How To Install Pipe & Drape and Save Money

As with many types of event rental equipment, eliminating labor will save you money.

Pipe & Drape is often installed at event venues that host back-to-back events. This means installing pipe & drape the day before your event may not be allowed. To save the labor costs involved in after-hour installation and removal of pipe & drape - consider installing it yourself.

The rental company can deliver the Pipe & Drape to the storage area of the venue. You would then move the pipe and drape equipment into the room, set it up, and return it to the storage area after the event.

Depending on the amount of Pipe & Drape involved, you could potentially save hundreds of dollars in labor fees.

How Much Pipe & Drape Do I Need?

The hardest part of pipe & drape is figuring out how much you need. The event coordinator typically does this.

The event coordinator is the one who will make the entire pipe & drape project work.

They will go over to the site and measure the length of the floor where the pipe & drape will be installed. Doorways that have to remain accessible will be included in those measurements (making note of how the door swings to prevent accidents).

The ceiling height will also be measured to make sure it is higher than 8 feet everywhere the pipe & drape will be used.

A hand drawn sketch of the room should be completed before leaving the site to ensure all pipe & drape measurements are correct. By laying a measuring tape on the floor where drape will be installed, it is an easy matter to transfer those numbers to your sketch.

Removable tape can be used as a guide to show where drape walls stop and start while you are getting measurements. This way, if there are any questions about a particular measurement, it is an easy matter to go back and check.

When you are done, the sketch should show how many uprights you will need along with how many drape supports. This will be your ordering list. It will also be your layout guide for installation.

At some venues wind can be an issue. Loading doors, when opened could allow wind to blow down the drape causing property damage and personal injury. While visiting the site look at where the outside doors are and open them. Talk to the site manager to find out if wind is ever an issue. If it is you will need to have either larger bases or weights for the pipe & drape bases.

Installing Pipe & Drape:
Standard pipe and drape layouts use eight-foot high drape. The four components needed are:

1) Aluminum 8’ uprights
2) Steel 8’ bases
3) Adjustable aluminum horizontal drape supports (can be made 6’ to 10’ long)
4) Drape panels (three panels per support).

The installation process is fairly simple, it includes:

Screwing the upright into the base
Laying out the Pipe & Drape
Threading the drape panels onto the drape support.
Hanging the drape support (with 3 drape panels) between the uprights.

The actual installation process goes much quicker if more than one person helps. On layouts of ten sections of pipe & drape or more, three or four helpers can make the job much easier.

Screwing the upright into the base:
One person can screw the uprights into the bases and place them roughly where they should go (a helper can assist placing them). Take care not to “cross thread” the upright by holding it perfectly straight up when screwing it into the base.

After the upright engages the threaded base properly, rock it gently back and forth while screwing it in to make sure it is completely screwed in. This will keep the upright from wobbling in the base.

There are normally two holes in the base to screw an upright into. If you always use the center hole you will never be wrong. The center hole gives the best support to the upright wherever it is standing.

When handling these long uprights, care should be taken not to hit chandeliers, walls, ceilings, and decorations (or people hanging them).

Laying out the pipe & drape line:
The second person would space out the uprights every 10 feet the using one of the drape supports extended out to ten feet long (the second button position).

While laying out your uprights, look at how far it is to the end of that drape line or the corner of the room. You probably will not be able to fit ten foot drape supports across the entire room. If the room’s wall is, say 16 feet, you could use a 6’ and a 10’ drape support to make this up. However, it would look more uniform if two 8’ drape supports were used instead.

Keep an eye out for light fixtures along the wall – you will have to create your drape wall away from them – and you do not want to hit them with the pipes unless you have figured breakage into your budget.

Also watch for low ceiling areas (typical to some hotels) – if you cannot stand the 8’ high upright with base under the low ceiling, then you will have to end that drape line and start another just after the low ceiling. This is an excellent reason to order several extra uprights and bases – even after a pre-event visit to the venue – it is possible to miss something. Each new drape line created needs another upright & base – an unexpected separate drape line will leave you short on uprights.

The drape support you use to space out the uprights is six feet when fully closed. As you slide the support open there is a button that will click into the first hole at eight feet. To get it to ten feet you will have to press the button in while extending the support further. The button will then click into the second hole at the ten foot position.

Threading the drape panels:
The third person would be sliding three drape panels on each drape support (extended out to 10’) preparing them for hanging.

The drape panels have a pocket sewn at the top of the drape – the drape support slides inside it. Try to face the hems of the sewn pockets to the same side so they can be installed away from the view of guests attending the event.

Space the drape panels evenly across the drape support so the drape folds will look uniform. This will avoid the drape looking smooth is some areas and “bunched up” in others.

It is a good idea to create a “drape threading” station (or stations) with two eight foot tables spaced about eight feet apart. This will keep the drape from getting soiled on the floor and will allow the drape hanger handy access to them.

Hanging the drape:
The fourth person should be a basketball player – this way they can hang the drape at the eight-foot height without a problem. If you are not lucky enough to have this taller person handy, you will need a stepladder (or chair) to hang the drape with.

Each of the uprights has four slots at the top (at positions 12, 3, 6, and nine on a clock). These slots allow you to run the pipe & drape either in a straight line or at a ninety-degree angle to accommodate the corners of a room. The drape support has a hook that hooks into this slot and prevents it from sliding out of the upright. Make sure the hook is pointing down when you hang the drape support or it will fall out.

Adjust the length of the drape support to match the uprights previously spaced out before attempting installation. Just hold the drape support next to the uprights you will be installing it in and depress the button on the support while sliding it smaller. When you reach the correct width – hang it up.