Help !!! My tiki is unstable !!!

Hello, I'm new to this forum and need your help. I recently bought a tiki (6'6" tall and 150 lbs) and it's very unstable. I didn't realize how unsteady it was until I started staining him. It looks like the footing is smaller than the upper part making it unstable. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make the footing wider for stability? Thanks for the help. Aloha

Rico, welcome to TC. If you post some pictures it will really help

If yor tiki is unstable - get him therapy before he cracks!!

Actually you can use felt pads under the bottom. OR you can build a base and bolt it to the base.

[ Edited by: AlohaStation 2011-07-14 12:22 ]

Best thing would be a tiered base with each piece a bit smaller than the one below it. Rather than putting it on a big ol block. Start by lag bolting the base to a square pice bigger than the bae by an inch or so. Of course, what do you make the base pieces with? Thickest plywood you can buy maybe. Just add pieces until it feels stable to you. It'll also give you a bit more height.

The more obvious question is what are you going to do with it? Stability is not an issue if it is against a wall and can use the wall to secire, etc.

On 2011-07-14 12:37, Swanky wrote:
Best thing would be a tiered base with each piece a bit smaller than the one below it. Rather than putting it on a big ol block. Start by lag bolting the base to a square pice bigger than the bae by an inch or so. Of course, what do you make the base pieces with? Thickest plywood you can buy maybe. Just add pieces until it feels stable to you. It'll also give you a bit more height.

The more obvious question is what are you going to do with it? Stability is not an issue if it is against a wall and can use the wall to secire, etc.

It will be going in the backyard and I don't have anything to lean it against. Thanks for th tips ...

This link to another thread may give you some ideas. Good Luck

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=33324&forum=7&hilite=protecting

Unstable? Back yard? Nothing to lean against ? EASY !

Dig a post hole 30 inches deep . Set a 2" diameter pole in hole plumb or a little lean to it if you want with mortar mix .Brace and let cure over night . Back fill hole as well . Next day , predrill holes on pole that is a little short of standing tiki . Set tiki on stone a little above ground so water runs off and drop stainless steel lag screws with fender washers in back of tiki to suppoet it . Install plants around it , big ones in back to set a backdrop . Install malibu light at base in front . Install lazy boy recliner in front of tiki . Install Mai Tai in hand . Enjoy !

On 2011-07-15 08:46, TIKI-RAY wrote:
...Install lazy boy recliner in front of tiki . Install Mai Tai in hand . Enjoy !

:up: :lol:
I trust you are getting better Ray?

Another option - dig a hole a foot or two deep, fill it with dry Quickcrete, drive a piece of steel rebar into it, with a foot of the rebar sticking up. Water the Quickcrete and it will set up overnight. With a spade bit on an extension (or a spade bit on an extra-long shank) drill a hole into the base of the tiki a foot deep. Drop the tiki over the rebar.

I'm new here too, but i would just make a cool looking base for it, drill a hole from the bottom of the base into the tiki guy, and use a large bolt to secure the two. It's all i can think of this early in the morning.

On 2011-07-14 12:02, Rico8186 wrote:
Hello, I'm new to this forum and need your help. I recently bought a tiki (6'6" tall and 150 lbs) and it's very unstable. I didn't realize how unsteady it was until I started staining him. It looks like the footing is smaller than the upper part making it unstable. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make the footing wider for stability? Thanks for the help. Aloha

there is no where near enough information here to properly answer this question.
why is it smaller? material loss? if so ,was it cut or rot? if cut is it still solid?if rot ,how bad?can it be stablized? what is the material ,cedar?,palm?,cypress ?
(pics?)

This is very important!
My wife and I went to a FOM tiki event
and a tiki fell on her toes.
It crushed two of her toes!
The bones were smashed out of her toes
as they were almost cut in two.
Well you can't put bones back in.
That was years ago, her foot still gives her pain.
She can not wear high heel shoes any more,
or boots any shoe that would put pressure on those toes.
And I had just got her really nice leather boots.
We lost thousand of dollars from this.
So really get that tiki stable!!!

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2011-08-01 10:52 ]

Jeez, Skip, what a terrible "Bad Luck Tiki" story, I feel so sorry for your wife's mishap!

Stabilize it indeed, and until you do, put up this warning sign:

(This actually came from a Hawaiian hotel)

My poor wife.
I call her Calamity Jane.
She is the one person who can walk in a bar
sit down and have a tiki fall on her foot
without moving a muscle!

I do fear that one day a satellite will fall
from the sky and crush us both.