Why nobody talks about checking post hole depth after rain

I was setting posts on a job in Portland last spring and kept hitting the same depth marker I always use. After three holes the ground felt totally different, so I dug down an extra 4 inches and hit wet clay that could wreck a fence base in a year. My foreman saw me checking and said 'you never dig after a dry week without probing deeper.' Has anyone else run into hidden soil changes that messed up their fence line?

3 comments

3 Comments

grace_white28d ago

Is digging an extra four inches really going to make or break a fence post?

morgan_ramirez28d ago

Kind of dramatic for a couple inches of dirt. Four inches isn't going to save a post if the ground's already garbage.

adam_lewis28d ago

Read somewhere that soil moisture can hide drainage issues until it's too late.