My wife and I bought a house that was built in 1955 to use as a rental property. The house has the typical 50s clothesline in the backyard, 2 large metal pipes sunk into the ground and 2 smaller metal pipes as the crossbars. Debating whether to keep or get rid of them.
If I keep them I would need to get new wire and eye bolts/nuts/washers to make it usable. Paint would be a non-expense as I already have a gallon for some outside painting touch up. Removing would involve either hiring somebody to dig/pull them out or dig below the soil line and cut them off and haul the posts away in each case.
Rough estimate is that there isn’t much different in cost between cutting them off or adding the new hardware to make them usable. Digging/pulling them out involved some bigger equipment that cost considerably more.
Would renters use the clothesline? Washer and dryer are furnished with the house if that makes a difference
Even if any particular tenant of the house doesn’t decide to use the clothesline, a functional, well-maintained clothesline is a selling point for the house to potential renters (albeit probably a small one); a dilapidated one probably makes it feel like the house isn’t being maintained.
I agree with Elmer – fix it up, or pull it out, but don’t let it sit in its current state.
Eons ago, I rented a place that had a clothesline and I loved it! I had to take my clothes to a laundromat, but I brought them home wet and hung them out. It was great!
And even if someone doesn’t use lines regularly, they’re great for airing out blankets or comforters. I’d fix 'em up.
Depends on who lives there and wants to use it or would a tenant rather have more yard space for kids to play. Sometimes
People Use to keep a dog o a leash on the yard.
If I had a place with a yard, I’d definitely install a clothesline, if it didn’t have one already. Having one already there would definitely be a plus.
I too like the idea of restoring it and keeping it. I doubt it’d be used every week, but we’re living in a ‘back to basics’ movement and more green, and a nice looking clothesline would have some charm to it.
We had the same thing from about 1960. We ended up getting a handyman with a serious saw to cut them down. They were heavy galvanized steel; I can only imagine what the hunks of cement would weigh. Ours were to the side of the property, so at least they weren’t blocking the backyard and they’re not in an area with grass, so mowing isn’t a problem. They did interfere with parking, hence our decision.
Cutting it down but leaving exposed stubs of pipes seems to be the clearly wrong answer if your situation’s like Elmer’s.
A lot of people are quite charmed by them, and I agree with others who say that green options are always attractive to people. Not only is it more energy efficient to hang clothes, it’s cheaper, too. On top of all that, sheets dried in the fresh breezes have a quality that can’t be reproduced with a clothes dryer. For better or worse.
I’d fix it up and use it as a feature, not a bug. (Speaking of bugs… I wouldn’t mention those.)
We loved non-laundry days because we could make tents on the clotheslines. Or it could become a stage with curtains for neighborhood performances. My mom’s lines never got in the way of play space, even when they were full of clothes.
Clotheslines are good for a lot of things. Hang your sleeping bags on 'em and hose 'em off. Hang your comforters outside to air out. Hang throw rug in order to beat it. (Yeah, okay, probably nobody does that.)
Hmm… let’s see, I’ve rented all my adult life… Yes, yes I would use a clothesline IF there was a fence around the yard because who wants random jackholes stealing my underwear?
YMMV - or your renters MMV. Do other people in the neighborhood use clotheslines?
I say keep it. My parents have always had one, in the 50 years they’ve been at their house, as well as a washer and dryer. It gets used. I take my comforters over there once a year to hang them out just for the smell.
The main thing it gets used for these days is a place to hang the grandkids’ towels after a day of playing on the slip n slide. They also hang up the slip n slide for it to dry.
If you can, make it so the base doesn’t have to be trimmed with the trimmer. At my parents the concrete comes up to the grass line so no grass grows there and you can mow over the concrete circle. You can also Round Up around them if grass insists on growing there, so tenants know it’s ok.
Tenants will pay for electricity. The guy who would cut them off would dig down a least 6 inches (if not more) and use a cutting torch to cut them off. Having something exposed affter I cut them off was a safety concern that I first thought of so that’s why I want 6 inches or more dug out.
The clotheslines are toward the side edge of the property so not in the middle of the yard but does take up some space in the back yard.
Probably end up keeping them and they would be there if they want to be used. Neighbors on both side have fences so shouldn’t need to worry about people running though the backyards and getting “clotheslined”.