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I'm about to begin setting all of my terminal posts for a chain link fence. However, upon digging the post hole for the terminal post that goes up against the house, I ran into a possible problem. After digging about 12 inches down, I ran into concrete ( I assume this is from the garage's foundation and perhaps the basement as well), and it runs away from the house for about 11 inches. That means between the terminal post and the house would be an eleven inch gap. The fence is intended to keep the dogs inside, and that gap would be too much of a problem.

The fence fabric is 48" in height, and the post is 72". The terminal post needs to be 50" above ground with the remaining 22" buried. Do any of you have any suggestions on how to approach this situation?

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I had the same situation at my place, I set the post and ran the top rail past it to the house and set elbows to make a hoop to carry the chain link past the post. I did not want to screw anything to the house so I rebent wall brackets to clamp the top and bottom rails to the line postDog pen

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  • Hmm, that is one solution. Although, I suppose that means you used a line post and not a terminal post there, correct?
    – thtsigma
    Nov 19, 2013 at 4:13
  • Yes I did, it only has to support the weight of the fence, which is pretty light, no need for the heavy weight post, at least for me it was, there is no way anything can push on it hard enough to bend it, and it is set in concrete.
    – Jack
    Nov 20, 2013 at 3:46
  • I'd be very cautious about attaching anything to the house. The previous owners of our old place had a deck attached to the rim joist without flashing and the rim joist rotted out. Very important that moisture not be trapped against the siding!
    – Technophile
    Nov 7, 2014 at 16:21
  • Agreed, especially larger areas that are difficult to dry out, exacerbated by all the fasteners to hold the deck. I usually put 1 1/2"X 3/4" thick spacers between my deck when the siding allows for it. That way there is only a little space that needs to dry out. I don't do that on every occasion, different siding requires different means of securing and preventing decay, This is not on point. Back to the point, the small footprint made by the clamp, the few holes needed to hold it in place, the possibility of placing them under the lap of the siding and sealant will insure a weatherproof seal
    – Jack
    Nov 7, 2014 at 18:52
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One way to do it would be to cut terminal post off by the extra 10 inches, setting it in concrete on top of the footing concrete, and attaching the post to the house with 180 degree chain link brace bands. Or, you could nail a 2x6 to the house and attach the brace bands to it.

Alternately, you could put the terminal post at the edge of the footing concrete, pull your wire taut to there, then add another post up against the house. The wire to this post would not be carrying any tension, so you could set it at 12 inches, cutting off the excess.

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  • I wouldn't nail a 2x6 or anything else to the house. Our previous place had a deck attached to the rim joist without flashing and the rim joist rotted out at that point. It's very important that moisture be able to escape! I like your "Alternately" answer.
    – Technophile
    Nov 7, 2014 at 16:19
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Depends on the homes exterior. If it's brick, I'll set the terminal post down beside/against the edge of the foundation so the front edge is just barely behind alignment with the rear of the house. I live where frost line isn't a factor so foundations aren't usually very deep. I dig material out and sweep and wash off the foundation in the gap and build a 2 brick masonry column like a little extension off the side of the house.

If it's any siding other than rock/brick, plant the T post in the same way and use mood to metal self drilling screws to secure a 2x4 to the house side of the post. It helps to rout or sand the contact side to match the curve. Use a few inches of concrete on top of the foundation and set another 2x4 along the edge of the house and use flashing/caulking to lock out water. Then cut a 1x4 and/or 1x6 into 12" pieces and put a couple construction screws in each end. Paint to match the house. No tension load from the fence directly and no attachment to the house. Remember to shape the top of your concrete and your soil to drain water away from the house toward natural flow.

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  • Wow. This is actually a good non-spam answer from a named contractor! Thanks! I'll be honest, though, I got a little lost in your description - if you could edit in a drawing showing what you're describing in the 2nd paragraph, that would really help this good answer be a great answer.
    – FreeMan
    Feb 23 at 15:33
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Get EYE bolts with lag threads, drive at least 3 of them into the corner of the house, run the tension bar through the fence and them, Secure and looks good, I used stainless steel for longevity. If you need to you can attach a 2x4 or 4x4 to the corner like I had to on one corner because the foundation was too tall so there was too much of a gap from where the bottom eye bolt would have been, so I lag bolted a 4x4 to the corner and then the eye bolts to that, mainly because I have very large dogs and don't want any week spots.

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