Thread: Tombstone repairs

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Well it's that time of year again, and I'm pulling out what's left of the tombstones from last year wind storm destruction. I need some fresh ideas for anchoring Styrofoam tombstones to the ground. The few I have left are wood backed with conduit brackets to run re-bar though. Even those took a beating in the wind. A little paint and I'll be back in business with those. (I hope) But I am looking for a new idea or two for this years crop. Oh yeah, and praying for calmer weather. HM

what i do is velcro 2 stakes to the back of the stones. i use the velcro from walmart. haven't had an issue with the sticky tape holding on both the stakes & stones. wind hasn't been an issue for me, buy ymmv. oh, i got the stakes from lowes. i'm actually surprized with how good this works



amk

what type of paint did you use on these? Is it just neon paint? Looks awesome!

thx for the compliment!

used a bunch of black light sensitive paints, flourescent, glow in the dark paints

here's more


check out my album http://www.halloweenforum.com/member...bums-2010.html for some more

amk

hey hallomarine i have the same problem here in indiana,darn wind. i set up in front yard and end up down the street.lol this year i have decided to and a couple pieces to the back of my tombstones nothing fancy cheap and easy. i cut some foam i have left over from other props, i use 1 square and 1 triangle glued toghter and glued to back of tombstone's and just set a brick or rock on them. i hopr this might help or even give you some ideals..

I usually either use bricks to weigh my stones down from the back OR, i dig a slot into the ground the width and thickness of my stone and then bury it about 6"-8" into the ground and tamp the dirt down around it. After Halloween, i simply replace the dirt and turf and you never know it was there......hey....works for me every year.....

My tombstones are (for now) store-bought as I haven't (yet) gotten into making them myself. What I did last year is poke 2 small holes thru the front of the stone in an inobscure area & used a tie-wrap (black) to tie them to a stake or a piece of fencing......Wasn't noticeable at all.

Last year we started shopping up plywood and gluing them to the bottom of ALL our tombstones. Then we started screwing eye bolts into the edges of the plywood, using three per stone, two in back one in front, to make a triangle pattern. Then we got steel wire and iron rods from election voting yard signs, to turn into tent stakes. Then we stabbed them into the ground at angles so they can't just pull directly up. It worked well, but I still want a more permanent method.

So, here's an idea for y'all. Haven't done this yet, just ripping the idea off from seeing machined stuff here at my job, and thinking how they can work for tombstones.

1/2" gray plastic EMT conduit
Rebar that fits snugly into the conduit (I would imagine 1/2" rebar should fit perfectly)
Thumb screws
Plenty of Liquid Nails for foamboard paneling (or I think PL 200 is the equivalent, for foam insulation boards, doesn't dissolve the foam)
4" angle grinder
36 grit sand paper

Okay... stay with me here, folks.... take the back wall of the tombstone, and carve a groove down the back of the tombstone, the whole height, minus 2" from the top. Get it so the conduit can lay down into this groove and at least half of its diameter is flush with the back wall of the stone.

Scour the hell outta the EMT conduit to roughen up the outside surface, so glue has a good texture to grab onto.

Liquid Nails the UNHOLY BAJEEZUS outta the conduit, to keep it in place with the stone. I mean blob that stuff on there and make that conduit a permanent part of that tombstone!

Drill a pilot hole smaller than the theads of the thumb screws, through only one side of the conduit.

Chop up the Rebar to the size of each tombstone's conduit's height, plus at least 12" to penetrate the ground. Hammer the Rebar into each location.

Slide the tombstones down in place, and use the thumbscrew to clamp down on the Rebar so they don't lift off.

Now, if you were careful, you could grind a ring around the Rebar, just a few inches above the ground height, so the thumbscrew tightens into this groove and it REALLY cannot lift up off the rod.

If you have a drill press, you could drill a hole into the side of the rebar, so your thumbscrew threads into that hole and locks in place! And go a step further, and have cotter pins to punch all the way through the conduit, through the rebar, and back out the conduit.


Another thought.... use actual steel conduit or thick wall pipe, which gives the tombstones more mass and heft, and just drop them over the rebar. A heavy section of pipe should not lift off the rebar. Actually, now that I think about it, it should be easy to go to a plumber's shop with the measurements of all your tombstones' heights minus 2", and tell em to chop up some pipe for you. Then Rebar and foamboard Liquid Nails from Home Depot. Really only three things to buy this way. Yeah, this should be the quickest way to anchor them.

If you're trying to add onto stones that don't have channels built into them for rebar/stakes/PVC, you can try using pipe brackets for plumbing on the back of the stone.



Ideally you get one like the bottom left in the picture. You glue those to the back of the stone (use liquid nails or gorilla glue) in two places. Let them fully cure. Then pound two stakes into the ground and slide the stones in place.

You could also try building some kind of wooden base that the stone gets glued into. Cut a hole big enough so that the stone fits snug. Then cut holes that you can pound stakes through behind the stone. Glue the stone into the base (with liquid nails or gorilla glue), paint the base to match the stone, and and pound the stakes into the holes in the back. Ideally, you would sandwich a few layers of wood together so you can leave more of the stake sticking out of the ground for extra stability.

You know what? That bottom left bracket, one low and one high, then some small clamps just above the bottom clamp, won't pull up and off without releasing the clamp!

Lightweight, cheap, secure... WINNER!!!