# High Wind Area - any suggestions?



## ZombieBride (May 14, 2018)

Hello, I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for windy areas? We regularly experience 20 mph winds, gusting to 30 - 40 mph. 

Foggers are out, as is anything fragile. 

We don't usually stake anything into the lawn either, the kids like to cut across lawns and we don't want anyone hurt. Most stuff is secured to the house or fence and/or displayed from the inside.

Devices, creations or anything you can think of would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.


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## jdubbya (Nov 6, 2005)

Not sure how big your display area is but I'd suggest considering making a cemetery fence of sorts to keep people out of your display. There are tons of plans for these and really simple to construct. They serve to not only add visual appeal and interest but keep guests from walking through your props. The you can stake things down, etc..


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## corey872 (Jan 10, 2010)

Guess with that much wind, about all you can do is work with it. Possibly lots of streamers hanging from trees, ghosts fluttering about, bat wings, etc.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

What type of props are you trying to secure?

We have a lot of tombstones in our display. We've glued short sections of PVC pipe to the backs of almost all of them, painted to match the stone. They're secured in place by sticking wooden dowels into the ground and sliding the PVC pipe over the dowels. Works perfectly and there's no trip hazard.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

Corey and Jdubya beat me to it. Fence the yard in so that you can secure your props safely, and use the wind rather than fight it. Props TOTs can cause a real panic (on their part) if you've already shown some spiders and webs before they get there. the wind blowing the threads into their faces tends to freak them out, for better or for worse.
Staking stuff down helps it stay in place, and if you can use the corkscrew type of dog stakes, you can lock your props down against most thieves.


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## Piratez (Sep 8, 2015)

I also live in an area where we get very strong winds, snow, sleet, rain etc. all foam props are backed with plywood or 2x4 using gorilla glue. I have also used the PVC pipes attached to the boards then slid over rebar similar to Roxy Blue. However, if I just glue the pvc to the foam or plastic, the wind blows it away. I have also used spray rubber to provide overall structure to taller props (truck bed liner, rubber sealer, etc.). Another trick I use is making hollow props which I fill with rocks. I’ll be watching here for more suggestions.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

Those curly-qua metal dog stakes work great for anchors that can't be easily be pulled out by wind (or kids). Two of them. used side by side give you something you can lock many of your props to. With the top hoops locked to gather, they, the kids or thieves, can't unscrew either one. The best they can do is to try to dig out the stakes, and most thieves are too lazy, or scared of being caught.


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## Scottish_Otter (Mar 29, 2018)

We have the same issue. What we've done is use the foam insulation sheets to make fake wooden boards to go over windows. Looks like a boarded up house. We lightly dry brush neon colors over them. The bulb in the porch light is replaced with a black light. 
We will hang long shreds of cheese cloth in the trees and off of the giant scarecrow in the yard. My husband really plants it in the ground deep and it's about 7 feet tall. Cheesecloth hangs off of his arms.
Lastly, cut some rebar to 3 to 4 feet lengths. Plant them along the walkway up to the house. You use these to place a PVC pipe frame, like a giant hollw box. We've made a frame and then tie cheescloth at top all along the way. It blows in the breeze and looks creepy. You can tie them off at a length of PVC pipe at ground level if it gets too windy. The wind will blow through the strips.

Finally, you can get a thunder and lightning machine. The sound effects add greatly to the wind!


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## caniac (Nov 1, 2012)

ZombieBride said:


> Hello, I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for windy areas? We regularly experience 20 mph winds, gusting to 30 - 40 mph.
> 
> Foggers are out, as is anything fragile.
> 
> ...


We spent five years in Nebraska where the winds can be brutal. What we did was anchor things in the yard with either rebar or rigid EMT and make sure that was at least a foot in the ground. On bigger taller items (we use a 16ft RGB tree as part of our Halloween show), we would sandbag the base and put guide wires on the top (anchored with rebar). Only issues the last two seasons were with vandals. You can use foggers but you want to experiment with the fog fluid (Froggey's Fluid) and or a chiller to keep things low to the ground, we had success with that too!


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## ZombieBride (May 14, 2018)

Thanks for all the tips friends, I am really impressed with all your responses! Thank you so much, this will help as I tend to pick things up for Halloween all year long and now I have lots of ideas.

fontgeek, what are props TOTs? I'm still new so I haven't run into that term yet. Thanks.

For whatever reason, I would never have thought of pet stakes or plywood. I have a nice length of PVC now too. I've wanted to put out our 7' reaper ("Jeff") once my neighbor's kids got a little older, he's very scary but not at all sturdy. Also wanted to attach some ghosts to my side fence, with the tombstones up as signs to make it look like ghosts are "picketing" my house. Still figuring that one out, I think the parents would get a laugh out of it. 

For the foam board, would you guys recommend the pink or the blue type? I may be able to get my hands on some of the pink but I'll go with whatever you may suggest.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

^Well, TOTs is "trick or treaters"; not sure what the combo "Prop TOTs" is, either:jol:

I think the choice of pink vs blue foamboard is mostly a matter of what's available in your local stores. If you're making tombstones, thicker is better. For boarding windows, the one inch should be fine.


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