Over the next couple months you will be able to find us at a couple amazing outdoor festivals in Saskatchewan. In preparation we have decided to make a couple upgrades to our outdoor equipment, because as any one who has sold product outdoors, exposed to all that mother nature can throw at you, it can be a pure gong show. Rain, wind, dust, snow, hail - we have seen most of it in our limited experience. One of our least favorite is the wind. It can leave you standing in a corner holding onto your tent for dear life for 8 hours straight, which is no fun for you or your customers. The worst we've seen was when one of two double tents left the ground and flew over twenty feet to land on cars in an adjacent parking lot. (This was on a record-breaking wind day, so thankfully not common!) We have used cinder blocks - great but tend to scratch things during travel to shows; water jugs - easily break rendering them completely useless; and sand bags - great for weight, but if they get wet it'll leave a murky mess in your transport vehicle and potentially your display furnishings. So this year we decided to try a new approach that seems to be well used amongst veteran outdoor festival carnies. The PVC cement pillars. And we thought we'd share how we made ours for any other people willing to take there products to the great outdoors this summer and fall.
Materials list
1 - 10ft white PVC pipe with a 4" (100mm) diameter.
8 - 4" diameter PVC end caps
4 - 8" x 1/2" eye bolts
4 - 1/2" hex nuts (if your eye bolts already come with them)
4 - 1/2" washers
2 - bags of 80lbs Quikrete Concrete mix - can also use 66lbs if the 80lbs bags are not available, just won't be as heavy once the pillars are made
1- clean 3 gallon pail
PVC glue
Cement trowel for mixing cement
First you will need to cut your 10ft PVC pipe into four 30" sections (2.5 ft). These four PVC tubes will be your pillars. Next, line 4 of your end caps with PVC glue.
Attached these endcaps to one end of your 30" PVC pipes.
With the other 4 end caps, mark the approximate center using a pencil and drill a 1/2" hole. This is where the eye bolts will go through.
Insert your 4 - 8" x 1/2" eye bolts through these end caps and attach the 1/2" washer and hex bolts to the bottom of the eye bolts approximately 1" from the bottom.
In a clean pail, or wheelbarrow if you have one on hand, mix the concrete according to instructions on the bag. We found it was easier to mix small batches of the cement in the pail by hand using the trowel. You will use approximately half a bag of cement mix per pillar. Once you have the right consistency for your cement, use the trowel to scoop the cement into each of your PVC pillars, filling as close to the top as possible. Don't forget to shake the pillar as you fill to compact the cement and release any air pockets.
Coat your end caps with the eye bolts with PVC glue and attach to the top of each cement filled pillar. Make sure to press the hex bolt and washer into the cement so it is completely covered and firmly press the endcaps onto the PVC tube. Leave the pillars standing upright over night to cure.
If you use the 80lbs mix, each pillar will weight approximately 40lbs, while with the 66lbs mix they will be about 33lbs. These should be heavy enough to hold down the fort for your outdoor festivities. Make a second batch for super holding powers. Not only are these robust, easy to carry and weather proof, you can decorate them in fun designs.
