Heavy wall steel pipe for sun sail

[longrange2]

We rebuilt a deck last summer and we would like to put up a sun sail to provide shade so the deck is usable during the day. Two corners will be mounted to the house, but at the outside corners of the deck I need 2, 3 1/2 or 4 inch heavy wall pipes in concrete to mount the sun sail. I plan on sinking them in the ground 4 feet and having 10 feet exposed. Anyone know where I can score two 14 foot sticks of heavy wall pipe for a good price?

[SideShow Bob]

The name escapes me, but you could try the metal scrap yard in Commerce City.

Or an electrical supply store for 3 - 10ft sticks and two couplers of 2, 2 1/2 or 3 inch GRC (galvanized rigid conduit.)

[ray1970]

Not sure where to find it but used drill stem would probably fit your needs. It’s roughly four inches in diameter and heavy walled and I think can probably be found in 20’ lengths.

[buffalobo]

K & K Surplus, south of 88th on Brighton Rd.

http://www.kksurplus.com/

[Grant H.]

Hinton steel if you decide to buy new sticks...

[Ah Pook]

DenCol Metal

[Grant H.]

Price check a few places...

Altitude Steel would also be a good place to look.

DenCol is great if you need custom work/cuts, but their material is expensive if you aren't having them do anything to it.

[hatidua]

K & K Surplus, south of 88th on Brighton Rd.

http://www.kksurplus.com/

That.

We have a 12x16' shade sail and the guys at K&K were a pleasure to deal with. Be sure to sleeve the pipes so you can take them out in the off season if you want.

Get the pipes longer than you think you'll need, Colorado is windy and having 36" sleeves into concrete plus thru-bolted anchors on the house with back plates helps on the breezy days.

Aesthetically I wanted the pipes to extend up beyond the sail a bit but I ended up having to re-drill and go full height to get as much space above the table as we needed.

Lastly, don't go exactly vertical with the pipes, they need to be angled slightly out and to the side. A good level, and two extra people when you pour the concrete makes this fairly easy.

K&K also has the turnbuckles and chain you'll need.

[Irving]

Sleeving really helps replace stuff if the wind does break it, or let you break it down quick in anticipation of wind.

[hatidua]

Sleeving really helps replace stuff if the wind does break it, or let you break it down quick in anticipation of wind.

http://markpix.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/sMarkLewis-1759.jpg

[longrange2]

Great tip on the sleeving, I hadn’t thought about that. Hatidua, how is your sun sail holding up? I figure we’ll be taking it down in the winter so it will only be up a few months of the year.

[hatidua]

Hatidua, how is your sun sail holding up? I figure we’ll be taking it down in the winter so it will only be up a few months of the year.

I'm really surprised that we still have the original sail and told my wife as much when we put it up last week. I bought the sail off eBay six years ago and figured for the price (around $70 if I recall) it'd be a one-season item due to the UV and wind here. I take it down before the first snow each fall and put it up at the beginning of each summer or when I think snow is no longer a risk. It is fine with heavy rain, but absolutely will not support snow, even a little. Other than a bit of discoloring directly above the lamp on the table (kerosene soot), the thing is as good as the day I bought it. It takes about ten minutes to completely take it down, or put it all back up, including tensioning it via chain and turnbuckles. There is a 2"x12" metal backing plate on the opposite side of the wall on the two corners that attach to the house, anything less would pull out as I'm just a couple blocks from the hills and the wind can be extreme at times.

The black PVC caps on the top of the pipes are from the plumbing department at Home Depot, a complete coincidence to find them but they fit perfectly.

This is how it looked five minutes ago, now six years old. Even in this photo, you can notice a very slight outward pitch to the poles:

74624