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My sister bought some material so I could build her a chain link fence. I never built one before and don’t know what exact measurements would I need.

She wants a 6ft fence so she bought the mesh as 6ft and BOTH the terminal and line posts at 8ft (96 inches).

I did my research and notice there some issues I came across

  1. that the terminal hole should at least be 30-32inches (Kansas frost line is 32in deep) but if I do that the terminal post ground up would stand at 5’6” or 66 inches, I need it to be at 74 inches for the terminal, is there a solution without buying more post?
  2. since the line post is also the same length and needs to be lower than the mesh I need to dig deeper than the terminals. Would that be an issue? the Lowe’s chain link video showed the terminal post a lot deeper than the line post
  3. if I wanted to do it my way (without buying longer post) would that work out? I would have to dig 22inches (2inches less than 2feet, the minimum recommended)for the terminal post cement and about 8 -10 inches deeper for the gravel to get to the frost line, the same would go for the line post but it would be 24 inches and 4-8 inches of gravel
  • Would that be okay?
  • Would that much gravel affect the post stability and cause it to move a lot or become crooked?
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    I like your idea to dig the hole down below the frost line then fill the excessive depth with gravel. I would keep 2" concrete below the post so you have a 24" deep concrete foundation (96-74+2=24). However, before anything gets started, I would go to the Homedepot, Lowes, or an experienced contractor that knows the local soil condition well to check whether the 24" deep foundation is adequate or not, also ask for the required diameter/size of the foundation.
    – r13
    Aug 10, 2021 at 23:12
  • I would suggest that you'll only need a couple of terminal posts, so it would be worth it to go back and buy your terminal posts at the correct length. I'd also suggest keeping the extra posts as line posts, at least until the project is done - you never know when something will go wrong or unexpected challenges will come up and you'll need an additional or replacement post. Once you've finished the installation, Lowes return policy is quite liberal and they'll happily take them back (a feature I make use of on a regular basis!)
    – FreeMan
    Aug 11, 2021 at 15:27
  • Terminal posts take a lot of stress so those going full depth is best. Otherwise, it is definitely YMMI. I have found that doing a bell shaped hole prevents frost heave as the soil works against itself.
    – user140341
    Aug 11, 2021 at 20:31

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