How do I anchor an umbrella?
+6
I have a childcare in my home and their outside area to play is in rocks and needs shade. I have several umbrellas, but one which is largerand is in need of an idea to stabilize it so it won't fall over. Right now I am using sand bags which are inside of old dog food bags. I did this because the sand bags do not last a winter and a hot summer in CA. The problem is in the past I have sewn the bags shut but this doesn't last long even if I use outside thread. Any ideas? They love climbing on them but the way they are the sand eventually comes out.
I would add some quik crete to the sand in the bags, add water and mix. Keep the kids out of the bags because this will harden into a concrete base and be really rough. Maybe you can add a thick cover to it to protect the kids from falls, scrapes, or other mischief they will get into.
Buy a umbrella base for it. If its in a play area you should make sure is safety anchored.
Get a 5 gallon bucket, decorate it. Get a piece of pipe a little larger than the umbrella pipe, put that in the bucket, pour some mixed concrete in and make sure your pipe is straight, wait until the concrete or cement has set and is dry, then put your umbrella in it. Take measurements to make sure everything is the way you want it.
You better brighten up before someone gets impaled or hurt by that umbrella. There are stands that fill with water for weight or dig a hole and put a larger pipe in a foot deep in cement that doesn’t protrude above ground level.
I like chubbys idea, the little boogers couldn't tip it over
Walker and Porter have the best solutions. If you use the bucket it would have to be placed in the ground. A child climbing on the pole would still tip it.
Get some round edgers and dig the poles in about 1 foot. Then place the pavers around the pole in a circle. Put the sand side the pavers without the bags. Tell the kids no shade if they climb the poles. LOL
Chubbys idea is similar to mine. Then I changed it. What I did was got a PVC pipe little bigger round opening than the size of the umbrella stand. It doesn't take a large piece either just enough to.stabilize the umbrella. Take and use a rubber mallet or a hammer. Hammer the PVC pipe in the ground until you have maybe 3/4 inches sticking out of the ground or hammer the PVC even to the ground and then just stick the umbrella in the PVC pipe opening and if the umbrella stand moves around to much pack sand into the opening around the umbrella, you can pack the sand down around it by using and old spoon or a small flower shovel
That way if you ever want to move it,you can, with the PVC pipe even with the ground or close enough out to support the umbrella, know one trips over it and you can store it in winter time.
Instead of umbrellas, which can tip over and hurt someone, have some posts installed into the ground and hang shade sails from them. Coolaroo is one brand, widely available, in various shapes, sizes and colors.
I would use the pail idea with the concrete. Dig it into the ground about 6 inches. I would cut the base out so that you can fill it with concrete and then pull up the pail. Use the Quikcrete to make the job easier. Be sure to put the pipe in the centre, with a bit sticking out so that you can pull it out. If you oil the outside of the pipe, it will slide out easier. Also oil the inside of the pail to make it slide out easier.