A fence is only as straight and long lasting as the concrete holding its posts. Spend good money on Colorbond panels or timber fencing palings, set them in the cheapest bag of concrete on the shelf, and you can end up with leaning posts, cracked footings and a fence that sags after the first big summer storm.
The bags all look the same: grey powder, 20kg, "just add water". What's inside them isn't. Here's what actually separates a quality premix from a budget one, and why we stock Easy Mix by River Sands at Fence World.
What's actually in the bag
Every bagged concrete is a blend of cement, sand and aggregate. The difference is in the quality of each ingredient and how carefully they're proportioned.
Cement or concrete? Cement is just one ingredient: the grey powder that reacts with water and binds everything together. Concrete is the finished mix of cement, sand and aggregate. A bag of plain cement won't set a post on its own, so for fencing you want a premixed concrete.
- The sand. Clean, washed and graded sand bonds properly with cement. Dirty or poorly graded sand weakens the mix and makes it harder to work.
- The cement content. Less cement means a cheaper bag. It also means a weaker footing.
- Consistency. A well-made premix is the same bag after bag. If one bag behaves differently to the next, your posts won't all set the same.
- The MPa rating. MPa is compressive strength, a measure of how much load cured concrete can take. A good bag tells you its rating and the conditions it was tested under.
Where budget bags fall short
Cheap concrete isn't always bad concrete. But when the price is the main selling point, it pays to check the bag before it goes in your trolley.
- No strength rating on the bag. If a mix doesn't tell you its MPa, you don't know what you're getting.
- Long support times. Some economy post mixes need your posts propped for up to 24 hours. That's a lost day on the job and a whole lot of extra stuffing around!
- One product for everything. A single "general purpose" bag sold for posts, slabs and footings is a compromise for all three.
- No technical backup. Quality makers publish a data sheet for every product, with water ratios, yields and strength results. Ask for it.
Meet Easy Mix by River Sands
Easy Mix is made by River Sands, a Queensland family business that started out mining and processing sand in the 1970s. That's why tradies across South East Queensland and Northern NSW trust it.
With Easy Mix, you know exactly what you're getting before you open the bag. Every 20kg bag makes about 0.01 cubic metres of concrete, so you can work out how many bags your job needs and buy the right amount the first time.
No extra trips to the shop, no half-filled post holes. Every product is backed by a published technical data sheet, so the strength on the bag is the strength in your footing.
The range covers each job with a purpose-made mix:
- Easy Mix Rapid Set Concrete. Initial set in about 15 minutes, with rails and palings going on after roughly 6 hours. Ideal for fence posts, pergola posts, clotheslines and swings. The go to bag for tradies and DIY'ers alike.
- Easy Mix Post Mix Concrete. Made for setting fence posts, letterboxes and garden lights. Use it dry (pour around the post, add water) or wet for extra strength.
- Easy Mix General Purpose Concrete. A premium general mix for small slabs, paths and footings, with a smooth finish.
Which bag for which job
Timber paling or Colorbond fence posts Use Easy Mix Rapid Set. It sets fast, so your palings can go on the same day.
Gate posts and pergola posts Use Easy Mix Rapid Set, mixed with water before placing (the wet method). That gives higher strength where the load is greatest.
Letterboxes, garden lights and clotheslines Use Easy Mix Post Mix. It's purpose-made for small, non-structural posts.
Small slabs, paths, mower strips and footings Use Easy Mix Concrete (General Purpose) for a smooth finish and a strong slab.
Rule of thumb: allow about two 20kg bags per standard fence post hole.
The real cost of cheap concrete
On a typical backyard fence, concrete is one of the smallest line items. Saving a couple of dollars a bag might save you $20 or $30 across the whole job.
Now compare that to digging out and resetting a leaning post, or replacing a run of panels that's been pulled out of line. Concrete is the part of your fence you can't easily fix later. It's the one place it never pays to cut corners.
Get it with your fencing at Fence World
We've been supplying fencing to the Caboolture region for decades, and we stock the Easy Mix range because our customers' fences need to stand up for the long haul. When you buy from us, you get:
- The right mix for your fence, matched to your posts, gates and soil by people who do this every day.
- One order, one delivery. Your concrete arrives with your panels, posts and hardware.
- Trade pricing on bulk orders for builders and fencing contractors.
Pop into our Caboolture yard, call the team, or add Easy Mix to your next online order. Not all concrete is created equal, so make sure yours is up to the job.