The construction of a fence around the house is the final, but no less important stage of construction. By this point, the budget, as a rule, has become significantly thinner and the issue of saving money without losing the quality of construction comes to the fore.
Most often, metal, wood or concrete posts are used in the construction of fences. Asbestos-cement pipes are a worthy alternative and also a more budget-friendly solution. Whatever choice is made, there are always nuances, advantages and disadvantages. A fence with asbestos cement posts is no exception.
Advantages and disadvantages
Benefits include:
- Lower price than metal or concrete.
- Asbestos cement pillars do not rot or corrode. The tendency to corrosion makes it almost impossible to use metal poles in regions characterized by high humidity. Pillars made of wood or metal must be constantly coated with anti-corrosion compounds and paints, and in the case of pillars made of asbestos cement, you can save on maintenance products.
- Asbestos cement pillars, when in contact with moisture, become stronger and more reliable year after year.
The disadvantages of supports for fences made of asbestos cement include:
- Labor-intensive installation.
- Asbestos cement poles are relatively fragile and can break if dropped or hit hard. Cracks may also occur if rainwater gets inside the pillar.
- Not the most attractive appearance.
Technology for installing asbestos-cement pipes for fences
The depth of the well for installation is calculated based on the properties of the soil, wind load, and the distance between the pillars. If an error was made in the calculations, the fence may subsequently warp or even turn the post out of the ground. But usually the depth of the well is approximately equal to the ground part of the pillar.
The base is either poured with concrete, or the surface of the well needs to be waterproofed to avoid mixing sand and clay, since such soil can push the pillar to the surface.
The pipe must be installed on a compacted layer of sand and gravel. The use of products with a downward expansion is preferable, since this increases the stability of the column. Such a pillar can be seen in the photo.
If you fill the well with concrete, then the probability of the product being pushed out by soil is even greater. You can combat this as follows: the concrete layer does not exceed 30 cm, followed by a dense layer of sand. Before installing the pole, reinforcing bars are driven into the ground to create a kind of protective frame, and concrete is also poured inside the pipe. By the way, this technology can also protect against rainwater getting inside and, as a result, cracking of the asbestos-cement pipe. Detailed and visual filling technology is in the video.
Wooden flooring or chain-link mesh is attached to the posts in the following ways:
- Self-tapping screws;
- Clamps;
- Metal wire;
Characteristics of asbestos-cement supports
Today, asbestos-cement pipes with the following indicators are presented on the construction market:
- The outer and inner diameters of the asbestos cement column are 118 and 100 mm, respectively.
- Wall thickness – 9 mm.
- The length of the post is 3950 mm (if this length is too long, you can easily cut the post with your own hands using a grinder).
The standard package consists of 42 products, has a weight of 1012 kg and a volume of 1.83 cubic meters. m.
In combination with racks made of such pipes, chain-link mesh, wood or corrugated sheets perform well. In the photo you can see the most successful solutions for DIY fences. If you do everything correctly, correctly calculate the depth of the well, the required distance between the pillars, and follow the concrete pouring technology, then such a fence can last for decades without any additional maintenance or painting or treatment with anti-corrosion compounds. The same cannot be said about fences with wooden or metal posts. And the money saved can be spent on furnishing the home of your dreams.
Asbestos-cement pipes are successfully used as fence posts (GOST 1839-80). Asbestos-cement pipes - in some cases, become a worthy alternative to metal pipes and concrete pillars, also used in the construction of fences as pillars. Distinguished by their affordable price, asbestos-cement pipes have their own distinctive advantages and disadvantages.
- Asbestos-cement pipes are not subject to rotting and corrosion, while metal pipes installed as a pole quickly corrode. This disadvantage of metal pipes is especially obvious in regions with high humidity;
- Due to their susceptibility to corrosion, wooden and metal pipes (poles) for fences require constant care, coating the surface of the pipes with special anti-corrosion compounds, waterproof paints, etc.;
- Asbestos-cement pipes are not only not afraid of moisture, moisture only makes such pipes stronger over time, due to the hardening and hardening of cement, of which asbestos-cement pipes contain almost 85%;
- Asbestos-cement pipes used as fence posts will cost several times less than metal ones;
There are no ideal materials without flaws in nature. Like metal pipes and concrete pipes, asbestos-cement pipes used as fence posts have their disadvantages:
- Asbestos-cement pipes are quite labor-intensive to install;
- Asbestos-cement pipes are fragile and break when dropped or hit hard;
- Asbestos-cement pipes, even as fence posts, can hardly be called aesthetically attractive.
Installation
Asbestos-cement pipes used as pillars have the following technical parameters and characteristics:
- Pipe outer diameter – 118 mm;
- Internal diameter of the pipe – 100 mm;
- Pipe wall thickness – 9 mm;
- Pipe length – 3950 mm.
The parameters of asbestos-cement pipes intended for this purpose are strictly fixed. To cut the pipe to length, it is best for you to use a grinder with a diamond wheel. The standard weight of a package of 42 asbestos-cement pipes, ready for transportation, is 1012 kg. Package volume – 1.83 cubic meters.
Pillars made of asbestos-cement pipes are usually used in wooden fence structures and tension fences made of chain-link mesh. The wooden flooring is attached to the pipes using self-tapping screws or clamps, and to the chain-link mesh with wire. The pipes are fixed on sand and gravel pads, after which the holes and the hollow body of the pipe are filled with concrete.
On the Internet I found a wonderful post on building a fence around a site. Fence. Concrete pillars, TISE drill. I found the website in the text vladirom.narod.ru by this author. I highly recommend checking it out. If I decide on this type of fence, I will definitely use these instructions.
P.S. The only thing we have is a different depth of soil freezing - 1.2 meters, which I think means that we need to go less into the ground.
Asbestos fence posts with a concrete base.
For several years, the construction site had no fencing; only four wooden posts marked the corners of the site. It's time to start building the fence. According to the experience of neighbors, and from our own observations, sandy, wet soils in our area contribute to the rapid destruction of supports made of a variety of materials. Concrete turned out to be the most resistant, so it was decided, despite the relatively large labor costs, to make concrete pillars.
| 1 | Wooden poles more than 200 mm thick completely rot in 3-4 years in wet sand at the boundary of air and earth, despite charring and impregnation with waste machine oil. | |
| 2 | In the place chosen for installing the post, first cut off the turf with a sharply sharpened bayonet shovel and remove the roots that will interfere with drilling. The size of the hole is determined by the diameter of the drill, the depth is about the bayonet of the shovel. | |
| 3 | We start work with a regular garden auger; this will save a lot of time and effort. We go as deep as possible with a garden drill. We immediately load the excavated soil into a wheelbarrow so as not to spread dirt on the lawn. | |
| 4 | When the length of the garden drill becomes insufficient, the TISE drill comes into play. It can drill to very great depths, but it is quite difficult to work with it, so we try to do the bulk of the work with a more convenient garden drill. | |
| 5 | Excavation of soil with a heavy drill, and even from great depths, is not an easy task, but we did not find another tool that allows us to do such work. We drill to a depth of soil freezing - about 1.7 m. | |
| 6 | At the end of drilling, we install an expander plow on the drill and make an anchor expansion in the lower part of the well, which prevents the column from being pushed out by the forces of frost heaving. | |
| 7 | Water appears in a drilled well. It makes no sense to lay concrete in water, so work is stopped for a while to develop concreting technology. | |
| 8 | To isolate the concrete being laid from groundwater, we prepare a tube from a piece of roofing felt, onto the end of which we put a large plastic garbage bag. | |
| 9 | We insert the assembled “shirt” into the well and immediately begin concreting. A low formwork box made from scrap boards prevents the roofing felt tube from opening above the ground level. | |
| 10 | The concrete being laid presses the “jacket” tightly against the walls of the well and displaces the water accumulated at the bottom upward. The folds of the plastic bag are straightened and the expansion in the well is completely filled with concrete. At the same time, the concrete is completely isolated from both water and soil. | |
| 11 | In order not to hold the folded edge of the roofing felt, we insert an old bucket without a bottom into the “shirt” as a funnel. From time to time we bayonet the concrete being laid with a long lath. |
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| 12 | We stop concreting without reaching the top of the well. We insert reinforcement into the freshly laid concrete to the entire depth of the well. The length of the reinforcing bars is slightly less than the full length of the finished column, including the above-ground and underground parts. |
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| 13 | We stretch a cord horizontally along the fence line, limiting the height of the posts. We measure the distance from the cord to the top of the formwork box installed in the center of the well and mark it on the asbestos-cement pipe. The top of the pipe is taken as the reference point. | |
| 14 | In a blank made of asbestos-cement pipe, we drill a through hole with a spear-shaped carbide drill for tiles and ceramics. | |
| 15 | We insert a pin made of a steel rod into the drilled hole and place the pipe on the fittings sticking out of the hole. The pin rests on the formwork box, supporting the pipe in a suspended state. | |
| 16 | With this installation method, the top of all pillars will be placed in line with the tensioned cord, despite possible differences in ground elevations. | |
| 17 | To align the pillars vertically, wooden clamps with a screw clamp were made from scraps of timber. The inner surface of the cutouts in the clamps is lined with soft rubber to tightly grip the pipe and prevent slipping. We clamp the clamps on the posts. | |
| 18 | We attach a very convenient leveling device with three bubble levels to the top of the post. The device is simply attached to steel poles, and on wooden or concrete poles it is held in place with an elastic band. We align the column vertically, focusing on the level indicators. | |
| 19 | We fix the vertical position of the column with struts and continue concreting the upper part of the well. | |
| 20 | We bring the concrete level to the top edge of the “jacket” and leave the installed pipe for a day until the concrete sets securely. The steel kingpin is knocked out before the pipe is finally filled with concrete. | |
| 21 | After the concrete has finished setting, remove the clamps with struts and mark the posts for drilling for installation of threaded rods. The top of all the pillars is at the same level, so the beginning of the marking will be the top of the pillar, and not the stretched cord. | |
| 22 | Following the markings, use a tile drill to drill through holes in the pipes for installing threaded rods. The axes of the holes coincide with the direction of the fence line. | |
| 23 | We insert threaded rods into the drilled holes and fix their position with nuts screwed on both sides. To avoid staining the threads with cement mortar, you can put plastic bags on the ends of the studs, securing them with threads or rubber bands. | |
| 24 | Fill the pipe with concrete. At the top of the column, we form a small “cap” with the excess solution to prevent the accumulation of water. | |
| 25 | After removing the kingpin, we also fill the lower part of the post with concrete to the edges of the “shirt.” Using the solution, we form a slight slope towards the edges for unhindered drainage of precipitation. | |
| 26 | We concreted several pillars simultaneously every day. At the same time, wells with concreted reinforcement and pipes were prepared for half of the pillars, and the other half of the pillars were filled to the top with concrete. | |
| The main “ordinary” fence posts are ready. It remains to install more massive and durable corner (boundary) posts for gates and wickets. | ||
Asbestos-cement pipes are quite a popular material among summer residents and private developers. Most often they are used as fence posts. They are also used for chimneys and drainage pipes. Less often - for the construction of columnar foundations, and also as supports for canopies.
Below we have collected some information about asbestos-cement pipes that may be useful for those who are considering using them.
1) Asbestos pipes, which are used to support fences, they are afraid of water getting in - it can freeze in them in winter, expand, and as a result the pipe will burst.
To prevent this from happening, there are several ways:
Fill the pipe inside completely with concrete (this is suitable when installing a support by pouring concrete);
Concrete is partially poured, and then the top of the pipe is closed to prevent water from entering. The same is done if the post is not filled with concrete at all - this is when the post is mounted not in concrete, but in a hole that is filled with fine gravel around the pipe and compacted. You can close the hole at the top with a special plug, which is offered by manufacturers of asbestos pipes; in a cheaper option, you can put a plastic bottle on the pipe or wrap it in a plastic bag.
For complete security, so that water does not get into the pipe and from below, strong polyethylene can also be attached to the lower part of the pipe.
2) To secure on the asbestos pipe there are logs (crossed, veins) of the fence, you can use clamps and wire. And also with ordinary wood screws. This option may be stronger than the previous ones.
For fastening with screws, a wooden plug (a piece of wooden post that freely passes inside the asbestos pipe) is lowered into the pipe. Next, through pre-made holes in the pipe, screws are screwed into these wooden plugs.
3) When installing a fence In order not to completely fill the asbestos-cement pipe with concrete, you can fill it only to ground level, then fill it with sand. And on top again with concrete, but in a much thinner layer.
4) There are direct asbestos-cement pipes and pipes with sockets. The latter are more convenient to use as fence supports. They will be more stable compared to straight ones.
5) The most popular for a summer resident or private developer, the size of asbestos pipes is 3950 mm long and 100 mm in diameter. This is the inner diameter. The wall thickness of such a pipe is 9 mm, i.e. the diameter along the outer wall of the pipe is 118 mm. Another common diameter is the asbestos-cement pipe 150 - however, the dimensions of its internal and external diameters are not one hundred and fifty, but 141 and 161 mm, respectively, and the wall thickness is 10 millimeters.
The length of the pipes is either 395 cm or 500 cm. When installing a fence with supports made of asbestos pipes, it may be more profitable to buy pipes 5 meters long. And then cut them in half. You can cut asbestos pipes with a grinder with a diamond blade (the same as when cutting concrete).
6) Asbestos-cement pipes are used for chimneys. However, you need to keep in mind that at high temperatures (above three hundred degrees) asbestos cement behaves in the same way as slate. Have you heard slate exploding in fire? An asbestos-cement pipe used as a chimney can burst in much the same way. In other words, it is unsafe to use asbestos cement pipes for chimneys.
7) Asbestos-cement pipes come in two types- ordinary, non-pressure (designated - BNT) and - pressure (designated VT). Pressure ones are stronger and have a thicker wall. As a result, they are heavier and approximately one and a half times more expensive than non-pressure ones. By the way, it is better to use pressure pipes when constructing a columnar foundation. But even in this case, the pipe can support the foundation not by itself, but when it is filled with concrete and the presence of iron reinforcement.
8) Asbestos-cement pipes are cheaper than iron pipes. So, a linear meter of iron pipe, which is also used to support fences, will cost 140-160 rubles, i.e. a pipe 3 meters long, for a two-meter fence, will cost 420 - 580 rubles. A four-meter asbestos-cement pipe will cost about 340-380 rubles. One meter will still remain. However, it must be taken into account that installing asbestos cement pipes is more expensive and more difficult.
Despite the popularity of modern fencing, fences made from asbestos-cement pipes still hold a strong position in the market. And in combination with new manufacturing technologies, its quality is in many respects superior to that of wooden fences, but even the same metal ones.
Advantages and disadvantages of asbestos-cement pipes for fence
Wood is susceptible to rotting and rotting, metal rusts. And an asbestos-cement pipe, coated with a special glaze, can stand for decades, and, at the same time, without requiring treatment or painting! It was these two qualities - low cost and resistance to dampness and pests - that made it so popular among the poor. To this day, families with fairly large incomes prefer to take metal holders. In support of them, it is necessary to mention the high fragility of asbestos-cement pipes, which creates certain difficulties during transportation and installation. Like an asbestos-cement pipe, it is heavy and bulky, which makes its installation even more difficult.
To this, nothing can be done to add that water should not be allowed to get inside, which in winter, having expanded and freezing, can split the pipe. And, of course, an important indicator of any fence is its sophistication, which cannot be said about a fence with asbestos-cement holders. But still, since you decide to install asbestos-cement pillars, then the most suitable cladding will be a beam, chain-link mesh and corrugated sheeting.
Construction of a fence with asbestos-cement pillars
The fencing construction process begins with the installation of asbestos-cement support posts. The distance between them is determined depending on what material will be used (avoiding lining the fence. To install the pillars, holes are drilled in the ground, the diameter of which must be at least twice the diameter of the pipe. The bottom of the hole must be extinguished with cement mortar or the bottom must be paved with waterproofing material (for example, roofing felt). This is done in order to prevent contact between the soil and the sand and gravel cushion. The latter must be poured before installing the pillar. The depth of the pit is usually proportional to the ground part of the pillar, although of course it is determined in accordance with the density of the soil. the length of the spans, the diameter of the pipes, the windage of the cladding and the forward situation in the region.
For poles, it is advisable to choose pipes with a thickening at one end, some of which are buried in the ground. If it was not possible to find such pillars, then the end that will be buried must be strengthened by inserting thick rods, sheet metal, pieces of metal pipe, etc. Therefore, the pipe with the reinforced end is installed in the hole directly on a layer of sand and gravel cushion, some must be well compacted beforehand. Then iron fascias are hammered into the bottom of the pit, which will increase the strength of the concrete being poured. The cavity of the underground part of the pillar also does not prevent it from being filled with concrete to give greater strength. In this way, holders are installed around the entire perimeter of the future fence.
After a few days, you can begin fastening the load-bearing housing with subsequent cladding. To attach the load-bearing part, holes are drilled in the pillars. If a metal profile is used as a house, then the cladding can be fastened using wire or clamps. If the beam is wooden, then you can use screws.