Tools for Bracing a Wooden Post to Hold Level in Concrete
- Posts provide structure and stability to a fence.fence post image by Warren Rosenberg from Fotolia.com
From fences to mailboxes and corrals to carports, mastery of the post-setting process develops fundamental building skills and pushes the do-it-yourselfer toward more complex projects. Bracing wooden posts in freshly poured concrete requires simple tools and ensures that a post stands sturdy and looks right. Learn about the tools used to brace and hold a wooden post level in concrete, gather the proper set of tools and achieve professional results. - Hammers pound stakes during post hole layout and drive nails when fastening bracing boards to posts and stakes. Most builders choose to use the heavy-headed framing hammer. The framing hammer's heavy head and long handle provide extra striking power.
- The mallet's gently yielding face provides a soft alternative to the metal-headed hammer. When forming, staking and bracing materials are to be saved and reused, a mallet reduces surface and structural damage. A mallet's barrel-shaped head features a broad, large-diameter striking face on either side. Mallet heads are made of soft materials, such as rubber, plastic or wood. The mallet's head connects to a straight handle, usually made of wood, fiberglass or metal.
- The level, alternatively referred to as the "spirit" level, determines and indicates a post's relative vertical and horizontal position. The shape of the tool's body resembles a long, rectangular bar. The body, made of wood, metal or plastic, has vials inset at its end and center. These vials, filled with liquid and a bubble, employ gravity to indicate how level a surface is horizontally or vertically, referred to as "plumb." The tool's user places the level against the side of a post, take's note of the bubble's location and repositions the post until the vial's bubble rests between indicator marks etched upon the vial's exterior.
- The post level is specially designed to indicate a post's "plumbness" in two directions at once. When using a standard, rectangular level, the builder must plumb a post from right to left, remove the level to an adjacent face of the posts and plumb the post from front to back. The post level wraps around adjacent faces of a post and features vials on both sides, allowing a builder to plumb both left and right, front and back, all at once.
- Because they reduce effort and increase speed, nail guns appeal to many builders. The nail gun quickly drives nails through stakes, bracing boards and posts. Whereas the repeated strikes of a hammer risk knocking posts and braces out of proper position, the quick shot of a nail gun leaves materials relatively intact.
