# Ground stakes for tombstones?



## Spooky Chef (Aug 14, 2008)

Hi all,

Every year I do a cemetery in my yard, using many store bought tombstones. This year I am tempted not to do it because I'm so sick of struggling with those cheap little plastic stakes that come with them. They seem to break the minute I try to set them up. (The ground here in AZ is pretty dry & hard) Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I could use? I have about 20 tombstones and no stakes!  Thanks for your help.


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## Mandathewitch (May 19, 2009)

Where I live we have about 3-4 inches of soil we can drive stakes into. I use dowels or rebar, pound it into the ground, and then use tie wraps to hold them in place... We get some helacious winds in October, and no matter how sturdy the tombstone, it still falls over without support. Just paint the dowels and tie wrap to match the tombstone, and if you can conceal the tie wrap with a little moss, no one will ever see it!!!

I am actually going to touchup all the gravestones at my house tonight... new tie wraps requires new paint! (you can use the little bottles of acrylic paint from walmart to mix and match the colors on your graves!! 

We are always on a budget, so we are always trying to do things as cheaply and effectively as possible!!


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## Spooky Chef (Aug 14, 2008)

How do you attach the tombstone to the dowel with the tie wrap? Can you post a pic? I'm sorry, I'm just not picturing how you do it. Thanks so much for your help.


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## RandalB (Jun 8, 2009)

Foam glue 1/4 - 1/2 Plywood on the back of the stones, Masonry grade stakes behind the stones, screw the stakes to the plywood. Haven't had one blow over in 2 years and we get some windy days...

HTH,
RandalB


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## jdubbya (Oct 4, 2003)

RandalB said:


> Foam glue 1/4 - 1/2 Plywood on the back of the stones, Masonry grade stakes behind the stones, screw the stakes to the plywood. Haven't had one blow over in 2 years and we get some windy days...
> 
> HTH,
> RandalB


That's a pretty god idea. Hadn't heard of that one. We use a length of rebar as well. I take an awl or long sharp nail and place 4 small holes in the tombstone; two at the top and and two towards the bottom, about an inch or so apart. I use black wire ties and insert them into the holes and then wrap them around the rebar. It works very well.


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## ezekiel (Nov 4, 2007)

The tombstones I bought last year had those crappy plastic stakes with them also. I couldn't imagine they would stand up to much wind so I decided to go another route. I don't remember who the haunter was but I remember seeing something where a guy had used wooden stakes and zip ties, or maybe it was twine? I can't remember exactly.

What I did was take some wooden grade stakes that you can buy from Lowe's. They came in a bundle of 18 or something and are about 18" or 24" long, sorry my memory is crap. You could do the same thing with left over 1x2's, or 2x2's or just about any small dimensional lumber I just went the route of the stakes last year because I was lazy. Anyhow what I remember doing was drilling holes through the sides of the stakes before attaching them to the backs of the tombstones with adhesive. Then I took another stake and drove that one into the ground. Then I used the zip tie to fasten the two stakes together. Oh, yeah I painted the stakes black before attaching them, not that it really matters if they will only be viewed from the front.

It worked out pretty nicely despite several windstorms that sent several other neighbors tombstones flying about the neighborhood. The only problem is this year I'm planning on having ToT's walk into the yard so my tombstones will be visible from the backside which will reveal the black stakes.


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## savagehaunter (Aug 22, 2009)

I am hard core. I drive rebar into the ground with a sledge hammer. I ues a hot knife to cut out an inch wide 7even inches high piece out of the back. I use gorilla glue to glue a piece of pvc into the gloove. I then cut the piece I took out and gue in over the pvc so it blends in. You can put the pvc over the rebar in the ground. it holds up real nice.


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## Auntskaren (Oct 7, 2009)

I just bought those wooden stakes at Lowes and I am going to glue them on and 'sew' them on with fishing line I think but I am still afraid this foam is going to tear if the wind gets up. 

You can also get metal skewers from Walmart, in the cooking utensils section, like 4 for a dollar, they are like 14 inches, drive them into the ground toward the toom stone and run a line either across the top of, or in my case since I have foam ones, through to anchor.


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## NewbieHaunter (Sep 6, 2007)

fastest, cheapest and most effective thing Ive tried is hot glueing pvc onto the back of the tombstone then sliding it over rebar or wooden dowels that I hammered into the ground...


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## bethene (Feb 12, 2007)

Newbie haunter, that is what I do, I have glued the pvc to the back of the tombstone and used either rebar or dowling pounded into the ground, seems to hold up well to wind.I pained the pvc black to not show so much


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## LadyAlthea (Sep 11, 2008)

the cemetery i set up this year had some cheap foam stones and some good pink foamboard ones as well. i drove those long marshmallow sticks into the cheap stones and then pushed the sticks into the ground and they held up ok in the super wind we had last week. I also tried bamboo tomato sticks but they broke right away in the wind. 

the pink foam ones were too dense for the sticks to be driven into. 

I wound up using rebar in the ground, and some med grade wire to tie it on. I just poked holes into the fronts of the stones and pushed the wire through adn tied it off to the rebar. so far they all are holding strong. 

When i make my own for next year im going to try the PVC on the back or better still, i saw someone here who was clever enough to make sure there was a groove in the middle of two pieces of pink foam when they glued them together. so the rebar or stakes just slid right in.


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## Tumblindice (Aug 19, 2008)

bethene said:


> Newbie haunter, that is what I do, I have glued the pvc to the back of the tombstone and used either rebar or dowling pounded into the ground, seems to hold up well to wind.I pained the pvc black to not show so much


Grey 3/4 inch electrical conduit plastic pipe is about a $1.00 for 10 feet and there is no need to paint as well. Thats what I use.


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## Glyphen (Sep 17, 2008)

for us, we have a large masonry drill bit that we use to drill into the bottom of the stones. Then we cut electrical conduit pipe and stuff em up into the stones and secure them with gorilla glue. 

You can go 2 ways with it. If sturdy enough, the conduit can be used as the stakes themselves or they make a nice tube any rebar or small piping can fit into.

and the conduit is cheap! like 1.40 for a 8 foot pipe.

edit: I think I made an echo! but we use the metal piping rather then the plastic for the weight


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## NewbieHaunter (Sep 6, 2007)

Tumblindice said:


> Grey 3/4 inch electrical conduit plastic pipe is about a $1.00 for 10 feet and there is no need to paint as well. Thats what I use.


That would be best but I usually have pvc left over from making other stuff so its one of those 'using what ya got' things for me


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## tiff4yayo (Oct 6, 2009)

Yesterday I picked up a 24 pack of 24'' wooden stakes from Lowes for just under $7.


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## amanet17 (Oct 13, 2009)

NewbieHaunter said:


> fastest, cheapest and most effective thing Ive tried is hot glueing pvc onto the back of the tombstone then sliding it over rebar or wooden dowels that I hammered into the ground...


I like your idea, it seems the most inexpensive too, thanks for the pics.


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## amanet17 (Oct 13, 2009)

NewbieHaunter said:


> Thats would be best but I usually have pvc left over from making other stuff so its one of those 'using what ya got' things for me


NewbieHaunter, quick question, how many inches of PVC do you have on the back of the tombstone?


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## NewbieHaunter (Sep 6, 2007)

it depends on the size of the tombstone. I try to make the pvc at least half as long as the stone a little more if possible. Hope that made sense lol


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## amanet17 (Oct 13, 2009)

NewbieHaunter said:


> it depends on the size of the tombstone. I try to make the pvc at least half as long as the stone a little more if possible. Hope that made sense lol


yup that makes total sense, one more thing how far into the ground did you hammer the dowels?


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## NewbieHaunter (Sep 6, 2007)

ummm I didnt measure but Id guess about 6-8 inches


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## amanet17 (Oct 13, 2009)

NewbieHaunter said:


> ummm I didnt measure but Id guess about 6-8 inches


Thanks so much.


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## NewbieHaunter (Sep 6, 2007)

no problem, hope it works for ya


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## Rojellio (Oct 12, 2009)

I use those metal thingie parts, commonly used in political yard signs. I cut it in half, so that I get two from it. It works just fine, I haven't had a problem with the wind blowing them away and whatnot. 

If your ground is too hard, you could "prime the hole" by driving a re-bar, stake or long screw driver first. Then "water" the holes after the signs are installed. If you have the same concrete like soil as Casa Grande.. it should work great. 

Here is my display from last year. The Failed Financial tombstones.

YouTube - Halloween failed financial tombstones

I use 2" thick blue/pink insulation foam board. I paint the words with syrup... Dust the foam board with sand. The sand sticks to the syrup. Then hit it with a torch. The part with the syrup/sand mix does not melt. Wala. custome raised lettering. Then paint them.


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## ibjeepin (Nov 3, 2008)

*Here's My Solution*

I finally broke out my new tig welder , bought some 5/16 304 stainless rod and made may own. They are 18" long and 8 inches wide. They work great. I just sharpened one piece to poke into the foam and create the holes needed for the others. Keeps nice and tight. then i insert one halfway, position the stone and then put my foot on the crossbar and step hard, then push the stone down to the ground. 

I didnt realize I would love tig welding!

Here are pics;


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## Mandathewitch (May 19, 2009)

I would go a step further like newbiehaunter and paint the PVC to match the gravestones. We do it much simpler. I'll take pictures tonight. Even my heavy graves that get rebar instead of wood match so no one realizes it's staked in. I start out with a light gray and work my way to the dark brown... Just mixing colors as I go. It's quick and easy and took me 15 min to paint up the backs of 10 graves last night


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## deathshead67 (Aug 29, 2009)

I got some metal ones from Dick's Sports Shop about $1.00 a piece. I glued wood on the back of the tombstone with a 1/2 inch emt strap then drive the stake down through the strap holds pretty good.


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## Sweeper13 (Oct 1, 2009)

I drill the tombstone out at the bottom center ( 5-6 inches) . Pound the rebar in the ground and thats it. Still going on the same tombstones 4 years now in Chicago..

Have fun.


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## Spooky Chef (Aug 14, 2008)

Thanks SO MUCH everyone, looks like I will be able to salvage the tombstones after all. You all have such great ideas!!!


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## landyachtz (Oct 13, 2007)

In my experience can't beat rebar. Use one or two for each tombstone, about 8" or so in length. That's about all you can bang into the ground here in Winnipeg when it starts to freeze up at Halloween. Sure have lots of fun walking around the yard with my hatchet banging them in. Usually they freeze in during the evening and you have to hit them to lossen them.


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## gravedigger greg (Oct 25, 2006)

same here, we get 25MPH winds with 50 mpg gusts at tiimes. I gave up on styrofoam as some of them didnt last the night and started cutting heavy wood for a boot hill graveyard. Regardless, the soluiton might still be helpfull. Used 1/2 inch electrical conduit wallmount C brackets on the back and used rebar. As my yard is only up for halloween, I can preset the tombstones and then remove leaving the rebar with a tennis ball on top (safety so noone gets speared). then the day of halloween, just slip them back over for a quick setup. 

I had asked someone to leave the property one year, and on his way out, he attempted to kick one of my tombstones to prove he wasnt drunk? guess he might have broke his toe? cuz he was limping all the way down the street (or so I was told from the friend i asked to follow him off the block)

picture below shows back side, which is noticable, just never tried to hid it from people leaving the house.

View attachment 7240


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## zleviticus (Sep 11, 2009)

I also use dowels and pvc. I used powergrab construction adhesive. I like it as it does nto seem to melt the foam and sets up pretty quickly.


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## GraveyardGus (Sep 26, 2009)

For stakes I use rebar. Not sure what else would be strong enough. You can even buy longer rebar pieces and hacksaw it down to size to save some money.

My tombstones are homemade styrofoam ones about 1 - 1.5 inches deep. I twist the rebar back and forth up into the foam with my hand, carving a tunnel as you go. (pause every so often and dig the little styro dust out so you can keep digging) You just want to be sure to go straight so as to not bust out the front or the back. If you make the tunnel deep enough then the tombstone aint coming off the rebar.


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## Bloodflow (Oct 31, 2021)

I know this is a really old thread, but I'm new here, and figured this was the best thread to put this. Anyway where I moved this year the ground is really hard but the wind is too. Instead of going with rebar, dowels, or pvc because of the toughness trying to dig them in, and since I've used a bunch of Styrofoam tombstones for years (making my own for next year finally) I found I could make a long thin hole with hammer and a super long and skinny screwdriver I have. So I went on Amazon and ordered a batch of really cheap metal hangers, and cut off the long straight ends with just a bit of a curve to hook inside them. I was impressed, they tried but not a one blew away or even over. I also found lots of things I could the the top hooks from the hangers for as well all around the house, including getting my blacklights really good and snug up in the trees.


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