# Keeping Tombstones on the Ground



## willysxj (Sep 11, 2011)

Hey guys, I live in Kansas and the wind blows All the Time!!!  This tends to wreak havoc on my tombstones in the graveyard. Those cheap plastic stakes lasted about 15 minutes, so i have gone to large wooden stakes (1x2s) painted black with my tombstone hot glued to them. However, I only used one and the wind has gotten the best of a couple of those also.

So, does anyone have an idea?

Thanks,
Chris


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## Chuck (Oct 10, 2009)

I use 2" foam squares that I paint black and hot glue to the back of the tombstone. Drill a 1/2" hole through the foam piece. Drive a 2 foot piece of 3/8 rebar into the ground leaving about 8" exposed. Then slide the tombstone on top of it.


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## goneferal (Sep 8, 2010)

rebar and a PVC sleeve in a hole drilled up into the tombstone.


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## MrGrimm (May 19, 2009)

goneferal said:


> rebar and a PVC sleeve in a hole drilled up into the tombstone.


Yep, that's my winning strategy as well... works great!


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## walterb (Jul 27, 2010)

I do the ribar with a 1" PVC sleeve caulked to the tombstones


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## niblique71 (Dec 2, 2009)

I wrote this several hours ago... Had dinner and got distracted..... Guess I'm not the only one with this idea 





One day I'll do a tutorial on this. 

I set my Graveyard up 6 weeks before halloween and leave it out till Halloween. Although we don't have the "Constant" winds of Kansas, we ALWAYS get a Nor'easter or 4 during that time. Since I went to my current stakedown method, I have not had ONE tombstone so much as think about Moving or cracking or breaking, and 40mph winds are rather common in october.

First use the Pink or Blue foam 2" thick, OR use white bead foam and use a $eal Coat to add strength. But FIRST.....Find 2' long Rebar from HD or metal rods (1/4" diameter or more) during garbage day. Get some PVC pipe that fits over the Rebar slightly snug but NOT tight.... WObbly is PERFECT.

Now here's the fun part....Find a Drill bit to drill a hole 10"-12" deep in your foam tombstone blank to accomadate your PVC tubing (I say blank because you want to do this part FIRST before you even think of spending ANY time or energy on it). If your using white foam you can heat a core of metal to melt your hole.... The pink and blue stuff seems to work better with a funky 3-flute drill bit I found at lowes. I think it's 7/8" X 12" long. This hole SHOULD be a rather loose fit for your PVC tubing.

Now test fit the depth. Once good... take some Great stuff and spray it in the void between the PVC and the foam (remember the loose fit?). Let it foam out and dry... Check to make sure the great stuff doesn't move your PVC out....


Once dry, Trim and test again, Clear out the PVC holes. Test the Rebar in the holes for depth... Turn over and GENTLY set on the ground with the rebars inseted and facing down. Grab each rebar one at a time and help it into the soil or at least help it make a mark in the grass or dirt (For spacing and alignement). Remover tombstone... and DRIVE the 2' rebars down to your tested depth. VOILA!!

The strength obtained by the combination of Foam, Rebar, pvc, and great stuff will only fail in something close to hurricane winds.... a great way to move forward every year NOT having to make any new tombstones.... of course unless you Want to make more


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## niblique71 (Dec 2, 2009)

goneferal said:


> rebar and a PVC sleeve in a hole drilled up into the tombstone.


Add some great stuff to glue the sleves together for a HUGE boost of strength and you have Immortal Tombstones.

I'm Only quoting this and adding, because I wrote SOOOO MUch for so long I got lost..... and Gonferal describes it in one sentance.

Ironically this partially describes my life LOL... but I can design things the people REALLY like.... there has to be an evil genious in there somewhere...I'll find him...

You can now resume your normal Topic :jol:


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## nixie (Sep 17, 2008)

I'm on the rebar and pvc team as well! I also place a few large-ish stones around the base of the stones in front and back to further prevent any wiggle, but my haunt is in a rock garden, so they blend well.


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## Desmodus (Aug 12, 2007)

Easy fix, use real tombstones!


ba dum dum...

Sorry, I just had to. :devil: 
You already got real and good advice, so...

I guess I've been lucky, I've had problems with a small tombstone, but my main ones are always fine with just a pointy dowel. Although I imagine some year they might start working loose.

I just had one (real) alternate idea. You could glue a piece of, say, 16" x 10" plywood to the back of the tombstone (painted to match), and attached the posts to that. The plywood would provide add'l strength and bonding area.


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## The Pod (Sep 15, 2009)

I add plywood backings (1/2"-3/4" depending upon what scrap I find) to all my tombstones. I then add two 12" lengths of pvc screwed to the plywood. 16" sections of rebar pounded half way in the ground and the pvc slid over the top.

Last year we had 60-70mph plus winds for almost 24 hrs and not one stone or prop was knocked over or damaged.


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## ouizul1 (May 22, 2010)

Wow! 3/8 rebar?!? Okay, so I'll quit complaining because I had to bump up to 5/16 dowel rod to defeat the wind at my house, and it's only sticking into the ground like 4". 

I like the rebar idea...but holy molely!


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## samhayne (Jul 3, 2008)

Up here it's pretty windy so i have to by bulletproof on my props.

I do my tombstone 6 inch wide, so the midle is 2X4, i also do a 2X4 trim at the bottom of my stone.

I drive 6'' nail through a plywood base and nail+glue to the trim and the 2X4 midle .

They might be heavy but they never move.


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## Holcomb Haunter (Jul 15, 2010)

I'm in Kansas as well. Southwest,the good ole' prairie. we use the pvc-rebar method here and it holds up nicely.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

You might also look at using those curly/corkscrew style stakes (the ones typically used for a dog tether). You can screw them into the ground then use wire ties to fasten them to the back of your "Stones". Rebar is cheaper if you have to do a lot of them, but the stakes have a nice big handle at the top so you can install or remove them without any fight.


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## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

PVC attached to the back with gorilla glue, staked with dowel rods works for us.


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## kevin242 (Sep 30, 2005)

I don't use rebar, I use 1/4" steel or aluminum rods hammered into the ground and set into holes drilled into my stones with a 1/4" cable installers long bit. Larger stones take longer and sometimes multiple rods. I've had good luck with this for the past 8+ years despite the occasional 70 mph gusts we get in NY in October...


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## wolfmoon (Nov 5, 2006)

I live in Kansas also - we use the PVC rebar method too. We've done this for the last 8 years and have only had a few casualties but nothing liquid nails can't fix. We keep our tombstones out for a month each year.


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## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

I glue and tape wooden stakes to tombstones, then use two bricks- one on each side of stone to wedge them in . Not the best system, but what I can afford.


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## spinachetr (Nov 9, 2009)

I came up with this method of anchoring my tombstones. Also might deter theft.

http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=23181

I also pound 2 foot sections of 1/2 thick fiberglass electric fence posts (a 4 foot post is about $1.05, cheaper than rebar http://lincoln-ne.americanlisted.com/garden-house/fiberglass-electric-fence-post-1-staplehurst-ne_18463065.html) into the ground. I used a spacing jig (a section of 2x4 with 2 holes drilled through it about 1 foot apart) to mark the spacing for the holes I drilled into the bottom of the tombstones and then use the same jig to mark the spacing when I pound the posts into the ground. It's easy to set up the tombstones on the posts when the spacing of the posts for 30 tombstones is the same.


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## Lunatic (Oct 3, 2006)

I too use the pvc/rebar method. I have also glued a piece of plywood to the back of the tombstone and then screw a large bookshelf L-bracket at ground level and stake it to the ground. I paint the plywood flat black and don't worry about the appearance. At night with spotlights lighting the front you can't see the back anyway.

I would say though that the rebar method would be best. Two on both sides at the bottom would prevent the tombstone from spinning in the wind if only one rebar is used.


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

And I was just thinking of a how to better hold my tombstones in place this year. and voila, A wild thread appears addressing this exact question. 

I am going to have to try the PVC rebar method. I like it and it has to be better than before.


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## willysxj (Sep 11, 2011)

Thanks for the tips guys, think I will give the PVC/Rebar method a try.


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## Monsterman (Sep 12, 2011)

Chuck said:


> I use 2" foam squares that I paint black and hot glue to the back of the tombstone. Drill a 1/2" hole through the foam piece. Drive a 2 foot piece of 3/8 rebar into the ground leaving about 8" exposed. Then slide the tombstone on top of it.


 Use Spray foam as your glue 100% better.


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## trishaanne (Aug 20, 2005)

I do the rebar but I do it in an extremely unorthodox way. Here in NJ, as has been said before, we get horrible winds and rain for the majority of the month. After seeing my headstones snap off and fly away, I tried something new last year and only lost one...and that was cause a branch fell on it. I use the 1" white foam, not particularly because I want to but because I got an entire truck load of it for free! I use 2 foot rebar, 2 for each stone. I use one on each side of the tombstone, in the back and then use zip ties, which I poke through the headstone, back through it and around the rebar. If the stones are black I use black ties, white, white ties and if it's grey, I paint them to match. I've also used fishing line, which blends into the stone too. As I said, unorthodox but it works, it's cheap and it's what I can afford on a non-existant budget.


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## -ND4SPD- (Oct 27, 2008)

Do they make short pieces of rebar or are people cutting it? I'm guessing it's the 1st choice as I can't imagine how long it would take to chop that stuff.


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## Buzz (Aug 26, 2011)

-ND4SPD- said:


> Do they make short pieces of rebar or are people cutting it? I'm guessing it's the 1st choice as I can't imagine how long it would take to chop that stuff.


Although a reciprocating saw and a metal cutting blade would be faster... a hacksaw and some elbow grease cuts it rather quickly.


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## spinachetr (Nov 9, 2009)

If there is a farm supply store near you look for the 4' long fiberglass poles for electric fences. They are about $1.00 each and can easily be cut it half. I use full length ones to hold up my pvc/wood fence.


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## stagehand1975 (Feb 22, 2010)

Home Depot does carry 2' pieces of rebar.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

And if you don't want to deal with rebar, wooden dowels work just as well


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## bubz (Aug 14, 2010)

*cost???*

I know this an old thread but I was wondering what is the cost of the rebar method per stone??? I have a diffrent way I do it and have never lost a stone to wind and I never have to stand them back up after a wind storm anymore. I did not realize this was such a nation wide problem(I not the bright bulb) And in my method I dont have to alter the tombstone at all homemade or store bought.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

^ Rebar is pretty cheap - around $1 per foot for very short sections and maybe $0.50 per foot if you buy a 10 foot section (Home Depot, approximate prices).


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## Terrormaster (Sep 27, 2007)

Unfortunately all of my stones are store bought from over the years. And that means 1" beaded foam on average (although the 16" stones I got from Wally World back in 2006 are pretty dense - they don't make em like they used to). I started with wooden dowels which worked for a couple years until one year we got a bad wind storm and snapped several dowels clean in half. Since then I started using steel ceiling tile fasteners. They worked pretty good for a few years as well.

This year since the hurricane that blew through here a couple months ago our ground stays incredibly saturated. When I set the fence and stones last week it was kinda muddy. And the biggest problem I'm now facing is that steel fasteners just slosh over through the mud like a hot knife through butter with a light gust more than 10mph. This is especially so with the larger stones.

Thinking of maybe trying Patti's method of zipties but using fiberglass fencing posts. Or just might suck it up this year since I'm hoping to start my own stones in 2012.


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