# Aluminum Story Poles--  where does one buy or rent them?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-story-poles-where-does-one-buy-or-rent-them/685412>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [April 5, 2014, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-story-poles-where-does-one-buy-or-rent-them/685412 "2014-04-05T13:37:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-story-poles-where-does-one-buy-or-rent-them/685412/1 "2014-04-05T13:37:42Z")

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Story poles are commonly used in construction to show the outline of a proposed structure. They are often done in residential applications with wood (common 2x4s) and orange netting. But sometimes I see telescoping aluminum poles used instead of lumber and that looks a lot easier to set up.

But google as I may, I can’t seem to find where one buys (or rents) these. I get lots of images of very think aluminum poles that are more like flag poles, but the ones I’m seeing are maybe an inch or two in diameter and are not braced with other poles, but simply tied like tent poles to stakes for support.

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**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2014, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aluminum-story-poles-where-does-one-buy-or-rent-them/685412/2 "2014-04-06T04:25:25Z")

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There must be another source used by the construction trades, but IKEA’s Stolmen closet system is based on compression poles that aren’t particularly expensive.