How to Replace a Granite Post
During the first week of November, many parts of the northeast were blanketed with nearly a foot of wet and heavy snow. Snowfall at such an early date can be very damaging to trees, as so many of them still haves leaves at that time of year. Fortunately, Hurricane Sandy blew most of those leaves off when she passed through in October and the snow caused little, if any, snow damage at the farm. Oddly, what did break were two granite posts that act as uprights for the wire supports in the raspberry patch. You may recall me mentioning that I acquired a whole shipment of antique granite posts from China, which are used for uprights on pergolas and as plant and tree supports in many areas of the farm. Replacing the uprights in the raspberry patch was no small feat and it required a good deal of time and manpower. I thought I'd show you what was involved.
1 The heavy gauge wires that support the raspberry canes are threaded through drilled holes in the granite posts. Wooden toggles anchor the wires on the end posts.
2 It baffles me that granite can break like this, but the snow that fell was very wet and heavy and when it accumulated on the canes, the granite could not withstand its weight.
3 Replacing a post is labor intensive. The posts are held upright by cement footings. The footings had to be unearthed and dug out. Each one is the equivalent of one bag of concrete mix.
4 Getting the footing out of the hole isn't easy.
5 Here's a footing with broken-off granite
6 Chhiring had to determine how long the replacement posts needed to be, as the granite surplus pile has varying lengths.
7 He and Pete carried away the broken granite.
8 The broken posts were loaded onto the tractor and....
9 Returned to the granite pile.
10 Chhiring found the replacements he needed.
11 Those heavy posts were carried and...
12 Loaded onto the tractor.
13 The posts were taken to the equipment barn where holes for the wire to pass through were drilled using a core drill.
14 Water is used in the drilling process to keep the drill bit cool. Drilling through such dense stone takes time.
15 When the bit finally worked its way through, the core was removed.
16 The core
17 The hole
18 Pete loaded the tractor with all of the tools for the job.
19 Gyurme measured the height of an existing post.
20 They were trying to determine how much deeper the hole needed to be so that the replacement post would match the others.
21 Adjustments were made and the granite was lowered into the hole.
22 More measurements were taken for accurate placement.
23 A temporary wooden bracing structure was created to hold the post plum.
24 More adjustments were made using a level.
25 Soil was shoveled back into the hole to make it less wide.
26 The concrete mix was emptied into a wheelbarrow.
27 Water was added.
28 And mixed thoroughly
29 The concrete was poured into the hole.
30 When the concrete dries, the wooden bracing will be removed, the holes filled in with soil, and the wire supports replaced. Let's hope that we'll have no more broken granite!
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
That is a hard job. Why didn't they just make the space around the post bigger, wrap a chain around the broken part that was still in the ground, hook the other end of the chain to the bucket on the tractor and raise the bucket up and lift the piece out?
I enjoyed seeing what all the guys have to go through to set one of the posts.
Gloria G!!
Posted by: Gloria | December 5th, 2012 at 12:20 am
What a beautiful way to hold up raspberry canes. Did you come up with that idea yourself, Martha? It wouldn't surprise me. Summertime must be heavenly, munching on after-dinner raspberry dessert in the garden. Ahhhhh, it's dreamy to think about. Thanks, Martha.
Posted by: Mrs Polly Rogers | December 5th, 2012 at 12:52 am
I had no idea that granite can break like this and I had no idea how difficult replacing it is. And drilling through it! I thought the core would be broken to pieces, but it still came out intact-and can be used as a door stop or something
Your staff is doing an excellent job Martha. Thanks a lot and cant wait to see your farm decorated for Christmas!
Posted by: Chris | December 5th, 2012 at 1:41 am
Martha, I do recall the shipment of grantie post you received from China. And I like you, would think that the snow wouldn't cause granite to break. The replacement looked labor intensive! Thanks for sharing this wonderful blog.
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Trish, thanks for mentioning me in your comments yesterday dear heart, I just hope Martha doesn't think I'm too crazy with ideas like that she would never retire.
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Have a good day all, and if your reading this please leave a comment on the blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | December 5th, 2012 at 1:51 am
We had more damage to our property and trees from the snow than Sandy here at the Jersey Shore!
I find it just as mystifying as you do that snow could be so destructive - especially to granite.
Posted by: Eleanor ~ Shopping The Closet | December 5th, 2012 at 4:55 am
When my landscape guy needs to pull concrete out of a post hole he uses a jack.
Posted by: Susan | December 5th, 2012 at 8:00 am
I love your antique granite posts Martha, they work lovely as plant and tree supports don't they? I'm also surprised they would break from the weight of snow. You weren't kidding about the labor and time invested in replacing the broken posts, hopefully they'll hold up for a long time!
Posted by: Cindy F | December 5th, 2012 at 8:37 am
Hello Martha,
My name is Abigale and I am 10 years old. I just wanted to say thank you
for all the help that you have given my mother Gwen all these years.
It has been very hard on us for some time now after the mine has shut
down. But my mother who watches your show has always had ideas to make
our meals and holidays more cheerful. Of course we have our traditions and decorations, but we have more now because of you. So I just wanted to
say Thank You.
I hope you have very Merry and Festive Christmas. Best wishes, Abigale
Posted by: Abigale Abernathy | December 5th, 2012 at 8:38 am
Hi Martha,
First off, what a nice sweet comment from Abigale!
~
I had a look at when you put up your blueberry pergola, (7/8/10) with those same granite posts because I remembered you used something to pour the cement in. It was called a handiform and they make a big block of cement. Heavy! Those footings are heavy even when you don’t use a form because I’ve pulled a few of them out myself using shovels for leverage. My sister and I used to put up our own wood fences. As strong as granite is, I too am surprised that a storm broke a post in half. Maybe you should save those wood supports for the next storm to make those tall, lean posts less vulnerable. They are sort of like a lightning rod asking to be struck by something. Thanks for the granite installation refresher today and I bet you could make something out of the cores if you saved all of them. Trish
Posted by: Trish | December 5th, 2012 at 9:40 am
Snow alters the landscape . Once perfectly shaped cedars, decades old and towering at least six stories high, green giants overlooking my orchard, are now misshapen forever with gaping indentations to their silhouettes. Dozens of their limbs were broken by the weight of a very heavy snow in a single storm. I have come to love them with their battle scars. Nature teaches us.
Posted by: CJTaylor, Broad Creek, MD | December 5th, 2012 at 9:45 am
Hi Martha, Thank you once again for posting another great blog about work going on at your farm before winter comes in your area! That blasted Sandy Hurricane sure did a lot of terrible things there and you have the best crew who is fixing everything to protect all of your beautiful farm! Those granite posts are some of the best items that you use in the garden areas and to have them broken again is awful! Chhiring, Pete, and Gyurme, did a fabulous job replacing that broken granite post in the raspberry patch! It sure took them a while and they worked extremely hard! All of these photos and information about the granite post replacement are awesome! It is so inspiring to see all the things that go on at your farm and I thank you so much for having your blog-it starts my days out in such a positive way! Loved your tweets again yesterday and hope you are feeling much better! Hope you have another great day! Off to see The Daily Wag about "About Our Terrace Garden Gets Covered in Burlap!" Jan PS-How nice to hear from you Miss Abigale Abernathy!
Posted by: Jan Erickson | December 5th, 2012 at 10:03 am
Hi Martha,
Seeing the granite plug I thought what a great knife rest it would make.
A set would make for a great addition to a rustic table setting. Reuse ,re purpose.
I enjoy your farm posts very much.
judy j
Posted by: Judith Ann | December 5th, 2012 at 10:29 am
I lived in New England for a time before moving out west and loved the use of granite posts in fencing there. I liked it so much, I had some made for some my Western property. The stone mill who cut them also suggested a concrete footing, but I opted to only use stone chips to support the post in the hole. Each post goes down 2 to 2.5 feet, and the holes are dug narrowly and then packed with angular stone chips. I've not had any shifting or heaving despite freezing winter temps, and it was sure easier than the concrete. It may be worth the experiment on your end considering how much breakage you've experienced with your berries on the supports. If they didn't have the footing weigh them down, they could just shift instead of break under the snow loads.
Posted by: SusanS | December 5th, 2012 at 11:18 am
I love reading your blog each weekday morning. So much beauty and industriousness is so inspiring. I also wanted to say how much I am enjoying the Countdown to Christmas episodes. They are all fun, informative and festive. Thanks again so much.
Posted by: Paula C. | December 5th, 2012 at 2:45 pm
Martha,
I just love seeing your fowl. Great pics, please keep them coming.
Posted by: Chris Fowler | December 5th, 2012 at 5:27 pm
Hi Martha, I love, love, love reading your blog. I especially love the posts about your home. Such a joy! I wish I could watch your shows in Australia. I cannot find them on Fox anywhere
Have a good day.
Posted by: Rachel | December 5th, 2012 at 7:23 pm
Hi Martha,
Thank you for all you do to help aspiring homemakers to be the best we can be. I am a log time fan and always try to follow your advise. We live on 130 acres in Georgia and until recently have focused on growing our two businesses and raising our daughter who is now 16. Now that we have a little more time we want to explore more farming options and make better use of our beautiful property. Of course adding chickens is one of our first projects, however I can't tell from your blog pictures how tall the fence is around your coop. I would love to know how tall the fence is and how the netting is attached to keep predator birds out. I also think the fence around your garden is absolutely gorgeous. Was it custom made for you or is it commercially available? I check your blog daily and wouldn't dare miss checking in with Franny and Sharkey. I love seeing pictures of your farm and would also love to tour your house, stable, tenant house, etc through blog photos.
Posted by: Wendy Anderson | December 5th, 2012 at 9:19 pm
Those granite core pieces fascinate me. I see them as handy kitchen tools. Rolling out small pieces of pastry dough or cookies, a pestle for a mortar although not club-shaped could break seeds as in anise for biscochitos. For bathroom, three glued together to make a soapdish especially for an outdoor shower, heated cylinder stones for massage. For the house in general, to hold up old wooden windows that don't tend to stay up when opened. I'm just musing here but the cylinders were so pretty, I tried to think of how best to hold onto them! Fascinating to learn how to replace a granite post. Your photos and photo-stories get better and better, Martha. Thank you !
Posted by: Penny | December 8th, 2012 at 1:18 am
Wow! Those granite posts must have been really heavy. Out of curiosity, why are the posts made out of granite? I'd like to know, but I'm not entirely sure where to go to find information like this. Thank you for sharing!
Posted by: Granite Edmonton | February 25th, 2013 at 6:27 pm