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I live in Toronto, Canada. Our old clothesline was affixed atop a 14' post attached to the vehicle shed (the shed is too low, dug into the side of a slope), the bottom of the post was eventually cemented around as part of a pavement initiative in the back alley, before we bought the house.

And the second end of the clothesline is attached to the house - that's not a problem. (However because the back of the house is highest point, the base of the porch is about 5ft up, and then the clothesline about an additional 6ft above that for easy reach when standing on the porch, for a total of ~11ft.)

The old post itself has rotted out at top and bottom and has broken off at the bottom in the cement. It's also bolted to the side of the shed to be sturdy. I don't want to deal with recementing near the bottom of the post and/or breaking up cement that's there because I can't see how to easily stick another one there.

I'm considering options (but the slant of the property is not necessarily condusive to using just the shed by itself for a point to affix the clothesline).

I'm entertinaing bringing putting a post in the back yard but don't know how its base should be placed in the lawn to stay sturdy.

Update 1 (slant of land, very low shed)
(this info also has also been worked into the above description).

The way the land slopes (house higher and vehicle shed lower) the side of the vehicle shed facing the house is only about 5.5 ft high -slightly dug into a slope. A clothesline affixed to the shed would either be very slanted or close to the ground. The post was there before to get the needed height.

Update: Diagram of situation (apologies for my "drawing skills")

alt text

Looking for ideas.

Aarthi
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John K
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    First of all, stop hanging your dogs out to dry. the extra weight will cause the new post to deteriorate faster, plus I don't think the dogs like it either. – Tester101 Oct 20 '10 at 16:25

2 Answers2

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You said that one end is attached to the house, and the other end is attached to a post which is attached to a vehicle shed.

Is there any reason why you need a post on the vehicle shed end? Could you attach the line directly to the shed (e.g. with an eye-bolt)? That would seem like the simplest solution.

ETA: Given the slope of the land, maybe a metal post attached to the side of the shed would be a good option? Something similar to what you might use for a lamp post?

Eric Petroelje
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  • My thoughts exactly. –  Oct 20 '10 at 11:56
  • +1 good idea .... dunno why it didn't strike me, must not have had enough coffee this morning. –  Oct 20 '10 at 13:08
  • The way the land slopes (house higher, vehicle shed lower), the side of the vehicle shed facing the house is only about 5.5 ft high -slightly dug into a hill. The clothes line would either be very slanted or close to the ground all the way along. It's viable though. – John K Oct 24 '10 at 21:26
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I've only put up one clothesline post in my life and it was cemented. Anything else I've put in the ground I've cemented in just because the soil around my house tends to be a bit wet since we're fairly near a lake. My recommendation is to cement it in, I know it's a bit more work but in the long run it'll be worth it. I'd hate to see a whole string of freshly washed clothes (or puppies in the case above) fall onto the dirt because a pole that was just planted into the ground fell over from the weight.