Patio umbrellas and bases

Where does the sun sit at 6 PM? Start there. This group holds 12 products: umbrellas and the bases that keep them standing, with base materials running from steel to cast iron, concrete and stainless steel. Four are listed for patio use, so read the usage line on a page before anything goes into a plan.

Put the shade where the sun lands at dinner

Walk the patio at 4 PM and again at 6. The building's shadow moves, the glare off the pavement does not, and the tables that sit in direct sun at both times are the ones that get an umbrella first. Mark those on a sketch before you open a single product page.

An umbrella covers a circle, while a table is a square or a round. Check the canopy size on the product page against the top it should shade, plus the chairs pulled out around it. Shade that stops at the table edge leaves the guests in the sun.

What holds the pole down

The bases here are steel on five products, cast iron on two, concrete on one and stainless steel on one. Look up the weight on each product page, then read the umbrella's own page for what it asks of a base, because a gust turns a pole into a lever and the base is all that argues back. A black cast iron umbrella base is one example, at $416.

When the breeze picks up during service, close the umbrella. An open canopy is a sail. Put it on the closing checklist, and rinse and dry the canopy before it goes into storage at the end of the season.

Only four of the 12 products are listed for patio use. The rest do not carry that note, so confirm the listing on a page before an umbrella or a base goes into a plan. Prices start around $121.

Through the table or beside it

Two arrangements are common. The pole passes through a hole in the tabletop and rests in a base underneath, or the umbrella stands on its own base at the side of the table. Patio tables with umbrella holes covers the first, and outdoor table bases shows what sits under a table.

Sharing the patio with a heater? Keep the canopy where the heater's own instructions and your local fire code allow, and let the person installing it decide. The heaters are in patio heaters. The rest of the terrace, from chairs to partitions, starts at outdoor restaurant furniture, and patio plans will hold the shade layout by season.