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Installing lamp posts Kayne 07-05-2007
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Posted by Kayne on July 5, 2007, 11:51 pm
I bought two lamp posts at Lowes and I want to install them in our
back yard flower garden. The lamp posts are about 6 feet tall and
made of some sort of very light metal. I'd estimate they weigh no
more than 20 or 30 pounds each - maybe even less. The bases of them
are about a foot in diameter with three semetrically placed bolt holes
for mounting. The ground where I want to put them is mulch covered
soil.

I was thinking about maybe buying a wooden post that was wide enough
in diameter to bolt the lamp post directly into the wooden post and
cutting off about 2 or 3 feet of it and using post hole diggers to dig
a hole such that the wooden post is flush with the ground, then
bolting the lamp post directly into the wooden post.

That was just one thought I had. I guess concrete is another idea,
but how do I do that? How deep do I dig the hole for the concrete?
Do I dig it deep and narrow like a post hole or wide and relatively
shallow? And do I make it cubical or bowl shaped? And do I need to
line it with something or just poor the concrete right in? And what
is the best way to ensure that the concrete is level before letting it
dry?

I'm really clueless as to the right way to do this job. I can tell
you that power isn't going to be a problem, it's already run and
terminated very near the location. I just don't know how to get the
lamp posts to stand up, permanently, in the dirt.

Obviously I'm not very knowledgable about matters of home
improvement. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.


Posted by RBM on July 6, 2007, 7:02 am
You should have received mounting bolts with the posts. These bolts are
about a foot long, threaded on one end and bent at a right angle at the
other. There should also have been a template for the bolt mounting
positions. You would run a PVC conduit with your cable in it, to the center
of a pit, the PVC should have a 90 degree elbow facing up, so the cable is
not in the concrete, only the PVC. Fill the pit with concrete flush with the
ground surface, and push the mounting bolts into the concrete, leaving about
two inches sticking out. Be sure the bolts are in the exact pattern of the
template and stay that way until the concrete sets. Once dry, slip post over
PVC allowing cable to be threaded through post and out the top. Bolt post to
threaded studs using washers to level




>I bought two lamp posts at Lowes and I want to install them in our
> back yard flower garden. The lamp posts are about 6 feet tall and
> made of some sort of very light metal. I'd estimate they weigh no
> more than 20 or 30 pounds each - maybe even less. The bases of them
> are about a foot in diameter with three semetrically placed bolt holes
> for mounting. The ground where I want to put them is mulch covered
> soil.
>
> I was thinking about maybe buying a wooden post that was wide enough
> in diameter to bolt the lamp post directly into the wooden post and
> cutting off about 2 or 3 feet of it and using post hole diggers to dig
> a hole such that the wooden post is flush with the ground, then
> bolting the lamp post directly into the wooden post.
>
> That was just one thought I had. I guess concrete is another idea,
> but how do I do that? How deep do I dig the hole for the concrete?
> Do I dig it deep and narrow like a post hole or wide and relatively
> shallow? And do I make it cubical or bowl shaped? And do I need to
> line it with something or just poor the concrete right in? And what
> is the best way to ensure that the concrete is level before letting it
> dry?
>
> I'm really clueless as to the right way to do this job. I can tell
> you that power isn't going to be a problem, it's already run and
> terminated very near the location. I just don't know how to get the
> lamp posts to stand up, permanently, in the dirt.
>
> Obviously I'm not very knowledgable about matters of home
> improvement. Any advice would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>



Posted by Kayne on July 6, 2007, 10:19 am
> You should have received mounting bolts with the posts. These bolts are
> about a foot long, threaded on one end and bent at a right angle at the
> other. There should also have been a template for the bolt mounting
> positions. You would run a PVC conduit with your cable in it, to the center
> of a pit, the PVC should have a 90 degree elbow facing up, so the cable is
> not in the concrete, only the PVC. Fill the pit with concrete flush with the
> ground surface, and push the mounting bolts into the concrete, leaving about
> two inches sticking out. Be sure the bolts are in the exact pattern of the
> template and stay that way until the concrete sets. Once dry, slip post over
> PVC allowing cable to be threaded through post and out the top. Bolt post to
> threaded studs using washers to level
>
>
>
>
>
> >I bought two lamp posts at Lowes and I want to install them in our
> > back yard flower garden. The lamp posts are about 6 feet tall and
> > made of some sort of very light metal. I'd estimate they weigh no
> > more than 20 or 30 pounds each - maybe even less. The bases of them
> > are about a foot in diameter with three semetrically placed bolt holes
> > for mounting. The ground where I want to put them is mulch covered
> > soil.
>
> > I was thinking about maybe buying a wooden post that was wide enough
> > in diameter to bolt the lamp post directly into the wooden post and
> > cutting off about 2 or 3 feet of it and using post hole diggers to dig
> > a hole such that the wooden post is flush with the ground, then
> > bolting the lamp post directly into the wooden post.
>
> > That was just one thought I had. I guess concrete is another idea,
> > but how do I do that? How deep do I dig the hole for the concrete?
> > Do I dig it deep and narrow like a post hole or wide and relatively
> > shallow? And do I make it cubical or bowl shaped? And do I need to
> > line it with something or just poor the concrete right in? And what
> > is the best way to ensure that the concrete is level before letting it
> > dry?
>
> > I'm really clueless as to the right way to do this job. I can tell
> > you that power isn't going to be a problem, it's already run and
> > terminated very near the location. I just don't know how to get the
> > lamp posts to stand up, permanently, in the dirt.
>
> > Obviously I'm not very knowledgable about matters of home
> > improvement. Any advice would be appreciated.
>
> > Thanks in advance.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Thank you for the advice. I will follow it. How should I dig the
hole for the concrete? Should it be a narrow and deep hole? What
dimensions should I dig the hole?


Posted by RBM on July 6, 2007, 8:19 pm
I don't think it needs to be more than 18 inches deep and large enough that
the mounting bolts are not closer than about 2 inches from the edge



>> You should have received mounting bolts with the posts. These bolts are
>> about a foot long, threaded on one end and bent at a right angle at the
>> other. There should also have been a template for the bolt mounting
>> positions. You would run a PVC conduit with your cable in it, to the
>> center
>> of a pit, the PVC should have a 90 degree elbow facing up, so the cable
>> is
>> not in the concrete, only the PVC. Fill the pit with concrete flush with
>> the
>> ground surface, and push the mounting bolts into the concrete, leaving
>> about
>> two inches sticking out. Be sure the bolts are in the exact pattern of
>> the
>> template and stay that way until the concrete sets. Once dry, slip post
>> over
>> PVC allowing cable to be threaded through post and out the top. Bolt post
>> to
>> threaded studs using washers to level
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> >I bought two lamp posts at Lowes and I want to install them in our
>> > back yard flower garden. The lamp posts are about 6 feet tall and
>> > made of some sort of very light metal. I'd estimate they weigh no
>> > more than 20 or 30 pounds each - maybe even less. The bases of them
>> > are about a foot in diameter with three semetrically placed bolt holes
>> > for mounting. The ground where I want to put them is mulch covered
>> > soil.
>>
>> > I was thinking about maybe buying a wooden post that was wide enough
>> > in diameter to bolt the lamp post directly into the wooden post and
>> > cutting off about 2 or 3 feet of it and using post hole diggers to dig
>> > a hole such that the wooden post is flush with the ground, then
>> > bolting the lamp post directly into the wooden post.
>>
>> > That was just one thought I had. I guess concrete is another idea,
>> > but how do I do that? How deep do I dig the hole for the concrete?
>> > Do I dig it deep and narrow like a post hole or wide and relatively
>> > shallow? And do I make it cubical or bowl shaped? And do I need to
>> > line it with something or just poor the concrete right in? And what
>> > is the best way to ensure that the concrete is level before letting it
>> > dry?
>>
>> > I'm really clueless as to the right way to do this job. I can tell
>> > you that power isn't going to be a problem, it's already run and
>> > terminated very near the location. I just don't know how to get the
>> > lamp posts to stand up, permanently, in the dirt.
>>
>> > Obviously I'm not very knowledgable about matters of home
>> > improvement. Any advice would be appreciated.
>>
>> > Thanks in advance.- Hide quoted text -
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
>
> Thank you for the advice. I will follow it. How should I dig the
> hole for the concrete? Should it be a narrow and deep hole? What
> dimensions should I dig the hole?
>



Posted by Mark on July 6, 2007, 10:23 pm
> I don't think it needs to be more than 18 inches deep and large enough that
> the mounting bolts are not closer than about 2 inches from the edge
>
>
>
>
>
> >> You should have received mounting bolts with the posts. These bolts are
> >> about a foot long, threaded on one end and bent at a right angle at the
> >> other. There should also have been a template for the bolt mounting
> >> positions. You would run a PVC conduit with your cable in it, to the
> >> center
> >> of a pit, the PVC should have a 90 degree elbow facing up, so the cable
> >> is
> >> not in the concrete, only the PVC. Fill the pit with concrete flush with
> >> the
> >> ground surface, and push the mounting bolts into the concrete, leaving
> >> about
> >> two inches sticking out. Be sure the bolts are in the exact pattern of
> >> the
> >> template and stay that way until the concrete sets. Once dry, slip post
> >> over
> >> PVC allowing cable to be threaded through post and out the top. Bolt post
> >> to
> >> threaded studs using washers to level
>
>
>
> >> >I bought two lamp posts at Lowes and I want to install them in our
> >> > back yard flower garden. The lamp posts are about 6 feet tall and
> >> > made of some sort of very light metal. I'd estimate they weigh no
> >> > more than 20 or 30 pounds each - maybe even less. The bases of them
> >> > are about a foot in diameter with three semetrically placed bolt holes
> >> > for mounting. The ground where I want to put them is mulch covered
> >> > soil.
>
> >> > I was thinking about maybe buying a wooden post that was wide enough
> >> > in diameter to bolt the lamp post directly into the wooden post and
> >> > cutting off about 2 or 3 feet of it and using post hole diggers to dig
> >> > a hole such that the wooden post is flush with the ground, then
> >> > bolting the lamp post directly into the wooden post.
>
> >> > That was just one thought I had. I guess concrete is another idea,
> >> > but how do I do that? How deep do I dig the hole for the concrete?
> >> > Do I dig it deep and narrow like a post hole or wide and relatively
> >> > shallow? And do I make it cubical or bowl shaped? And do I need to
> >> > line it with something or just poor the concrete right in? And what
> >> > is the best way to ensure that the concrete is level before letting it
> >> > dry?
>
> >> > I'm really clueless as to the right way to do this job. I can tell
> >> > you that power isn't going to be a problem, it's already run and
> >> > terminated very near the location. I just don't know how to get the
> >> > lamp posts to stand up, permanently, in the dirt.
>
> >> > Obviously I'm not very knowledgable about matters of home
> >> > improvement. Any advice would be appreciated.
>
> >> > Thanks in advance.- Hide quoted text -
>
> >> - Show quoted text -
>
> > Thank you for the advice. I will follow it. How should I dig the
> > hole for the concrete? Should it be a narrow and deep hole? What
> > dimensions should I dig the hole?- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Make sure you do not NICK the insulation on the wire. If you do and
the wire gets wet when it rains, it will trip the ground fault
interrupter.

Mark


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