Umbrella Base: Guide to buying the best model and materials
Do you have a garden to furnish? Perfect, you will have thought of everything in this case. Deckchair, table, maybe a barbecue, the grass to plant, some decoration here and there, but the element that absolutely cannot be missing is one: the sun umbrella.
A patio or garden umbrella can be the extra gear for any private space; whatever its size: its usefulness, practicality, and ease of use are the keys to their success.
So, the umbrella is it. But one problem remains: How to make it stable?
Guide to purchasing the best Umbrella Base
You could decide to bury it, but even there you could create other stability problems, considering that these are not normally light and handy umbrellas like those on the beach, but of much more robust and often heavy models, designed to withstand entire seasons (or sometimes the years) in the same position. So the only obvious solution could be the purchase of a garden umbrella base.
Regardless of its shape and intrinsic stability, the main enemy of any umbrella is the wind. Modern, vintage, or baroque, any garden umbrella is unfortunately sensitive to the whims of gusts of wind.
Not a small problem, for an object that in the installer’s intentions should remain standing in its place for long periods, even months, exposed to bad weather and all weather conditions.
If the umbrella itself falls, the risks should not be underestimated: fluctuations, damages, and a general danger for those who relax in its shade. However, overcoming this kind of problem is simple: you need a good garden umbrella base.
How to choose the right base for a garden umbrella?
To decide which will be the most suitable umbrella stand for you, the first thing to look at will be the umbrella itself. But contrary to what one might think at first, it is not the shape of the umbrella (squared, rounder, or even triangular) that acts as a discriminant on the basis to choose, as much as the breadth and scope of the umbrella itself.
It is the diameter of the umbrella canvas that determines the response that the latter will have to be external mechanical stresses (for example: as mentioned, the wind), so that as the diameter increases, its reaction to atmospheric agents will also increase, and its stability will be lower.
In response to this, the umbrella base’s weight must be directly proportional to the size of the canvas diameter. In other words, the larger the diameter, the heavier the base must be.
We can give an example: a base weighing about 15 kg, resting on a base of approximately 40 cm in diameter, will be able to hold up a sunshade whose canvas will have a diameter of approximately 2.5 meters. It must be borne in mind that a garden umbrella is normally much larger than the data just presented, so much heavier bases will be needed and generally larger in size.
For simplicity, we can divide the bases for umbrellas currently on the market according to the material they are composed.
The simplest and normally the cheapest are the plastic bases. They are particularly suitable for those who do not want to invest significant figures and are essentially containers designed to give stability to the umbrella they support through the water or sand’s weight with which they are normally filled.
However, they are normally only suitable for containing a parasol of not too big size. Going up in level, in weight, and quality, an alternative is the bases in concrete or stone.
Thanks to its structure (stable and durable by definition), they manage to give unparalleled stability even to the heaviest and most complex umbrellas to keep erect. They can be found on the market of variable weights and sizes, but they can weigh more than half a quintal and keep stable umbrellas of very generous dimensions.
The third and last group of bases available on the market is metal bases, generally iron or steel. Again, the stability offered is generally comparable to that given by concrete or stone bases, but obviously, the level of finish (and elegance) will be different.
The aesthetics will surely benefit, as will the durability of this important piece of furniture for your garden.
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