How much cement to use for flag pole footing

[Tidybuoy]

I'm installing a 20' flag pole. I'm using a 2.375 OD pipe that is pretty heavy. I bought a foundation sleeve that is 3' x 8", which hasn't come yet. Probably will have 18' exposed and 3' underground (my pipe is 21' total).

I'm wondering approximately how much cement I should be using, or what the ultimate size of the footing should be. I watched numerous youtube videos and everyone is different. One even used 10 80lb bags for a 25' pole - seems like a lot to me but I know I will need a decent amount.

Just wondering what the group thinks while I wait for all my parts to arrive.

[GH85Carrera]

My dad had a company put in a flag pole. It had all internal cords so no banging of the rope, and no way to steal the flag. It was 25 or 30 feet and it had a concrete footing that was 3 feet across and the pole and concrete were pretty deep. He did not want it to blow over in the Oklahoma winds.

I would bet there is a site out there somewhere that has all the specs for a footing for flag poles.

[rwest]

A flag takes a lot of wind load.

I’m in the process of having an LED light installed on a twenty foot pole and it will be an 18” Sonatube buried 6ft deep if that helps?

[masraum]

You're definitely going to need one of these.



And when he's done (few days at the most).

Then you'll need a few of these

[rwest]

Found this

[vash]

my fence guy used six bags of cement per post..i know cuz i was paying for it.

if you were closer, i would run you a small rebar spiral scrap, and have you cast that in around your flagpole. i would imagine a 4 foot deep 2 foot wide cement foundation. would be hard to turn over.. it weighs damn near 2000lbs. a rebar spiral hoop would make it super sturdy and crack free..

[jyl]

I’d think that an extra 2’ underground will be more helpful than extra cement. How about getting a sleeve for the sleeve, augering down 5’, and really planting that sucker deep? The effort of augering an extra 2’ is probably less than the effort of mixing and pouring a bunch more cement.

Vash is being lazy, by the way - he should do his civil engineer thing and calculate it - c’mon vash, you can do that in your sleep, or while you’re waiting for a fish to bite

[masraum]

Originally Posted by jyl

I’d think that an extra 2’ underground will be more helpful than extra cement. How about getting a sleeve for the sleeve, augering down 5’, and really planting that sucker deep? The effort of augering an extra 2’ is probably less than the effort of mixing and pouring a bunch more cement.

Vash is being lazy, by the way - he should do his civil engineer thing and calculate it - c’mon vash, you can do that in your sleep, or while you’re waiting for a fish to bite

Yeah, but he's going to need to know how big the flag is and what the expected avg and peak winds will be for that, right?

If only he had one of those fancy HP42 calculators!

[Tidybuoy]

This is the sleeve that I bought. It's 3' by 8" with an 18" grounding rod at the bottom. My plan will be to surround it with cement to the bottom and now need to figure out total cement diameter. I watched a video at lunch where a guy used an 18" cement round for the top 12" and then below that he did about 30x30" footing. The flag pole will be sunk 3' (limited by sleeve) and have 18' exposed. The sleeve gets packed with sand after the pole is installed which enables you to make adjustments and get plumb perfectly.

although I don't have any of the round rebar that Vash has recommended, I will probably add some rebar to the footing as I have several pieces laying around.

The Sleeve:


The Pole: I don't know the weight but it is heavy (definitely not aluminum). It will be painted.

[Tidybuoy]

Originally Posted by jyl

I’d think that an extra 2’ underground will be more helpful than extra cement. How about getting a sleeve for the sleeve, augering down 5’, and really planting that sucker deep? The effort of augering an extra 2’ is probably less than the effort of mixing and pouring a bunch more cement.

I should have no problem augering down as I have a gas powered auger that works great.

[RWebb]

vash is waiting for jyl to program the calculations in RPN

[Tidybuoy]

Found on a website that the pole is 3.66lbs per foot so that makes it 76.86 lbs.

[Baz]

2 bags, Vern.

Most flagpole kits come with instructions with this info but maybe your didn't, otherwise, that's what I'd go by.

[Por_sha911]

Gez, the family in Brooklyn said all you need is one bag of quick set and two pails for a pair of shoes.

[Nostril Cheese]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

Gez, the family in Brooklyn said all you need is one bag of quick set and two pails for a pair of shoes.

My grandfather was a piledriver. Went all over the world doing this. He once told me that they found a "bag of snakes" off a beach head near England.

I wonder how much concrete that took?

[URY914]

Concrete!!!

[911 Rod]

Would suck if you installed it not straight. lol

[KFC911]

LOL... wasn't his fault the earth moved

[URY914]

Originally Posted by URY914

Concrete!!!

Stop saying "cement".

[vash]

Originally Posted by URY914

Stop saying "cement".

everyone..this is what's bunching up URY's panties. he is correct, tho. i fumbled the term earlier as well, and i work with the stuff!.

"Although the terms cement and concrete often are used interchangeably, cement is actually an ingredient of concrete. Concrete is a mixture of aggregates and paste. The aggregates are sand and gravel or crushed stone; the paste is water and portland cement."