Poolside Umbrella

While sitting out at the pool may be nice on a hot day, the sun beating down on someone can really leave you red in the face. So Marinda got this umbrella.

Though it is a nice umbrella, we opted for the one without the base as it was cheaper.

So, my project was to set this up so it was sturdy, yet without a base.

We have a very large umbrella on our deck, and have had for many years. Finally it had to be released from service. The sun had taken its tole, and some rodents helped it out a little. So we bought a replacement, but I kept some of the hardware of the old one..."just in case".

Good thing I did. The main pole of the old umbrella was larger in diameter on the inside than this umbrella's pole's outside diameter! It fits nicely inside the old pole.

So, the idea was to use the old pole, bury it in the ground, give it stability and the new pole can slide right in and be used, yet be removed easily as well.

Today, as we were discussing how we were going to do that, Marinda had the idea to use foam as the base instead of concrete. We had previously used that for some of our fence posts, and it works great! It is also cheaper, and can be used within a few minutes instead of waiting a day or so!

So I dug a hole, stabilized and leveled it, and poured the foam. Within 5 minutes I was able to easily cut off some of the excess foam with a shop knife.

In order to keep the new pole from dropping too far down, I inserted a bolt through the old pole, just below ground level, then fill the top of the hole with dirt and gravel.

All in all I think it turned out great. When not in use, the pole will be sticking up, but I am sure we can find some other use for it in the off season.