Top 5 Solutions For Flagpole Frustrations

There are certain maintenance and repair tips that will help extend the life of your flagpole. Your flagpole is an investment, and it can stay looking great for decades with proper care. Forty years of flagpole expertise enables our Customer Care Professionals to offer you advice and insight on how to avoid some of the most common aggravations our customers run into when working with their flagpoles. Here are the top five flagpole frustrations we have heard about over the years and the solutions we have found make flagpole care easy.

The Halyard is the rope you use to raise or lower the flag and can be located internally or on the outside of the pole. The halyard runs through the pulley system in the flagpole’s truck and is secured with the cleat at the base of the pole. The halyard gets a lot of wear and tear as you raise and lower your flag day after day. Even if your flag stays at full staff all the time, weather and wind can wear out the halyard. To prevent the halyard from breaking, always check it when you replace your flag or raise and lower your flag. Look for fraying, picks and weak spots on the halyard. You can save money if you replace the halyard before it breaks. Once it breaks, it can be costly to hire a bucket truck company to retrieve the halyard from the flagpole.

Snaphooks, also referred to as flag snaps, are metal or vinyl hooks with a spring closure, used to attach the flag to the halyard. Snaphooks are similar to the type of closure often found on a dog’s leash. In windy conditions, snaphooks and the halyard can hit the flagpole many times in just one day. They can become damaged, and this could lead to the flag not staying attached to the halyard. Always check the snaphooks when you replace your flag. Do they close all the way? Is the spring weak? These are signs the snaphooks need to be replaced. Do the snaphooks hit the flagpole and make a constant clanging noise? We offer Rubber-Coated Snaphooks that will prevent the annoying “clanking” noise.

Determining your existing flagpole’s height or how tall your new flagpole should be can be overwhelming. Luckily, we have many tips and tricks to help you figure it out. For an existing flagpole, you can use a helium balloon with a string to determine its height. When you let the balloon rise to the top of the flagpole (while still holding on to the string), mark the string at the bottom of the pole and measure how long the string is from the balloon to the mark on the string. You can also measure the butt (bottom diameter) of your flagpole and call Carrot-Top. This butt measurement will help us determine your pole height. If you are purchasing a new flagpole, our Customer Care Professionals can help you find the perfect flagpole for your environment based on wind speeds, where it will be installed, how many flags will fly from the pole and the flag material weight. Another interesting tip: Your halyard should always be twice as long as your flagpole is tall.

The U.S. Flag Code mandates that an American flag that is flown at night should be properly illuminated. Solar-powered flagpole lighting and wired electric flagpole lighting each have advantages and disadvantages. Our Customer Care Professionals can help you determine the best flagpole lighting for your display, location and budget. When determining the best lighting for your flag display, you have to take into account that wired lighting might need to comply with local building codes and will be more expensive to install due to the need for licensed electricians. While solar lighting is powered by the sun for free, it works best in areas that don’t have tree coverage since it will require direct sunlight in the daytime hours to fully charge.

Unfortunately, theft and vandalism can happen to your outdoor flag display. If you are concerned about flag and halyard theft or flagpole damage, we have solutions. Our Cleat Lock Boxes can be installed on top of the cleat and flagpole halyard to ensure that it can only be reached by authorized personnel. The Cleat Box protects your halyard with a lock and channel that goes up the pole preventing the halyard from being cut. We also offer Wire Core Halyards. The wire material makes it much harder to cut and gives a stronger core.

Let us help you work through your flagpole frustrations. Whether you need maintenance tips, replacement parts or to buy a new flagpole, we can help make the process easier. You can look at our Comprehensive Flagpole Guide online, but we would be happy to talk with you to help you repair or replace your flagpole. Contact our Customer Care Professionals by phone (800-628-3524), email or schedule a convenient time to talk about your flagpole needs through our Flagpole Request Call Back Form.