[mszeppelinrose]

Hello - Next year my local town vfd and auxiliary are wanting to have a haunted house to help raise money for the department. We are a very small town and not much money to work with.

I have some Halloween props and décor but I am looking for other materials and props (or even a complete haunt) to help build the haunted house. If you are selling or giving away anything please let me know. Our budget is $5,000

thank you very much

 

[Joseph Baggs]

that's a good size budget depending on what you want to do and time you have to make things paper mache, wooden pallets could be used to do lots of things and their cheap

 

[Abunai]

Where are you located, mszeppelinrose?

 

[Gym Whourlfeld]

A word of warning. A "Haunted Woods" has a different group,like a Fire Dept. or Boy Scouts,or a Service club man the haunted woods each year, which seems to be a nice way to run it.. except the actual reason for the annual changing of the Guard might have more to do with the workers not realizing upfront that scared drunks can punch you very hard, and if your helper is a teenager, "Mommy And "Daddy" will NOT be "Happy" seeing this happen.
I can be much more than just a "Walk In The Woods". Workers have to be watching and thinking all the time, just almost like a real job!
Take Care.

 

[mszeppelinrose]

Where are you located, mszeppelinrose?

I am located in PA just 45 minutes from Pittsburgh.


Thanks for all the advice so far!

 

[thenightmarefamily]

You could do a lot with that kind of budget, i run a haunted house every year and my budget is $100. you can do a million and one things with things like cardboard, wooden pallets, foam packing materials, and paint. Good luck.

 

[mszeppelinrose]

You could do a lot with that kind of budget, i run a haunted house every year and my budget is $100. you can do a million and one things with things like cardboard, wooden pallets, foam packing materials, and paint. Good luck.

We have carnival grounds with a pavilion and an enclosed pavilion.I think everything will need to be fire proof? not sure if that is the same rule with an outside haunt?

 

[Abunai]

We have carnival grounds with a pavilion and an enclosed pavilion.I think everything will need to be fire proof? not sure if that is the same rule with an outside haunt?

That depends on the jurisdiction, but in my county, there are vastly different requirements for "open air" attractions than for indoor attractions.
An enclosed pavilion would not qualify as open air here.

 

[thenightmarefamily]

The city came by last year and took a look at my haunt and approved. It is out doors and the walls are pallets screwed together with cardboard stapled to them to make a wall. They didn't count it as a structure because it had no roof. Think of it as an outdoor pallet maze converted to a haunted house, i use tarps as a roof like a carnival. Plus it's located on private property behind a locked gate. I simply meant in my previous post that you could use these materials to make some pretty elaborate props. If you are on public property you will have to be inspected by the city your in and get a permit to operate, and yes, just about any county in the US anything in the public domain with a roof will be considered a structure and subject under the city's jurisdiction including, a city permit to operate, compliance with all fire codes, and insurance.

I used to run a professional haunt with an old partner out of a vacant motel. 2 years of codes and regulations, not to mention insurance and payroll was enough for me to walk away and start home haunting and a year later my former partner called it quits and sold it off. you might have an easier time since your in PA, we ran it in California and CA has a ton of extra rules that other states don't have. Good Luck i hope everything works out well for you and if have any questions about building codes, props, or anything else just PM me and i will be happy to help out another fellow haunter.

 

[mszeppelinrose]

The city came by last year and took a look at my haunt and approved. It is out doors and the walls are pallets screwed together with cardboard stapled to them to make a wall. They didn't count it as a structure because it had no roof. Think of it as an outdoor pallet maze converted to a haunted house, i use tarps as a roof like a carnival. Plus it's located on private property behind a locked gate. I simply meant in my previous post that you could use these materials to make some pretty elaborate props. If you are on public property you will have to be inspected by the city your in and get a permit to operate, and yes, just about any county in the US anything in the public domain with a roof will be considered a structure and subject under the city's jurisdiction including, a city permit to operate, compliance with all fire codes, and insurance.

I used to run a professional haunt with an old partner out of a vacant motel. 2 years of codes and regulations, not to mention insurance and payroll was enough for me to walk away and start home haunting and a year later my former partner called it quits and sold it off. you might have an easier time since your in PA, we ran it in California and CA has a ton of extra rules that other states don't have. Good Luck i hope everything works out well for you and if have any questions about building codes, props, or anything else just PM me and i will be happy to help out another fellow haunter.

Thank you! I emailed the PA government site and a lady sent me a bunch of forms and information on what I would need to do. It looks like in my area we dont have as many codes and what not like in CA.

I am thinking about connecting the pavilion and a maze together. I'm going to keep searching this site for ideas and see what others are selling. But if anyone is selling anything that could help build the haunt please respond!

Thank you all!