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Tombstones: How do I keep them from blowing away?

45K views 64 replies 38 participants last post by  halloweenlurker 
#1 ·
Hey all I wish I had found this site before you guys rock!

Last year was the first year I had a house so naturally I did a yard haunt. One of the issues I had was that my tombstones kept blowing away when I used the cheap plastic stakes. I had a bunch of gray bricks that I also used to sandwich the tombstones and this seemed to help, but kill my grass in those areas.

This year I want to be able to put them up and forget about and not have to worry about my graves blowing around the yard. One of the things I have thought of is to use dowel rods instead of the plastic things (which most of them broke) Does anyone have any other ideas? I would post pics of my haunt but as a new member I can't.
 
#2 ·
Here's what I did. First I tried the cheap wire method - didn't work - especially when a couple of those tropical storms came through.

I took some 1/4" or 1/2" PVC pipe - depending on the prop -- if I had a tombstone already built, then I carved out a semi-circle in the back of the tombstone the shape and length of the PVC pipe - it ran about half way up the stone and I used two per tombstone. If I were making a large tombstone were I was sandwiching two pieces of foam together (for my bigger tb's), then I'd carve semi-circles in both pieces of foam to form a nice mold for the pipe to fit in.

Oh, and these were all foam tombstones.

I took some handy dandy liquid nails and secured the PVC pipe in the crevace I'd made. Don't let the pipe stick out below the bottom of the tb. After it dried, I painted it the same color.

Now, some people use rebar (metal poles used in construction), but I find that hard to cut to length and hard to come by (which I'm sure it's not if I looked hard), but it's also much sturdier and reliable than the wooden dowel rods I use. I just use dowel rods because I can get them in the exact size of the PVC pipe and cut them however tall or short I want (some tombstone require longer length PVC than others).

Just hammer the dowel into the ground at the exact spacing of the PVC pipe and slide your tombstones over them. I did this for the first time last year and it was awesome. No worries about them blowing away. You can even place the dowels at an angle for the creepy 'un-neat' look.

That's my method and I'm stickin to it.
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the info. Unfortunately I have all store bought tombstones. For the price they were actually cheaper than I could have made them for the time and money of doing the foam ones (construction materials typically seem to be more around here since I live smack dab in the center of the US in Kansas City). However, I do like the idea of using PVC in addition to using the dowels. Thanks for your help.

I have also seen were folks attach the tombstones to plywood as well, but unfortunately that still won't be good on the grass...
 
#4 ·
I went to Lowes, wood department, and bought a bundle of 25 2" wide x 24" long construction stakes for about $7. Next stop was in the adhesive department. Bought a bottle of gorilla glue. Lay out the stakes, spray with hose, shake off excess water. Lightly mist the back of the foam tombstones with water (or, hose them off and shake off the excess water). Glue a stake on the back of tombstones, leaving about 7" coming off the bottom to put into the ground. This has worked pretty well for me, as long as I remember to leave at least half an inch of the stake out of the ground (grass hides that last little bit). Should you forget, you'll have to dig them out of the ground. I didn't bother to paint the stakes, because no one can see the back of my graveyard. You may wish to paint yours before glueing them on...
 
#5 ·
I did exactly what Craig did. This worked for wood tombstones too only instead of gluing simply screw them on. If you don't want to use the glu on foam===can make tie wraps work too....


Of course the easiest method is to bury a body beneath each tombstone. Attach the hands with clamps around the tombstone until rigor mortis sets in. It will look cool and everyone will be amazed trying to figure out how the "fake" bodies look so real.
 
#10 ·
I don't like to put the rebar, dowel, or anything really, through the bottom of the tombstone. It's hard enough to get a 1/2" dowel pushed through a 1" wide tombstone at 2ft of length. I like the PVC pipe attached to the back then slipped over the dowel because often times hurricanes make their way over here and that's a SUPER easy way to just pick them up and take them inside - leave the dowels in the ground and just slip the tombstone back on.
 
#11 ·
My solution is really sturdy and easy too. I drill two holes about 10 to 12 inches into the bottom of the tombstone. Most of the tombstones I buy are about 1-1/2" thick or thicker, but I have a few that are 1" thick. If you have 1" tombstones, aim the drill a little towards the back of the tombstone rather than the front in case you puncture the outside face of the tombstone. I've been lucky never to puncture the outside.

I insert a cut-to-size piece of the thin-walled 1/2 PVC pipe. I then cut a piece of rebar about twice the length of the hole. Pound the rebar half way into the ground and then push the tombstone over the exposed half of the rebar. The PVC pipe protects the inner styrofoam from the damage the rebar could do while sliding it down. Two stakes will hold that sucker down real good.

An added tip I've learned... pound the rebar stake into the ground at a very slight angle away from the other stake. When you push the tombstone down on it, with a little pressure force the rebar back to where you need it while inserting the rebar in the pre-drilled holes and PVC. Once you slide the tombstone in place, the rebar applies a little pressure to the ends of the tombstone. That slight pressure really keeps the tombstone in place when you have gusts of wind. I've never had to make any adjustments once I get the tombstones in the ground.

Rebar is really inexpensive and available in the electrical supply section of Home Depot or Lowes. If you cut it 1/2 way through with a hack saw, you can bend it and it will break cleanly very easily. With the right blade, it cuts like butter. The thin-walled 1/2" PVC is probably about $2.50 for a 10' piece which isn't too bad. PVC pipe cutters are well worth the investment if you can get it. $10 for the cutters will save you LOADS of time and spare you the mess of sawing the pipe. The cutters are worth their weight in gold... I'm sure anyone who has them will say the exact same thing. I actually smile every time I cut a piece with the cutters because I used to saw it and it was a real pain and extremely messy.

I hope this helps! Follow the link to my party pictures in my signature if you want to see a picture of the tombstones in my graveyard. A few look tilted, but that was done on purpose. The wind does not move these tombstones.
 
#13 ·
PVC pipe cutters are well worth the investment if you can get it. $10 for the cutters will save you LOADS of time and spare you the mess of sawing the pipe. The cutters are worth their weight in gold... I'm sure anyone who has them will say the exact same thing.
I'll be the first to agree. It took me like 10 minutes to measure out and cut a dozen pipes to use as a frame for a 7' gravedigger prop. Those cutters pay for themselves after about 3 cuts.
 
#17 ·
Our tombstones are secured to plywood bases with wooden dowels. The bases are painted the same color as the tombstones with that textured spray paint that looks like stone. Hubby drilled a hole into each side of the base.

We set them on the lawn then pound rebar through the holes. Because we are on a hill we have to put small, thin pieces of plywood under some of the bases to keep them even.

So that no one gets hurt on the rebar we have small grey color plastic caps over the tips. I also painted the ends florescent red. Because our yard is set way back from the road the rebar isnt that noticable. We generally dont have people walking in our display. On Halloween night some parents take their kids up to look at the cemetery but they dont go "inside"

We have had the same stones now for four years and havent lost any to wind damage. They will "rock" in the wind but have never come up off the grass.

As is inevitable we always seem to have one really bad windstorm during Oct. - usually the remnants of a hurricane or tropical storm.
If its gonna be that bad I bring the tombstones inside. Its a pain but like I say, nothing lost or damaged in all these years.
 
#19 ·


I bougt a bicycle flag pole from Walmart ($6) and cut it into 1.5 foot sections (I usd a Dremel tool to do this). Then I drilled 2 holes into the bottom of my tombstones. I then made a wood template with 2 holes in it that matched the width/placement of the holes on my tombstones (suggestion... do one stone first.... then copy the spacing onto the wood... then use the wood to space the other tombstone holes). Once done, place the wood template on the ground where you want your stone to be, and then push the cut bicycle flag pole peices through the wood template. Remove/slide the template up and off the sections of cut flag pole, and then slide the tombstones onto the pole peices.


I used the bicycle flag pole because...

1. it's alot easier to cut than rebar, and it's also much lighter than it (the flag pole is made from reinforced fiberglass)

2. it stays a little bit flexible

3. you don't need to use a hammer to pound them into the ground (pushing them in by hand is more than enough, but please make sure you use some gloves)

4. they are easily removable when everything has to be put away for another year. :(
 
#20 ·
Ribar is sold in the lumber aisle of my Lowe's/Home Depot. A 24" piece, 3/8" diameter is around .70, and a hacksaw will cut ribar like butter if you use the blades with the smallest teeth ( I bought the 24" pieces so I really do not need to cut mine). My issues are more with the 1" tombstones and putting a 1/2 piece of pipe or ribar inside without piercing the front, hot gluing the pipe to the back and then putting ribar into the ground and pipes is the ticket.
 
#21 ·
The wife bought me some metal things as shown here, I just need a few more as I bought additional headstones from Walgreen's. Any suggestions on how to attach the headstone to this successfully?


EDIT: Forgot to add, these were from Menard's (midwest home depo type place) and were about 2$ or so...

 
#23 ·
I live in Hays Kansas and we've had plenty of experience with wind. We use the same method that Haunted Host suggests and we've never had a problem. We've been doing a yard haunt for 3 years and have some pretty big tombstones. We leave them out for at least a month at a time and have had no causalities. Just make sure you put the pipe down the center of the stone and not on the back of it.
 
#24 ·
Well I glued the PVC to the back of my tombstones:
.

I plan on putting them up this weekend with 24" rebar (about 6"-8" in the ground). I will make sure to come back after Halloween to let everyone know how this faired. :)
 
#25 ·
Rebar is what I use. It cuts easy with a hacksaw puonds into the ground with a hammer withstands the strongest of winds and all you have to do if you are using the "cheap" styrofoam tombstones push 2 zip ties through it...one through the top and the other at the bottom ...and ziptie around the rebar. Rebar can be bought in I think 8' sections for about $4 at lowes or HD a hacksaw cost just a couple of bucks as well.
 
#26 ·
3/4" PVC stakes for me. They work great and are cheap as heck ($1.55 for an 8' section). I also use 3/4" PVC to anchor my standup props ( I started a thread on that a couple of days ago). I laugh at the wind.
 
#29 ·
Would you mind posting a picture of the stakes? I am having a hard picturing those. And since I plan on doing standups next-year (I can only afford/have time to time to add so much each year) could you post a link to your thread?
 
#27 ·
y2kgtp,

This might sound ghetto, but if your stone is quite a bit larger than the metal frame, I would just use duck tape. Seriously, it works like a charm as long as it doesn't show.
 
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