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Offset Umbrellas Protect You from Every Angle

It's always exciting to know that spring is just around the corner. Even better is getting your outdoors ready for the sunny season with new shrubbery, plants and outdoor accessories. Along with your outdoor furniture and new accessories think about what will add comfort to those warm days and give a little shade to your outdoor space. Patio umbrellas are not just for hotels and resort locations, they are almost essential to all backyards and poolside areas of every home across America.

Offset umbrellas, sometimes called side post umbrellas or cantilever umbrellas, can offer your outdoor patio great design as well as UV protection. Let’s face it, we all need to protect our selves from those harmful rays but why not do it in style. Sunbrella awning fabrics come in a strong selection of colors and patterns. They have been tested and proven to prevent 98% of the sun’s radiation from penetrating through the Sunbrella awning fabric in most shade applications, although it’s always advisable to wear proper sunscreen in any outdoor situation.

The importance of having an umbrella that can adjust to where the sun hits is an ideal function. Offset umbrellas allow you to adjust to a variety of positions for your desired protection. Offset umbrellas have a crank that allows you to open and close the umbrella as well as a tilt option to adjust to the ever moving sun. Offset umbrellas give great presence and personality, as well as giving you the choice to have a free standing umbrella stand or one that is stationary. Either one you choose, you’ll have a terrific long lasting umbrella that fits your lifestyle.

Wind Resistant Patio Umbrellas

Patio umbrellas can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Picking the right color combination can really add a splash of color to your outdoor space. Whether it's on a patio, a deck, or by a pool, and umbrella can provide beauty and comfort. Most people think about the size, shape, and color when they look for outdoor umbrellas, but what about the style of the frame?

Traditional frames are made of aluminum or wood. Aluminum umbrella frames are very light weight and resistant to corrosion. Wooden umbrella frames are very beautiful and aesthetically pleasing. But one of the biggest problems with both of these umbrellas is the threat of wind damage.

But there is an alternative. One of the most durable types of frames for outdoor umbrellas is a fiberglass frame. Fiberglass is a very flexible and versatile non-corrosive material commonly used in fishing poles and boats. The fiberglass spokes in the umbrella frame makes the umbrella incredibly wind resistant. When the wind blows very hard in a traditional umbrella, the spines are bent and mangled by the wind. Sometimes this causes damage to the fabric as well. But with fiberglass umbrellas, the spines actually bend in the wind. The umbrella can take a lot of abuse from the wind and still go back to its original shape with no resulting damage to the spines.

As for the cost, aluminum umbrellas are the least expensive, with wooden umbrellas costing about 10- 15% more than that. Fiberglass umbrellas will cost you about 10%- 15% on average more than the wooden ones.

So when you're shopping for an outdoor umbrella, make sure you choose the color that looks the best with your surroundings, the size that best fits your space, and the style that will last the longest in your climate.

Article by Markay Auen