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How to Install a Clothesline Pole

Kate Sheridan

Drying your laundry in the open air on a clothesline conserves energy and helps trim the household budget. You can choose from assorted styles of clotheslines, such as pulley-drawn and umbrella-style. The most popular clothesline remains the traditional T-post made of metal or wood, and buried in rocks and cement. You'll want to site your clothesline poles so the laundry on the line can catch both wind and sunlight. After your clothesline poles are in, screw or drill eyehooks into the pole's crossbars through which to string the clothesline.

Clothesline poles secure the line on which you hang your laundry to air dry.
  1. Dig a hole at least 24 inches deep and twice as wide as your clothesline pole. Excavate the soil and set it aside.

  2. Widen the area at the bottom of the hole until the bottom is slightly wider than the hole opening. Fill the bottom of the hole with about 4 inches of pea gravel or small rocks. This will help improve drainage.

  3. Situate your clothesline pole in the middle of the hole. Prop it with large wooden props, or have someone hold the pole upright. Level the pole so that it's standing completely upright.

  4. Mix a batch of instant cement according to the manufacturer's instructions. Pour the cement into the hole.

  5. Smooth the area around the base of the pole into a slight mound. Cover the cement mound with excavated soil and tamp down hard. This will help rainwater run off the area and away from the pole.