Thread: Fence Pillars help

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I built this fence pillar for Halloween 2009 as a prototype. There will be a light in the top portion and I will slide in translucent plexi panels in each of the four sides and put a cap on it. My intention was to frame out the lower portion and then attach chicken wire loosely around it and coat it in stucco or some kind of cement. I stopped at this point to see it anyone had any ideas on whether or not I should proceed. For those of you that are about to type that I should use styrafoam I would really like to try this this first. The van you see in the back of this pic has sheets of styrafoam in it . I just want something more substantial due to wind, rain and people actually leaning on the fence. If all else fails I will use styrafoam. But, I think this will look pretty cool. So any suggestions on how to coat this puppy would be greatly appreciated. I need to make 8 more of them so I need to get going.

I actually think it would look really cool the way it is if I had a pirate themed haunt! All I would have to do is slide in the plexi panels in the light portion and put a cap on it.

I think the chicken wire and monster mud coating would be a great idea. What theme is your haunt? Because you could incorporate a lot of things in the mud. For example:

Bones embedded in it.

Reapers on the face of it.

PumpkinRot type scarecrows on the face of it.

Peeling mortar with an emblem like Haunted Mansion

This is great! Im a big fan of wood. Fight the foam!

Is the bottom open? I think that is an important thing, make it so that you can put other things in it for storage. You could also mount a motor through the top to make something spin... or with the hole, you could mount a green or red light inside, then that plexi glass area could give of a pretty earie glow.

Originally Posted by Terra

I think the chicken wire and monster mud coating would be a great idea. What theme is your haunt? Because you could incorporate a lot of things in the mud. For example:

Bones embedded in it.

Reapers on the face of it.

PumpkinRot type scarecrows on the face of it.

Peeling mortar with an emblem like Haunted Mansion

I am going with a pet cemetery theme. If I chicken wire it and then monster mud it will it be waterproof or do I need to add a coat of something else to waterproof it?

Originally Posted by Bubbels

This is great! Im a big fan of wood. Fight the foam!

Is the bottom open? I think that is an important thing, make it so that you can put other things in it for storage. You could also mount a motor through the top to make something spin... or with the hole, you could mount a green or red light inside, then that plexi glass area could give of a pretty eerie glow.

The plexi that I am going to use is tinted kind of yellowish(I think people use it for greenhouses). I am actually using the light fixtures out of fridges and stoves. I don't think the light bulb will be visible through the plexi so it will have an old eerie feeling and I have flicker circuits rigged up to put in a few of the pillars so they will look like they are broken and short circuiting.

Oh and the pillars are hollow and don't have a bottom. That way I can slide it over 2x2's that I drive into the ground. Then I can screw them to the 2x2's and the will be really secure. I don't plan on putting any props in or on the fence pillars, but I do have something for the columns on the entrance archway. I am going to have chains hanging down on the columns and I built a rig that goes inside the column and rattles the chains when people walk by.

I actually don't mind the foam, its just we get a lot of people and they like to go right up to the fence and I think this will make it a lot more sturdy. If I don't come up with a good way to coat these I think I will try and come up with a way to make the frame inside the foam pillars sturdier. Plus this just means I have more foam for tombstones!!!

I made my entrance pillars out of 2x2 framework skinned with 1/4 inch plywood (not even pressure treated), with all joints sealed with paintable caulk and then primered everything. I wanted the pillars to be light but not fragile. I then made a batch of monster mud and used paint rollers to cover the entire thing. It gives it the appearance of being made of concrete, and has actually fooled some people even in the daylight. I did have to give it a new coat last year and touch ups every couple years, but its held up well for the one month a year I've had it up over the last six years. I live in Houston and we often get rain in October. I then wired in a pair of outdoor wall lights someone was throwing away (I did the flickering light effect in one also plus spray frosted the glass), and added a couple vacuum formed bats from Party City that I painted bronze. Like Terra described, there are many ways to go once you decide what look you're after. My pillars are eight feet tall, so its very important to secure them well to prevent wind damage and for the safety of the TOTs. Let me know if you're interested in how I secure mine and I can post it.

Since it looks like you used pallet wood for the sides, and it sounds like you prefer a masonry look, the wood will give the foam a very solid base making it less prone to damage. But as long your gaps are fairly tight between the slats, you may be able to add just enough monster mud or stucco to give it a relatively smooth outer surface without adding so much additional weight to make moving them an Olympic event.

Demon Dog

Oh cool DemonDog, I always wondered how naked monster mud handled rain. I was going to suggest coating it with Drylok.

Originally Posted by Terra

Oh cool DemonDog, I always wondered how naked monster mud handled rain. I was going to suggest coating it with Drylok.

Yeah I am kind of wondering about monster mud coated with Drylock. Is it prone to chipping?

Wasn't there a Drylock for stucco (fixable) noted in another Monstermub thread?

Originally Posted by TNBrad

Wasn't there a Drylock for stucco (fixable) noted in another Monstermub thread?

I didn't come across anything like that. Maybe if someone remembers they can post a link here.