Patio Umbrellas Help - Windy Conditions

[illini40]

Good morning

What suggestions, experience, etc. do you have for using patio umbrellas in windier conditions (not talking a hurricane, but a decent wind)?

Situation: we have finished our pool area, and we need some shade. We live up on a bit of a bluff, and we are pretty open, thus, we get wind pretty consistently.


I tried a rectangle umbrella, in a heavier base, in a dining table, and the pivot point towards the top has already broke. Link for reference

A year or two ago, I used quick crete around a PVC pipe, in a five gallon bucket, dropped into a large planter. I have a round umbrella in this, and it seems to do well. The planter with the bucket is super heavy.

Do you have any experience with large offset umbrellas? Something like this

Other ideas or suggestions?

I’m only interested in umbrellas for this area.

 

[gmc2003]

Sorry no help here. I use an ez-up canopy.

Chris

 

[TNJAKE]

I don't have any experience with umbrellas but my mom has 2 around her pool similar to the ones you posted in the Costco link. She loves them and the canopy moves with the wind instead of being stationary which traps the wind. As far as I know here have been up since she got them with no issue

 

[chopsaw]

I know people that have the ones like in the Costco link . Like Jake said , no issues .
I have one like you said broke . I don't leave it up all the time . I have had strong winds take the whole table with the umbrella before . Mine sits close to the house . I used a dog tie out ( cable with a spring ) and tied it from the top of the umbrella back to a truss tail . I've since taken it down . It worked , just didn't like the stress on the structure .

You can buy these if you want to try a tie down point . I have installed these for other people . They sit flush , and have an insert when not in use . You just have to deal with a tether .

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Just some ideas .

Edit , Just wanted to say that I installed the anchors for an Easy up canopy .

 

[sawhorseray]

I've gone thru a couple of umbrellas trying to keep the sun off of my offset during summer cooks, the CC gets up to 150º with nothing in it. Forget to take them down, wind comes up and they snap. I can keep the smoker temp down to around 275º without the umbrella, good enough for Aaron Rodgers it's good enough for me. RAY

 

[ryan7170]

You should check out the alize umbrella. It stands up to a lot of wind because of the vent for the fans. The other thing thats great about it when your smoking meat is it blows the smoke away from he table.

 

[radioguy]

We have one of those large offset umbrellas. I didn't like the large water/sand weights. So I welded up a plate and base for it. The deck is reinforced below with 6×6 post. I leave this mount in all year round.
You could do something similar with
threaded anchors

RG

 

[chef k-dude]

We have parasols similar to those in the Costco link without the bent vertical shaft. Years ago a discount store here called Tuesday Morning sold pretty good ones we would get and they sold solid weights like these

Amazon.com

But these days that store is closed and finding solid ones that normal people can afford is very hard, so they are all sand or water filled these days it seems. I keep epoxying the ones we have together when they break then spray painting them because they eventually look terrible.

Investing in the higher-end umbrellas that vent gusts could be an option if you have that kind of money, and if you always have wind and are often out there, the investment may be worth it. The problem is, with canopies or umbrellas...the sun moves...or rather the earth moves, so the angle of the sun changes during the day. The advantage with the more mobile parasols with loose weights is a man can move them around without too much work, repositioning them if you want.

We didn't pay nearly as much as they are selling for now for ours, and as long as the crank mechanism still works, I replace the fabric parasol when it gets shabby. Before I put the new ones on, I lay them out in the driveway and coat them with water seal, the stuff you can buy for tents, etc. so they actually repel light rain. We actually bought a spare umbrella when they were under $100 before that store closed and we still have stashed. Full sized 11'.

I just dont open ours when the wind is high, even with the weights, and you HAVE to remember to put them down when you are finished in the area. Here its usually a front passing through/storm and its temporary and usually not a day for sitting around outside and eating Al Fresco anyway.

Best of luck!

 

[sandyut]

I bought a four pack of the sand wedge things. You fill them with sand then water. They are pretty darn heavy. Never had an issue

 

[DougE]

I once almost flew off like Mary Poppins with my mom and dad's patio umbrella, trying to hold it down in a big wind years ago. I won out in the end but darn near got the ride of my life!

 

[forktender]

I once almost flew off like Mary Poppins with my mom and dad's patio umbrella, trying to hold it down in a big wind years ago. I won out in the end but darn near got the ride of my life!

I know this is an old thread, but I clicked on it to see the outcome.

Doug, your post made me LOL.

When I was a kid, my Mom came into my room one morning, and she was pissed. She kept accusing me of taking the patio table and umbrella down to the river. I was like what in the hell are you talking about, and she says, it's gone, and I know that you took it down to the river party spot. I was like, Mom, you're insane. After I got up and ready for work, I open the front door and her cast iron table and umbrella is leaning up against her new 1976 Bicentennial edition Cadillac, Eduardo.

The wind flew it over the house about 50 yards to where her car was parked.
I walked back into the house and said Ma, go look in the front yard, and she saw it and started crying, I felt bad, but I have to admit that I laughed at her.

There was one of those mushroom cap looking concrete weight on the thing as well as the weight of the C.I. table, that thing got some serious air to clear the house, and across the yard to the driveway. LOL!!!

Not a lot of damage to her car, a dent in the trunk lid, and some scratches, her homeowner's insurance covered the repairs.

 

[DougE]

Doug, your post made me LOL.

Wasn't embellished a bit. Me and my sister were sitting in the kitchen. We heard what resembled a jet flying over the house, so rather than heading to the basement, we go out the sliding door out to the deck. Ashtrays and stuff like that flying past us in the wind. I spot the umbrella and table starting to come up off the deck, so in dumba$$ fashion, I decide to grab hold of it and keep it from blowing off. Not one of my brighter moments, but I did manage keep it from blowing off without being taken with it until the wind calmed down some.

 

[bill1]

I don't see a point in leaving them up when we're not outside so I normally leave mine closed with a strap or bungee holding them tight together. Greatly reduces the surface area for wind sailing.

And when harsh weather is coming, I take them down completely and store 'em in a shed....I truly think the wind loading could buckle the thin tubing or wood pole-based ones. If I didn't have a shed for them, I suspect a piece of conduit or pipe could be found that could go inside the thin wall metal ones to give them adequate strength.

 

[Chris_in_SoCal]

We get frequent strong winds. We just keep track of the weather conditions and if they are stronger than 20mph we close the umbrella (Costco one). If they are over 30 mph I will lift the unit out and set it on the ground. That has always worked.

We recently reconfigured our back yard and moved the table and chairs under a grape vine covered space with great shade so the umbrella is no longer needed.