Walls with pre-drilled holes: Are they okay?

Walls with Pre-Made Holes: Are They Good?

Hello everyone, I'm Marco from Fenceshop, your trusted ecommerce for fencing products. Today, we want to talk about a question that we are often asked: are concrete walls with pre-made holes for posts suitable? Let's analyze this situation together.

The Issues with Pre-Existing Holes

When customers ask us if their walls with pre-made holes are suitable for installing fences, our initial reaction is one of skepticism. This is because the holes on prefabricated walls often present critical issues. But what does it mean to leave holes on a wall?

Type of fence: The size and type of post to be installed affect the size and position of the holes. For example, a panel fence requires more precision than a regular fence.
Post spacing: The distance between posts is crucial and varies depending on the type of fence you want to install.
Post depth: Not all depths are suitable for every type of fence. The depth must be chosen based on the type of fence and the ground conditions.

Alignment and Sizing

One of the main characteristics that holes on walls must have is alignment. The holes must be well-aligned to facilitate the installation of posts. If they are not correctly aligned, the installation of the fence becomes very complicated. Additionally, the holes must be slightly larger than the post diameter to allow the cement to set and to have some alignment margin.

For example, if the holes are not perfectly aligned but have a sufficiently large size, we can still align the posts correctly. Therefore, the alignment and sizing of the holes are very important.

Common Mistake: Plastic Pipes

Another bad habit is to leave plastic pipes (PVC) in the foundation of the wall. Although these pipes may be fine in terms of size and strength, the mistake is not removing them after placing. Plastic pipes tend not to set with the cement, especially if they are at the terminal or corner posts, which are subject to tension. In these cases, it is necessary to use a chisel and hammer to remove as much of the PVC pipe as possible, allowing the cement to set on the wall.

Old Habits: Plastic Bottles

In the past, it was common to leave empty or partially filled plastic bottles inside walls. During the concrete pouring phase, these bottles would deform, creating irregular and difficult holes for inserting the posts. Fortunately, this practice is now obsolete.

Practical Tips

Leaving holes in walls is a job that requires professionalism and precision. However, pre-existing holes are often not made with due care. For this reason, we recommend our customers to fill poorly made holes with cement and start from scratch, mounting the fence on a linear, hole-free wall.

Conclusions

Over the years, builders' trends have changed, leaving walls without holes, linear and clean. This greatly facilitates the work of those who come later to install the fence. Anchor technology has advanced, allowing the fence to be firmly fixed, whether it involves T-posts or panel modules.

The final advice we want to give you is to leave the wall clean and without holes. This makes the job easier, faster, and more economical both for those building the wall and for those installing the fence afterward. If you have a wall with pre-made holes, make sure they are perfect; otherwise, fill them and start from scratch.

I hope these tips have been helpful to you. We invite you to visit our websites www.reteplastic.it for our institutional site and www.fenceshop.eu for our ecommerce, where you will find posts, fences, and accessories for installation. Happy working to everyone!