Thread: Easy setup / take down columns

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I really want to build some columns and a gate. I can't build these permanent structures like most cause I just don't have the storage space.

I was looking at some post and beam construction but just not sure on how to do it. Does anyone have any ideas on how to build a structure that I can break down easily and store?

i need the same!

I saw some somwhere that were brick columns made out of pink foam. The cool thing was, the guy had made them such that each side was a separate piece and the staggered bricks along the edges interlocked with the next panel.

I'll see if I can find a picture.

But when done, you just take them apart again and can stack the panels in a neat pile.

If you're not worried about the seam (under haunt lighting, who's really going to notice?) and don't want brick, perhaps you could just make 4 sides out of 1" foam glued to wood. Stick some eye screws in the wood inside at the corners so they align and drop pins/dowels through the eyes to hold the panels together. I've been kicking this design around in my head for a while but haven't actually done it yet.

This probably won't help you, but if you have some room in the garage you could build some like mine. I put 3 shelves inside and 3 doors in the back of my columns so they can double as storage space in the off season.

My down and dirty (and really freaking cheap) columns:
Cheap graveyard columns - cardboard!

You can dress them up or make them more detailed than this by adding molding or painting stones - I just wanted basic columns that were quick and cheap. The thinner/shorter columns store easily too. I just stack them on each other in a small corner of my garage.

I use a wire fence bought at Lowes - it folds flat for storage. For about 80 feet, it takes up a square about 3 x 2 feet.



It comes in dark green and white. We went with white and drape it with cheesecloth and webs. I think it would look nice with lights on it as well, but we wanted a more traditional graveyard scene.

This was last year:


I plan on cutting the fence to line up better with the columns, and this was before we did the cheesecloth on it - really didn't think of that until after.

You might want to think about using some foam and velcro. If you can make a coffin out of foam and velcro I don't see why you could not make some columns. after all they are just about the same as a coffin but are vertical. Heres a thread on a foam velcro coffin


Velcro & Foamboard coffin?

I had the same idea/problem. I don't have the room for the permanent structure, and I didn't want to build a complex shelving unit as was shown in this thread.

Also that option means you still need the exact vertical space and footprint of the column for storage. So, I came up with the idea of using milk crates.

I am not quite finished building this but I'll provide some pictures tomorrow after I pull them off my other computer.

Basically I did the monster mud trick over burlap around the sides of the crate. They stack up neatly, and when you are done you flip them around and you have storage boxes that can be put anywhere a single milk crate can fit.

They don't look quite as nice as some of the works of art I have seen on this site, but I guess I'm just not that detail oriented. My wife thinks they look fine, I'm not quite happy, will be doing one more coat of mud to fix up a couple of spots. Anyway, I'll post pictures tomorrow.

Originally Posted by wandererrob

I saw some somwhere that were brick columns made out of pink foam. The cool thing was, the guy had made them such that each side was a separate piece and the staggered bricks along the edges interlocked with the next panel.

I'll see if I can find a picture.

But when done, you just take them apart again and can stack the panels in a neat pile.

If you're not worried about the seam (under haunt lighting, who's really going to notice?) and don't want brick, perhaps you could just make 4 sides out of 1" foam glued to wood. Stick some eye screws in the wood inside at the corners so they align and drop pins/dowels through the eyes to hold the panels together. I've been kicking this design around in my head for a while but haven't actually done it yet.

Hey wandererrob, if you can find the pic of the staggered bricks. I am interested in this..sounds like the modular wall systems they use for concrete forms...

I can't have a permanent structure. Though, DaveintheGrave I like the shelf idea. Easy access to any lighting or thunder column setup for on the spot fixes. Gives me some more ideas.

Originally Posted by DaveintheGrave

This probably won't help you, but if you have some room in the garage you could build some like mine. I put 3 shelves inside and 3 doors in the back of my columns so they can double as storage space in the off season.

lovely columns and one sick Mach I...what year? looks maybe like a 72'

Thanks for the compliments!!
It's a 1970 Mach 1. I posted some pics of it in the "Member's Rides" thread.