Post #198874 by ikitnrev on Fri, Nov 18, 2005 4:26 PM

I had a similar situation with the tiki poles that were formerly in the Honolulu Restaurant. Perhaps you may gain some insight from how I handled things here.

When I picked the tiki poles up, I discovered that the bottoms were rotted - a combination of ground moisture seeping up, and past termite damage (the owners told me the termite damage had happened long in the past, and the wood had since been treated, with no further termite damage.)

I decided to saw off the bottom 8 inches of the poles, mainly to provide a more solid base for it to sit on. Here are pictures of the two sawed off portions, and a cross-section of how the rest of the poles looked at that point.

Here is how the two poles looked, without those bottom 8 inch pieces.

There were two things I did not like about these shortened poles.

1. They no longer came close to reaching the ceiling
2. The bottom figures looked wrong without their 'feet' sections no longer there. Both poles should consist of two equal sized tiki figures, as if one is standing on the head of the other. With the two figures being of different sizes, the scale was just whacked off balance.

I knew if I displayed them as is, I would always think that the poles were grimacing because I had amputated their feet.

My mission then, was to raise the two poles to their proper height. Fortunately, I had saved the two bottom 8 inch pieces. I chipped away the rotted portions of those sections, keeping the colored facade portion. On one of the sections, I chipped too much away, and that facade broke into several pieces.

I formed two molds, using tape and old LP covers, and simply poured a cement mix into the mold. I made the diameter small enough that the former facade pieces would still fit in front. My main concern was to provide a place for the main poles to sit on top. Afterwards, when the main poles was on top of the cemented segment, I think I inserted some small wedge pieces to properly align the two pole sections.

Here are pictures of the two poles as they exist today, raised to their proper heights. To keep the main pole sections vertical, I screwed large eye hooks into the wall studs, and used bungee cords to hold the poles to wall. I painted the cords to match the tiki colors, and I rarely notice them anymore. I found some tiki looking cloth to cover the space between the tiki and the wall, and to hide the eye hooks. Overall, I am pleased with the results.

If there is a moral to the above it is ...

1. Whatever you do, try to have the finished tiki be at the same height as you obtained it. It will likely look odd to you if it is shortened. Even if other people don't notice it, you will.

2. I probably should have tried to use some drilling tool to chip as much inside rot as I could, and then fill it in with cement or something solid (foam?) That might make the whole item too heavy, but in my case, the cement is only contained within the two bottom pieces.

3. It may take a bit of work, but the feeling of satisfaction of rescuing an older tiki item is very rewarding.

Good luck, and have fun with your restoration efforts!

Vern