New prop idea......I think...a church steeple.

[RookieSpooker]

I was thinking at work today (something I try to avoid) about my graveyard. I want to focus as much on the house as on the graveyard itself. (boarded up windows, moss hanging everywhere, etc.) I thought to myself "Self....where do you usually see old spooky graveyards?..........next to an old run down church!!" So a new prop added to the ever growing list will be an 8 foot tall steeple to perch on the front gable of my run-of-the-mill, single story ranch style house. It will have uplighted dim spotlights, a little window with a red light in it, a cross on top of a tall spire. Of course it will be painted to look old and decrepid, and I will hold it down with sandbags so as not to upset my shingles or my spouse.What do you guys think.....yes, no, maybe? It will look similar to this one except on a smaller scale and made out of foamboard.

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j184/kbeach1970/tcmchurch2.jpg

[Sickie Ickie]

If the wind kicks up, you may have a rocket...?

[krough]

Good idea. I have considered doing something similar. But just a cutout possibly, to save on weight and storage issues. I was also thinking about making a hunchbacked bell ringer to go with it that would have an audio track timed to go off when he rang the bell. Another thing I thought about and never have gotten around to.

[RookieSpooker]

Thanks for your words of encouragement, Sickie........gosh!!

[RookieSpooker]

Ohhhh, thanks Krough. I love the bell sound effect. I don't have enough time to build Mr. Hunchback this year. But the bell sounds MUST be done.

[skeletonowl]

good idea! Churches can be super creepy exspecially with the red demonic light

[Sickie Ickie]

Thanks for your words of encouragement, Sickie........gosh!!

I didn't mean it to be a downer. Just a thought that you may have to anchor it down with more than just sandbags. Maybe incorporating those long clamps for wood, or eyescrews with wire to help hold it down?

[Haunted Bayou]

I like the steeple and the bell ringer. Great ideas.
I have no idea how to pull either off. I have been trying to figure out how to make my suburban brick home less suburban also.

[mikeq91]

i like the idea... especially since i always drive by places and say "hey, that'd make the perfect haunted house!"... only to realize that its a church...

[slimy]

Sickie IS a downer.

[RookieSpooker]

Nah, Sickie's cool, and very helpful. I will definately go with the cables. I'll paint them the same color as the shingles so they're less conspicuous

[Revenant]

Love the idea, though I probably wouldnt go with foamboard. Just 10 feet off the ground makes a big difference in windspeed and at eight feet, that thing would catch a lot of wind and undergo a lot of leverage stress. Something that lightweight could be torn up. Though, also, making it lightweight is better from a safety standpoint in that if the wind did rip it up, the chunks would become lightweight windblown trash instead of dangerous projectiles. Hmmmm....

Maybe if you used the lightweight stuff and covered the whole thing with a uniform layer of latex and cloth? It would provide a flexible yet tough skin that would hold it all together in the unfortunate event of a wicked windstorm. Which would also make it easily fixable by patching it from the inside if it broke. And would be waterproof to boot. Just an idea.

[darryl]

2X2 wooden frame with 1/8 in plywood????

[Beepem]

Sounds like an amazing idea

[Liam]

I love the idea, what a great and original addition to your graveyard. I have always been less than keen on the idea of a graveyard in the front yard of someone's house, but admittedly my new foam carving tool has made me cave and I'm building tombstones this year. Turning your house into a church makes so much more sense though. I may need to do this too. Excellent idea, thanks for sharing!

[The_Caretaker]

I would definitly use guide wires, these could be attacked to the gutters or under the eves so as not to destroy the shingles.

[tcarter]

I like the idea. Just a suggestion though, rather than siding it with foam, how about using wood lathe. You can get a bundle of it for less than $10. you could make it look like broken and deteriorating wood siding. It's thin so the weight will still be kept reasonable light, plus wood lathe is very rough looking already, less work needed to distress it.

[RookieSpooker]

I think I will go with that, tcarter. I work in residential construction so I get any type of wood for free. That sounds like it would come out more realistic than painted foamboards. Thanks for the advice.

[Dr Morbius]

I must say, what original idea! Love the new way to facad a house.

[JohnnyL]

Fantastic idea! Can't wait to see the project begin. I'd open up the top and have an old bell showing. You could easily make a bell by using one of those urn planters, cut off the base and hold it upside down and make modifications to it.

[GOT]

Great idea, but WIND! My friend once built a flat, 7' tall Santa head barfing Christmas lights onto the roof of his house. He had an A frame and sandbags to hold it all down. One night, he heard a giant crash and the whole thing came down on his balcony. Christmas lights everywhere!

[RookieSpooker]

We never get much wind around here. Too many trees I guess. I love the bell idea. Big Lots has plastic, bell-shaped planters for a few dollars. I'm going to put speakers inside the base for the bell sound. (The wife found two CD players and speakers for a buck a piece at garage sales this morning....SCORE!

[Big Howlin]

In Ontario when I was house hunting I found quite a few old churches for sale for super cheap. Like under 75k.
Would be super cool for a haunt.

[GOT]

Cool, I would love to see pictures when it is done. Don't forget the bats circling!

[edwood saucer]

Great idea - just a thought...

Why does the steeple have to be on the house-church? The church could be old a decrepit and the steeple has broken off and in laying in the cemetary - or hanging from the awning.

Either way you bypass a lot of grief trying to get the sucker up there - just thoughts. Regardless - great idea. Please post pictures!!!!!

[Gothikim]

I LOVE the idea! I mentioned it to the DH today @ lunch, and his eyes lit up. Perhaps I should've told him that our 2 story house is just too tall to make it work, but if he gets inspired to build something on his own, who am I to shoot him down? ;>

Oh, and if it doesn't work on the roof as a 3D structure, perhaps a facade attached to the front of the house would work in 2D? Perhaps in foam over luan or even canvas stretched over a wood frame...

[Big Howlin]

You could always make a mini church/crypt in your yard and then just place a large cross on your roof. That might make for easier installation.

[GOT]

Rookie, you still doing this?

[RookieSpooker]

Once I mentioned it to my competition.........I mean neighbor, I was pretty much locked in. I,ll be starting the basic frame tomorrow after work. I,M RUNNING OUT OF TIME!!!................um....sorry.

[GOT]

How did this turn out? I would love to see any pictures you have.

[Lilly]

well it's a good idea and you can always turn it into a mausoleum the next yr for something different.

[Bloodhound]

Did this project ever get off the ground? If so let me know I am thinking about making a haunted tower facade eight to ten feet tall and wind is the main concern for me. The south wind is insane during October

[RookieSpooker]

Sorry Bloodhound, I ran out of time this year and could never finish the display. This year...IT'S ON!!! I did get the steeple built, however...


http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j184/kbeach1970/Halloween%202007/JodisPictures122.jpg
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j184/kbeach1970/Halloween%202007/JodisPictures130.jpg
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j184/kbeach1970/Halloween%202007/JodisPictures131.jpg


I have it painted now, buts it's in the attic. I was going use fishing line to secure the top, but wind isn't much of a problem here.

[Bloodhound]

What material did you use? What a great concept from your first post to this build. Impressive

[skeletonowl]

Wow glad it's gonna be done this year :)

[Valleyscare]

Looks nice. Hopefully no church people go after ya. . . good work though. ;)

[Stiff Kitten]

Rookie great idea but I would worry about the wind. I have a fake chimney with kicking legs. It is 2'x2' by 3' tall has 1x2 frame with 1 inch Styrofoam it weighs about 50-60 pounds. I screw it down to a 2' x 3' 1/2 inch plywood with 2x4s on the end to hold it in gutter so it wont slide off roof. I put a cinder block in the bottom to keep it from blowing away. Last year I forgot about the block and it blow over but not off the roof.

[RookieSpooker]

The steeple is made out of blue foam from HD. It's joined together with liquid nails and screws. Only screws where I want it to come apart for storage. I closed up all the joints with regular sheetrock mud, then painted it.

[RookieSpooker]

Valleyscare, hopefully the church people DO go after me. Man, what great publicity that would be.:devil:

[GOT]

Since you have time, I think you should attach a small motor at the very top of the cross so that you could make a couple of bats/ghosts circling.

[RookieSpooker]

GOT, I'm not much of an engineer, but I love the idea. If you or anyone else has an idea for getting seven or eight bats to flutter around the top of the steeple, that would be sweet.

[tuck]

You could probably use gutter clips that are used for Christmas lights as a way to secure the guy lines to the gutters.

[RookieSpooker]

tuck, I don't have gutters. That's high-fallutin' stuff that you only find in the fancier 'hoods around here. But I do know my way around a fishing knot. I'll probably just put some little screws in the facia and knot it to those.

[tuck]

A fishing knot and wood screws....the only thing better is duct tape!!!

[pyro]

you said sommething about trees last year---are they close by? if so axeworthy bats

[RookieSpooker]

Now that was funny. I needed a good chuckle. And I happen to love me some duck tape.:p

[RookieSpooker]

Oh pyro, you have make the common mistake of assuming that I'm mechanically inclined. But I will check into it to see what kind of pully and motor system I would need. I have to climb up in that tree anyway to mount this floating lantern rig thingy.

[GOT]

Not hard. Get a $12 wiper motor. Take off the rotator blade part so you just have the rotating bolt. Drill a hole in the end of a tall wooden dowl and attach it lengthwise to the bolt (glue or screws). Adjust things so that the motor sits at the base of your cross and the wooden dowls protrudes just above the top of the cross. Straighten out some coat hangers (paint them black) and stick them into the top of the dowl (perpendicular to the dowl like the wires of an umbrella). The wires should be longer than the closs-bar of the cross so that the bats will clear the cross. Hang bats from the coat-hanger wire with fishing line. You are done.

[RookieSpooker]

Thanks GOT, I think we have the winning idea. Now I just need to figure out the lighting so that you can see the bats but not the wires. So backlighting is out. I guess I'll have to experiment.

[Austin:)]

Lookin' good!