Do you know anything about clothes line posts?

Question

I went to the local lumberyard today to ask them if they would make me some clothes line posts. The guy said sure and then said I probably should get 4 inch 8 feet long black metal pipe and two 4 ft long 4 inch metal pipes. I about passed out when I called the steel company and they quoted me $107 bucks a piece for the 8 ft long pipes and almost $50 for each of the 4 ft pipes. This sounds a extravagant. Isnt this expensive, or am I just behind the times?
The guy at the lumber yard told me not to use wood because it would decay and warp.
So....what do I do here, Is there a cheaper way to do this?

Answer 1

It'll decay and warp in about fifty years. Use pressure treated wood, bolt them together with carriage bolts, and have at it. He said that about the wood because he wanted to sell you something he does for a living.

Answer 2

O.K. chill out from sticker shock. The lumbar yard had everything you need, they just didn't know it. What you do is ask of the cyclone fence isle. There you will find individual "sticks" of pipe normally used to build a dog shelter or chain-link fence. There are special galvanized "Tee" joints that are realitivately inexpensive. Buy 2 ten foot lengths of pipe, 2 Tees and one eight foot piece of the same pipe. Also buy two 80lbs bags of concrete. Assemble your tee posts at home buy cutting the eight foot'r in half, use the open end of the tee for your post. Here's what most don't know, if you don't dig down far enough (below 18in) the freeze and thaw of the ground will push your tee posts up, concrete and all, and make them wobbly. Dig a hole 3ft or deeper about 16in around to fill with 80lbs of concrete. This will allow the 18in below the frost line. Your top bar should be at 1in above your head after you set it in the ground so you can walk under it, trust me on this one. The cloths line will naturally droop down to a more workable height. You can adjust the height to what ever you want, but don't forget if you can't walk under it you may be on funniest home viedos someday.

Answer 3

go to a junk yard see if you can get two lengths of 2 inch round pipe either drive then in two feet or cement them in cost you less than twenty buck g/l

Answer 4

I installed a glorious, old-fashioned umbrella-style clothesline. It's a classic, space-saving unit for yards that may not have room for a full-on clothesline. It rotates, allowing convenient access to the 200 feet of line. It comes with a little plastic sleeve that you anchor in concrete, so you can uproot and stow the entire umbrella if you're expecting guests who are laundry intolerant.

Various models of umbrella-style clotheslines are available at Canadian Tire, priced between $75 and $130. When you calculate the cost of running an electric dryer (5000 watts, 15 hours per month for a family of four means you're paying roughly $20 per month), the clothesline pays for itself in four to six months.

Answer 5

4 inch pipe sounds a bit large for what your doing. I would go with 2 inch or even less. see what that would cost using the same lengths.

Answer 6

You can use 2" rigid conduit painted black. A 10' stick can be bought for around 20$. Just cut it to length with a hacksaw and build yourself a nice clotheline.