Thread: MORE tombstone help

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I posted this under Rikki's "tombstone help" thread, then realized that people who had already been there might not go back and see my question, so I decided to post this separately. For those who have read this twice, I appologixe.

What advice do people have for staking their tombstones to the ground? I've noticed that there are two camps on this too, the "put a PVC pipe mid-stone" camp and the 12" roofing spike camp. What do you guys find works best and how, exactly, do you acheive it. Have you had any problems at all?

I was thinking of pegging my stones down using pegs going diagonally from the back into the ground. Do you think this would hold?

Anyone use/find another technique works better?

Well we use wooden spikes but we have wooden tombstones.

Muf

All of my tombstones as of this time are styrofoam. I hot-glued a piece of pvc on the back, and then put a piece of rebar in the ground, then slid the pvc/tombstone over the rebar. Only a couple came unglued and it was really windy. Quite by accident, I discovered it made a nice effect when the wind blows because the tombstone rocks slightly back and forth. The pvc I used was prob. at least 1 1/2" and the rebar was only 3/8 and 5/8, so it wasn't a snug fit. This year, I am spray-painting the pvc on the back of the tombstones either grey or black just so they blend in better with the tombstone. Hope this helps.

I had a lot of damage last year with the wind on my tombstones. I tried several different methods on my foam tombstones. You know the relator's signs, I got several of those and put on my tombstones, still the wind blew them apart... My best option was to put a stake in the ground and prop the tombstones up the night of. So I am also looking to hear some good options on staking tombstones. BTW I am only using a single foam board for my tombstones, instead of double ply.

Most of my tombstones are single foam board or store bought.
I use the PVC method, using Liquid Nails construction adhesive to attach a 12 inch section of pipe to the back of the tombstone. Then slip the stone onto a wooden stake or section of rebar in the ground. If it's really windy, drill a hole in the PVC pipe and put a screw in to hold it steady.
Another thing I do to some of my tombstones is use a saw to cut it at an angle at the bottom. That way some of the stones can be "leaning". Kind of makes the graveyard look more realistic. When doing this you have to glue your PVC on at an angle also.

I make sure that I don't have any tombstones (purchased or homemade) that are thinner than 1". What I do (and it's worked great in heavy wind) is drill two 1/2" holes in the bottom of the stone, approximately 3" from each end of the stone. The holes range from 6" - 8" deep. I cut and insert 1/2" PVC pipe in the hole. Next I insert two rebar spikes in the ground. The spike should go in the ground 8" - 12". So the rebar needs to be cut between 14" - 20" long depending on the stone. The distance between the spikes at the ground level should be the exact distance between the two holes in the stone. However, I drive the rebar in at slight angles outward like so...

___\_____/___

If that makes any sense. When inserting the rebar into the stones, you have to apply inward pressure to bend the rebar back to insert it into the PVC in the hole. Once you get both spikes into the rebar, just push the stone down to the ground. The outward pressure from the rebar really holds the stones very tight. The PVC protects the styrofoam from getting torn up inside from wear and tear. This has worked like a charm and I've had some very windy nights. It also makes the stones difficult to pull up in a rush, so it may prevent people from helping themselves.

One cool thing about this method rather than gluing PVC to the back is that the stones look real from the back as well as the front!

I do it basically the same way HauntedHost does, minus the PVC. I've found that it really doesn't make a difference if PVC's in there or not. And yeah, we have winds.... October is right in the middle of Hurricane season.

Basically I just use a 3/4" drill bit that is about a foot long and twist it up into the end of the tombstone until it's about 8 inches in at least. It fits perfectly snug over 1/2"-3/4" rebar. Then I just pound the rebar into the ground so that there's only about 8 inches left visible and slide the tombstone over it. I use 2 foot long sections of rebar.

Best advice I can give you is the same that Keeba the Queen of Tombstones gave me -- If you are making your own stones, drill the holes into the foam FIRST before you go and carve your epitaph in and make it all pretty. One of the most heartbreaking things to happen is to have one finished and go to add the holes and end up drilling right through the front of your hard work.

Originally Posted by Ghostess

Best advice I can give you is the same that Keeba the Queen of Tombstones gave me -- If you are making your own stones, drill the holes into the foam FIRST before you go and carve your epitaph in and make it all pretty. One of the most heartbreaking things to happen is to have one finished and go to add the holes and end up drilling right through the front of your hard work.

YIKES! Great comment there! I never even thought about that. I've tried to be very careful, so much so that I even prefer to err towards the back of the stone, but this is much better advice. Thanks to you and Keeba for the tip!

For the best tombstone creation EVER, you really should check out Keeba's site. She does use the spray paint, but you have to see how she does it.

She truly is the QUEEN, and it is a well-deserved title.

This goes straight to the painting section of her tombstone tutorials:

Keebas tombstones

Oops, got my threads mixed up! I meant to post the painting stuff on the other tombstone thread.

Before I paint my tombstones, I silicone about 6" of (straight) 1/4" thick copper tubing on the right and left sides on back of the foam. Then to put the tombstones in the ground, you just push wooden dowels in the grass in the correct spots and slide the tombstones on. It has worked great so far, and it's hardly noticeable. I think I am going to build some bigger (taller) tombstones this year, so instead on using two pieces of copper tubing on the tombstones, I will use three for more rigidity.