So you have a nice pool in your backyard and want to convert the poolside into a cool lounge? The commercial pool umbrella is what you need. It will give you and your guests much-needed protection from the nasty UV rays and the occasional showers. With the pool umbrellas installed, your poolside will look chic and your guests will love to hang around your place. But how do you decide which commercial pool umbrella is best for you? Here are a few tips to help you out.
The perfect size and shape
You want to protect your guests and yourself from the glare of the summer sun. So you need a commercial umbrella that gives you maximum shade. Deciding what size is best to cover your lounge is pretty easy. Take a tape measure and get the dimensions of your seating area. Leave enough room around the seating arrangement to make sure that the umbrella’s shade covers the entire place and then some. This will give you a good idea about how large an umbrella you need. But remember not to cram a large pool umbrella in a relatively small place.
If you are trying to shade an outdoor table with chairs, leave at least two feet of space all around the seating arrangement and then take the measurements. This will ensure that your umbrella canopy is large enough to shade the whole area at any time during the day.
People are often confused about which canopy shape they need for their poolside lounge. Canopies are available in many different shapes like the octagonal, square and the rectangular ones. Choosing the right shape has a lot to do with the poolside décor. The canopy shape also determines the area a commercial pool umbrella covers. Let’s understand how.
The octagonal canopy shape is a more classical approach to commercial umbrella design. It sits perfectly with a classic décor replete with wooden or cane furniture and wooden flooring. If your poolside has a traditional setup, the octagonal canopy will serve to indulge your taste.
The square or rectangular canopies are more suited to a modern décor replete with a modern furniture setup. If your patio has a minimalist design theme, it will be accentuated by the simplistic design approach of a square or rectangular pool umbrella.
How does the shape of the canopy determine the area of the shade an umbrella provides? Let’s understand. For an octagonal umbrella, “size” refers to the diameter of the canopy. So, an 8 feet octagonal outdoor umbrella has a canopy that is 8 feet in diameter. A little math gives us the overall area – 42.25 square feet. Now you know how large a shade your octagonal outdoor umbrella is going to provide.
The calculation is different for a square canopy. An 8 feet square outdoor umbrella refers to a square canopy with 8 feet long sides. The area of such a canopy comes to 64 square feet. Quite clearly a square canopy will give you more shade than an octagonal canopy of the same “size”.
Centre-post vs. Offset post commercial pool umbrella
Quite frankly this depends upon your taste. Both iterations have their own set of unique advantages. The centre-post pool umbrella has a more traditional design approach. You will need an outdoor table with a hole in its centre to accommodate the umbrella pole. If you and your guests don’t mind the umbrella pole coming in your line of sight, go for this product.
A layered canopy design with scalloped valance looks gorgeous on the centre-post commercial umbrella. If your patio has a traditional décor, the centre-post umbrella will amplify its design cues and add to the ambience on your place.
The offset post pool umbrella has a modern design approach and is extremely practical too. As the name suggests, the offset post umbrella comes with a side-post with the canopy attached to it with the help of an arm. Such an umbrella gives you a lot of room for your furniture setup because the umbrella pole doesn’t interfere with the seating arrangement. There is another variant of the offset post umbrella, the cantilever umbrella.
The cantilever umbrella comes with a swivel-arm that attaches the canopy with the post. You can use the swivel-arm to tilt the canopy and rotate it 360 degrees around the post. This helps you to track the sun and block it effectively at any time of the day. Different mounting options available with the cantilever umbrella help you choose an umbrella that fits your patio seamlessly.
If you have a sprawling patio, you can go for the fixed base commercial pool umbrella. Make sure you have a hard flooring to enable you to fix the umbrella to the patio. If you are hard-pressed for space, you can choose the wall-mounting option available with cantilever umbrellas. This will help you turn a relatively small patio into a cool lounge for your guests.
The Frame and The Canopy
Commercial umbrella manufacturers like Flare Shade use extremely durable materials for their umbrella frames and canopies. The canopy is made of UV and waterproof fabrics. Out testers found that Flare Shade uses Spanish Recasens and Italian Para Tempotest fabrics for their canopies. These materials not only protect you from the sun and the rain, but also retain their sheen for a very long time.
The canopy of your pool umbrella is really your canvas. With the help of all the bespoke services offered by commercial umbrella manufacturers like Flare Shade, you can have anything printed on the canopy. This comes in handy if you are planning to use your commercial pool umbrella as an advertising tool for your business. You can have your brand logo printed on the canopy and choose from a wide variety of colours available for the canopy fabric.
The canopy should ultimately serve as your fashion-statement and amplify the ambience of your poolside lounge.
The frame of the outdoor umbrella is the rigid structure that keeps the umbrella standing. It is made of different durable materials like corrosion-proof steel, aluminium, PVC and wood. Wooden frames have a classic look and feel and go well with garden furniture. But be careful if you live in a particularly damp part of the world. Hard wood, though durable, needs to be taken care of. PVC is cheaper than wood and doesn’t rot in a moist environment. Metal frames are incredibly durable. They can withstand hot summers, heavy downpours and high winds with ease.
Our testers loved the reinforced aluminium frames used in the Flare Shade commercial umbrellas. The powder-coated surface ensures that the frame remains unaffected by the elements for seasons on end and the frame itself is sturdy enough to withstand high winds. This ultimately makes these umbrellas great value-for-money propositions in the long run.
Conclusion
The commercial pool umbrella is not just an accessory. It is a shade solution and an integral part of your patio’s décor at the same time. Follow the tips given in this article and choose wisely.
