It's that spook-tacular time of year again, and Halloween is right around the corner! If you're looking to give your home or yard a ghostly glow, hanging light-up ghost decorations from an extendable DIY EMT conduit pole can make a creepy but fantastic display. This pole will give your decorations height and visibility, making them the highlight of your Halloween setup.
EMT (electric metallic tubing) conduit is a type of steel tubing available from most hardware stores, and is typically used for routing electrical wires in buildings, but has also grown in popularity in do-it-yourself (DIY) projects due to its low-cost, strength, and convenience for purchase. Elation Sports Technologies offers a UV-resistant adapter to easily create a telescoping pole from 1/2", 3/4", and 1" sizes of EMT conduit!
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Supplies:
3 x Ground stakes
1 x Metal file
Step 1: Measure and Cut
Decide on the maximum height of your decoration poles. For example, if you want each pole to be extendable to a maximum of 12 feet tall, then each of the three sections of the pole will be four to five feet in length in order to have a bit of overlap between the sections. The bottom section will be a section of 1" size conduit, the middle section will be the 3/4" conduit, and the top will be the 1/2" conduit. Measure 5 feet on each piece of conduit using a tape measure, and mark it. Wearing appropriate safety gear (e.g. safety glasses), cut your conduit pieces at the marked points using a rotary tool cutter. Remove any sharp edges or burrs using a rotary deburring tool, metal file, or Dremel tool where needed.
Step 2: Assemble the Telescoping Portion
These EMT conduit telescoping clamps make it easy to create a telescoping pole out of EMT conduit! They're made of injection-molded UV-resistant and durable plastic which is suitable for outdoor use, and they clamp onto the outside of the conduit - no drilling required!
Add one 20mm black rubber pole cap to the tip of the 1/2" EMT conduit on each of your poles. The rubber cap has a hole in its top center which is used to hang the lights holders. If your string lights poles use 3/4" EMT conduit as their top sections instead of 1/2" EMT conduit, use a 25mm black rubber cap instead of a 20mm one.
Using a tape measure, space your 3 x mounting poles at equal distances (say, every 6 feet) in your yard, and insert the 3 x ground stakes into the earth. The 1" EMT conduit bottom piece of each pole is then inserted into each of the ground stakes. The fit between the 1" EMT conduit and ground stake may be a bit tight depending on the conduit vendor, but this snug fit helps to keep the poles securely anchored in the ground.
Step 3: Add the Decorations
With the poles securely installed in the ground, hang your ghost decorations using the light holder clips. Install 3 x AA batteries and flip the switch to illuminate your ghosts, and then raise the individual heights of each of the poles to your preference.
And there you have it! Your yard is now graced with hovering, glowing ghosts that are sure to be a hit this Halloween. This project offers a simple but effective way to decorate for the holiday, and the extendable EMT conduit pole allows for easy setup and storage. Happy Halloween!
Conclusion
In this post, I shared how you can build your own adjustable mounting poles for outdoor Halloween decorations using EMT conduit! The telescoping couplings used for this project are available for purchase from Elation Sports Technologies:
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Elation Sports Technologies LLC offers mechanical and electrical engineering design consulting. I'd be happy to discuss your project's needs to see how we may assist you - simply reach out to schedule a chat.
Thanks for reading!
Austin Allen
Founder and Owner
Elation Sports Technologies LLC
