How to Install a Large Lamppost

Sink a post hole digger into the ground and remove dirt onto a plastic tarp for moving the dirt. Make the hole 12 inches in diameter and 22 inches deep.

Fill the bottom of the dug hole with 6 inches of gravel.

Create a trench that leads from your power source on the home to the post hole using a trench digger. Make the trench 18 inches deep.

Dry fit PVC conduit from the house to the post hole. Attach elbows to the conduit so that the conduit goes down into the trench, then raises up again at the post hole. Install the last PVC conduit piece at the post hole so that it rises 6 inches up from the top of the trench. Connect the conduit pieces together once fitted properly by applying PVC cement to the insides of the elbows and inserting them in place.

Thread 12-gauge UF wire through the conduit pipe, leaving 9 feet extra at the end of the conduit on the lamppost side. Cover the trench with soil.

Pour cement powder into one side of a wheelbarrow. Fill the other end with the amount of water specified on the side of the cement package. Mix the two together with a shovel until it has a pudding-like consistency.

Fill the post hole with cement to the top. Chop at the cement as you pour it to remove any air bubbles.

Pull the wires through the bottom through the top of the lamppost. Do so quickly to prevent the cement from setting. Slide the lamppost over the conduit and into the cement so that 12 inches of the post is covered.

Wrap two to three ropes around the lamppost and attach them to the ground with a stake. Hold a level against the post and move it around until it is plumb. Adjust the ropes to hold the post in place.

Make the wire connections by peeling away 3 inches of the gray insulation from the UF cable. This exposes the three wires inside. Remove 1/2 inch from the wiring inside the lamppost lantern. Connect the white to white, black to black, and bare copper to bare copper using wire nuts.

Slide the lantern onto the lamppost and secure the screws using a screwdriver.