My full sized crypt that collapses for storage!

10322 Views 9 Replies 8 Participants Last post by pumpkinmass, Apr 8, 2009

Frankie's Girl

Discussion Starter · Apr 6, 2009

I was posting about this last year when I built it, but I forgot to post the storage of the "collapsable" part of my crypt.

THE BUILD THREAD - step by step pics and info:
http://www.halloweenforum.com/halloween-props/72394-my-crypt-fcg.html

My finished crypt:

I wanted a basic crypt which looked more substantial than the other small "phone booth" sized crypts. This is a 5 foot square size, with the roof peak reaching 7 feet. I may add more carving or decorations over the years, but it works for what I wanted.

The crypt disassembled and in storage in my garage (the columns are tossed up on the shelf and not in the pic):

Since the walls and roof were all independent sections, I was able to just unscrew a few screws (I believe it was 3 per corner) and lean the flats up against the garage wall. The walls weigh less than 10 pounds each, so one person can easily move them, but the assembled crypt was heavy enough to keep it from shifting around. I did learn that the roof section (completely built of foam) would rip off in medium winds and had to make repairs, and it can't be collapsed as it's all one piece, but even with the roof section taking up some space, the entire crypt only takes up about a 3 feet x 6 foot area of floor space in my garage. If I had the access to something like mdf or a heavier plywood, I might consider making the roof out of that just to add more stability to it, but the crypt walls worked just fine and sustained no damage during higher than normal winds. I did have to run more velcro for the molding strips that were run around the roof/wall seams and there is a mention of using fishing line to tie off the columns to the walls at the end of my build thread. Most of this build was trial and error, and someone else building something similar probably could come up with a better solution... but for me it was whatever worked at the time!

I think this was a successful build and very different than the typical crypts out there just because it is lightweight and collapseable but doesn't actually LOOK that flimsy.

I'm happy with it - and I think my ghost was too.

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eanderso13

· #2 · Apr 6, 2009

That's great, Frankie's Girl! I guess storage is a huge issue with most haunters, since I did almost the same thing last year for my mausoleum! Only I made 2x4 frames and covered them in thin luan plywood and then glued 2" thick pink foam to that for texturing and carving and all. But it comes apart by removing 4 corner braces and 10 lag bolts and is stripped up flat against my garage wall!

Once again, very nice and your FCG looks stellar!

-EEric

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Lurks in the shadows

· #3 · Apr 6, 2009

You should be happy with it, it looks good and can be stored easily!
Storage is the reason I haven't built a mausoleum. I just might do one after this.

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Bubbels

· #4 · Apr 7, 2009

Adding this one to the list! I am in the middle of building a play house for my daughter and I got a feeling that I will have a bunch of stuff left over. This looks like a good project to take on.

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JustWhisper

· #5 · Apr 7, 2009

Nice job. I have built 2 or 3 mausoleums. I keep trying different things to see what would work without being a permanent fixture in my yard.

The first year I simply had a pvc frame with black sheets covering it. Very easy to take down and store. Unfortunately the wind also had no problem taking it down. And it looked very crappy and unprofessional. My second attempt was pvc frame with foam walls that velcroed (is that a word?) to the frame. REALLY hard to assemble, believe it or not. And still looked like (better) crap. I am going to try again this year. Hope mine comes out even half as nice as yours. How did you attach your foam roof to the frame? I know you said bolts, but could you be more specific? I had mine on with zip ties. Worked okay, but eventually tears.

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Frankie's Girl

Discussion Starter · #6 · Apr 7, 2009

JustWhisper said:
Nice job. I have built 2 or 3 mausoleums. I keep trying different things to see what would work without being a permanent fixture in my yard. The first year I simply had a pvc frame with black sheets covering it. Very easy to take down and store. Unfortunately the wind also had no problem taking it down. And it looked very crappy and unprofessional. My second attempt was pvc frame with foam walls that velcroed (is that a word?) to the frame. REALLY hard to assemble, believe it or not. And still looked like (better) crap. I am going to try again this year. Hope mine comes out even half as nice as yours. How did you attach your foam roof to the frame? I know you said bolts, but could you be more specific? I had mine on with zip ties. Worked okay, but eventually tears.

I used nails to attach the foamcore to the wood about every 6 inches (stopping just as the nails were flush to the surface of the foam), and then on the interior used foam-safe glue all the way around. I think I went into more detail in the build link... It worked really well and held up to a freak wind/rain storm that blew through just after we put the assembled crypt out. I had the roof blow off and had to repair a rip, but the roof was only attached with large head nails at the four corners. I'm going to use duct tape and nails this year, and see how well that works. The walls had NO problems tho. I actually shifted them just a week ago, and those suckers are sturdy.

If you try something similar and want to reinforce the walls, I'd suggest running a middle 1x2 as a brace. It wouldn't effect the weight hardly at all, and would provide more strength in case you live in a windy area.

The only thing I worried about was the kids next door shooting a basketball through the wall, but they were good and kept the ball in their driveway!

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JustWhisper

· #7 · Apr 7, 2009

I tried duct tape on foam a couple years ago and didn't have much luck. It kept peeling off. Hope you have better luck, but you might want to come up with a "Plan B" just in case. And thanks for the info.

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