and stuck it in a hole without having your post Plum first what a idiot

For one post $15 a bag might be OK but if I were actually setting a fence line there's no way in the world I would spend that much on a bag of this when I can spend four bucks on a bag of quick Crete

Isn't this for fence posts?

its plumb not level, level is horizontal...plumb is vertical 😁😁😁

Have you ever mixed concrete in a wheelbarrow? Sure you have. Remember how you have to mix & mix & mix & mix & mix & it seems like the powder is NEVER going to mix in with the wet? Its a hassle to be sure. SO, what makes you think if you pour the powder into a post hole & add a little water that the powder is going MAGICALLY mix with little effort? Its not. The top is mixed but not below. Not all the way to the bottom of the hole as it needs to be. Mixing concrete in the hole is the lazymans way & it is a halfass technique.
To do it right, the concrete needs to be mixed OUTSIDE the hole. You do want to do a good job, right? I HATE mixing concrete thats why I used this foam for my mailbox post. A guy hit it with his truck, sheared off the post, but what was in the ground stayed in the ground straight & true. So, this foam is strong as hell. If more people would start using it the price will come down. Its about 6X what a bag of concrete costs BUT no water is needed and you can do a post much much much faster. If I was a fence or deck company this is all I would use.

!

Utility companies call it pole foam

That is neat. Thanks for sharing. I'll be doing this in a few days.

Question, can this stuff be used to fill part of an unground pool?

youre supposed to be able to do 2 posts per bag

can you hold the bag any closer to the camera, I cant see the fibers of the bag yet. Useless video, can't even see the product he's testing. going elsewhere.

How did you dig such clean 4x4 post holes?

I will stay with old fashion concrete. My grandfather set two solid metal posts in the ground for a clothes line in 1977, the concrete is still the same today as it was poured, 45,+ yrs ago and counting. Do you think that foam would have made it this lon? c Nope, it will turn to dust

Thanks Clint, this video came in really handy this week💪💪💪

Use Fast 2K ! Much Much Better and doesn't shrink like Sika

Looking forward to this. Also, your pool has inspired me to think about getting a similar one myself next year - partially underground the rest above (with some kind of decorative wall to cover the sides).

Thanks for the video, definitely will be using this .

Foam loosens up easy, so if any gates are set, it will let go. Concrete is clearly superior

I use it to make targets Just pour in a halloween mask.

Honestly, I could care less if it works or not. At 4 to five times the cost of a bag of sackrete, I would never buy the crap. Maybe to replace a post and needed it done quick, but that would be the only time. Concrete, if it isn't broke, don't fix it.

Any updates?

DO NOT USE…in Florida…period

I noticed you didn’t mix property rubbing it in your thigh … while he was kneeling down … with foot … base on their video o watched