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Fiberglass tubing — $14 for 14 tubes worth more than $3,000! What will I do with these pretties?

Pam Kueber - Updated: August 18, 2021

Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021; these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.

I went to my Re-Store Habitat for Humanity in Pittsfield, Mass., on Saturday to poke around. This Re-Store is, hands-down, my favorite place in the world to shop. There were lots of treasures, which for the most part I could admire and pass by, but then, at the very end of my meander, perched in the scrap wood section: What are theeeeeese shiny things?
Shiny, golden, textured plastic(y) tubes! I know they are some kind of man-made material, but what matters is that they remind me of bamboo. There’s no price marked, but I know they won’t be much, so I pick up three, thinking I’ll make some sort of artsy fartsy glamorous palm tree out of them for my Mahalo Lounge. 

I carry the three tubes up to the front desk and ask, “How much?” The attendant looks and says, “$1 each.” “Okay,” I say. I change my speed from ‘meander’ to ‘hustle’ and hustle back to get the rest o’ those tubes. I am ready to fight for them as in, “Oh, I just took the first three up to the desk because that is all I could carry at one time. I was going to get them all.” There is no competition (it’s a gorgeous Saturday afternoon outside, so it’s slow at the Re-Store) but even so, I carry (drag) the remaining 11 to the desk all at once.

I don’t know what they are — what they were originally used for — but I know they are “something” — I know they are very cool — and I know that with so many, I can do something epic with them.

And, at $1 each, not only can I afford to buy them all, but I also know that if I don’t I will regret it.

$3,276 worth of tubes!

So, yes, I am now the proud owner of 14 fiberglass tubes. Each tube is 2″ wide.

But: What are they?

There are a variety of “fiberglass tubes” online that look similar, and after a few minutes of playing with Google I find near-identical looking examples on this site that sells “fiberglass wet exhaust tube connectors” used in the marine (boating) industry. These must be what I have.

How much is my find worth? I find the tube connectors available for sale retail on this site. My 72″ long, 2″ wide tubes are worth $234 each, I calculate. That’s $3,276 for 14! I am rich! 

Alas, I am not keen on selling things like this online: Perhaps they are seconds or rejects. I will keep them and upcycle them into something neat-o for my Lounge. Aren’t they pretty! 

What should I make with them? 
I have 84 linear feet to work with!

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54 comments

Comments

  1. Sandra says

    It would be nice to know how they do with UV light. PVC and ABS plastic pipes, for example, often become brittle over time when exposed to sunlight. If these were made for marine use, I would hope they’re good with UV, and it may explain the higher cost.
    You could use them to hide cords or cables.
    What do they look like with sunlight behind them?
    What do they sound like when they tap each other?
    How transparent are they? You could string some LED lights through them and have a lamp fixture.

  2. Dan says

    A ring of these cut to about 18″ could make a table base. but then you’d have to get crafty for the top. Torchiere bases? For a screen, how about connecting several tubes with heavy wire strung through holes drilled in the sides, putting wood bead spacers between the tubes – sort of like an oversized bamboo roll up shade stood on end.

  3. roberta says

    Cut in half lengthwise, they would cover quite a width with a bamboo effect. Very three-dimensional, and the perfect color.

  4. Barbara says

    Make a chair/two!
    Spray paint them!
    Instruments! Fill up the tubes, close off each end and shake…! Get your tiki dance on!:)
    Barbara

  5. Lynne says

    Lets see….how about a room divider or 3 panel screen ?

    Maybe we all need to sit down and watch some Gilligan’s Island reruns and get some inspiration?

    • Karin says

      I confess my first thought was a room divider as well! The divider could be curvy and S-shaped instead of square. I have seen this done with tubing and it looked stunning.

  6. Steve H says

    You could watch some old episodes of Gilligan’s Island for inspiration. I was always amazed by what those castaways could do with bamboo.

    • Tommy Knappenberger says

      I had a Gilligan’s Island party about 20 years ago. It was one of the best ones I ever had. A boat in the yard with
      S S MINNOW on the side, porta-can wrapped in bamboo, coconut bras,
      a fly over by Wrong Way Feldman, headhunters,white radio, too much stuff to list. And plenty of castaways.
      Gilligan, the Skipper too, the millionare and his wife, the movie star, the proffeser and Mary Ann (lots and lots of Mary Anns).

  7. Carolyn says

    What happens if you shine a light down one end? A giant glow stick? or if you run an enclosed light string thru…
    Is this sort of that thing where someone buys an old painting for a few bucks and it turns out to have been done by a master worth roughly a bagillion dollars?
    And whoever took them in and had to price them thought “Oh great, these things are going to be here forEVer like those danged Popular Mechanics encyclopedias.”

  8. Jay says

    HA! I wonder if the re-store knew what they were when they took them in and probably wondered if anyone would ever buy them; not expecting them to go out the door in one fell swoop. Interesting things turn up at your re-store and you freed up floor space for them. Are they translucent, perhaps you could create some type of lighting and definitely palm tree trunks. Perhaps supports for a thatched roof over your Tiki bar. I know you’ll come up with something.

  9. Nancy says

    You could create a grove of palm trees, or a bamboo thicket with up lights twinkling among and up through the trunks!