Thread: And yet another tombstone question....

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boy, you guys must be getting sick of me! I have another question to throw before the courts.
When I checked last time, the consensus seemed to be: for mounting tombstones, attach a PVC pipe to the stone and put rebar in the ground. Slide PVC over the rebar, use a machine screw (or not) to secure and voila! Instant, standing, secure tombsone.

My idea is that I'm going to carve a "groove" the size of the PVC down the back of my tombstone (a little deeper than the PVC tube), glue the tube to the tombstone, then cover up using the foam I cut out, shaped to fit the tube. Then I will sand and paint over it and drill through, so that, other than the head of the screw, the back of the tombstone should look flawless.

Now my question...what do you use to secure the PVC to the foamboard???? I want a secure bond. And I need to glue the foam on top as well, for which I plan to use Liquid Nails (unless anyone has a better suggestion?) I do have some whilte glue specifically designed for foam, but I don't know if it will bond with the PVC.

Any suggestions are appreciated!

D'oh! Sorry for the off-topic post. I thought I was still in the "Request for Tutorials" forum.

Liquid nail will work, why don't you just drill a hole in to the tombstone using a forstner bit and a drill extension, then put some liquid nail at the opening of the hole and insert your PVC

Sheepie666 Hi I know you dont know me, But I wanted to help you too

The reason most people glue their tombstones to plywood is
1. it keeps them from breaking when people walk through their cemetery and trip over the stones at Night they last longer this way.

Yes Liquid Nail made for foam will work ( make sure it says Foam use )

cut your groove in the stone put in your pipe and then glue it to some plywood this way it will last for years. and you can spray paint the plywood to make the foam. or not Hugs

I Hope you Enjoy the forum Here Glad to know you

I did exactly what you are suggesting -- carved out a trench for the pvc pipe (though I didn't carve it deep enough so a bit sticks out). I secured it with a healthy dose of Liquid Nails. I had... 8 tombstones I think... and only one pvc pipe came out when I snagged it on something. Then I didn't use enough LN and it fell out again in a high wind. Otherwise it worked fine. I also use wooden dowels instead of rebar because that's what I had around - works fine.

For all my following tombstones, I'll be sandwiching the PVC between two pieces of foam for added security.


EDIT: I also did NOT use the Liquid Nails made for foam - I keep that one for securing foam on foam. I use the general purpose Liquid Nails (the brown colored one) for Foam to PVC or any other material.

I secure my tombstones the same way The Caretaker suggested: I drill a 7/8" hole (the OD on 1/2" PVC is 13/16") up through the bottom of the tombstone and glue the pipe into the hole. that way you don't have to worry about aything ripping out. My tompbstones are all 2"+ thick, so I don't have to worry about accidently drilling my hole too close to the surface of the tombstone. I've not had any trouble using this method.

Thank you very much for all the replies! I'm glad to know that the Liquid Nails will hold.


I think that I'll try drilling directly into the tombstones, since my foam is 2" width, it shouldn't be a problem.

I don't own a Forstner bit, since I don't have a drill press. However I do own a spade bit. Do you think that will work okay?

I drill directly into the foam as well, and the foam I've used is only an inch thick. No problems in the wind and they're pretty sturdy.

The spade bit will wok but go slow to keep it from tearing out chucks and remember to keep the hole clear, you know drill a little bit pull out the bit and empty the shaving then repeat until you get the depth you want

I used a spade bit in my white foam tombstones last year, and made the hole the same size as the OD of the PVC so it was a nice tight fit. It worked great. I also just used Elmers Wood Glue, and it holds up great.

What an improvement over the coat-hanger wire I'd been using for years!!

-D