These spooky dock piling props will bring authenticity to your next shipwrecked pirate Halloween scene.
This weekend DIY project is simple enough for the whole family to get their hands dirty with and enjoy.
Plus, the messier, the better! Channeling your inner Van Gogh isn’t necessarily required…
So, do you think you can bang this out in a weekend?
Halloween Dock Piling Prop DIY For Outdoor Pirate Ship Displays
Images by Kim Mcintosh.
With a handful of drywall compound over cardboard concrete tube forms, you can create thick wood graining (that will dry overnight) – and don’t be afraid to add some extra detail!
Forms are sold topless 😉 By taping paper plates to the top of your forms you create a base to spray with the magical Great Stuff foam insulation.
Ahoy! Take a step back and notice that you don’t have to cover the entire prop to achieve a great pirate-y look.
Any base coat will work because you’ll rough up the surface in later steps to add dimension.
Check out the barnacle detail that you can achieve by simply adding shells during the compound stage.
Use gray paint and a dry brush to cover the base coat for an aged, driftwood-styled finish.
Here are the finished columns with other props in their shipwrecked pirate scene!
This home haunter has a lot to smile about for continuing to expand this entire scene year after year!
Thank you Kim!
Images by Kim Mcintosh.
Our big thanks to Kim for sharing her creativity and making an awesome pirate-y home haunt!
Feel free to comment below to ask any question about how to create columns like these of your own.
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These are so awesome! I’m doing a pirate themed yard display this year and this is just what the doctor ordered. I plan on using three cylinders to create 2 piling clusters. When I was looking at images of real pilings, I noticed some clustered that were very distinctive. I’m going to saw one in half and the other two will be offset by about six inches. That will give me three different height cylinders per cluster.
Thank you so much for the tutorial!
Great idea! When you stack them together at different heights it will look very realistic. Would love to see photos of what you came up with.
How do these hold up to weather? Rain, wind, etc. Does the sonotube get soft, does the drywall compound crack?
Hi, Carly. drywall compound alone will not hold up well in the elements. You may want to add a protective coating for added resistance. Check out some ideas here in this post. Let me know what you think!
Is drywall joint compound waterproof? I’m worried about it letting not just through the month but being reusable year after year. I was thinking about trying some of the dap products to cover larger diameter pvc. But getting something that builds up texture seems difficult.
Kyra, you are 100% right about that. Check out a few protective coating ideas in this post too, which you can use to coat your project for added weather protection. Would love your thoughts 🙂