How to Build a Pipe Ball Lawn Game

By: Jennifer Stimpson, This Old House online

Shopping List

Supplies You Will Need

4-inch drainpipe Get one 10-foot length per rack

1x5. Get 6 feet

Stick-on numbers

Plastic ties in 11-inch lengths

Tennis balls Get two packs of three in different colors

Spray paint

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Tools List
Tools You Will Need
- Pull saw
- Circular saw
- Drill/driver fitted with a ¼-inch drill bit
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Photo: Room 5 Films

Introduction
Overview
Steps:
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3 hours
$46, including tennis balls

Difficulty: Easy Once the pipes are cut, just paint and assemble the pieces.

All those hours of playing Nerf hoops might finally add up to a useful skill when you bust out the pipe-ball game at your next garden party. Instead of shooting a foam basketball at a door-mounted hoop, though, you're arcing a tennis ball at a grouping of pipes—and the rebound is nasty.

The angled ends and the varying heights of the pipes make it a game of skill that demands nothing less than the equivalent of a swish. Catch the unforgiving angled rim of one of the pipes and you’re off to the bushes to find where the ball bounced. But let’s be honest: The search won't be any harder than rooting around for that Nerf basketball in your childhood room.