Garden Parasols
Domestic Parasols
A beautiful, stable and well specified outdoor parasol is a perfect shading solution for many patios and gardens in the UK. Superior fabrics for the canopy, resisting fading, UV damage and also strong enough to not tear or deteriorate in damp and windy weather, along with a super strong and stable support pole or side arm system. Choose the right parasol and you will get many years of use, pleasure and protection in your perfect outdoor space. They are also easy to handle and relocate with weighted movable bases, although we do stress they need to be heavier than the usual bases provided with mass produced parasols.
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If you want a product which lasts for many years to come, especially when it is used outdoors in the Uk, then you need high quality and reliability through design, strength and durability of components. Something which ends up even better than the sum of its high quality parts.
Exceptional quality and beautiful appearances from our domestic parasol range.
What makes an outdoor parasol ‘fit for purpose’? It really depends on what you want it to do for you?
For most customers a medium to large outdoor parasol for a patio, terrace or garden area is used for sun shading and the UK market is flooded with so many options in garden centres, online and other retailers. However look carefully and you will see the differences.
The size of the supporting pole and umbrella struts reveals their potential to deal with breezes, mild and strong, eventually damaging something if left unchecked. The size, weight and relevance of the supporting base or sleeve for the support of the parasol. How much wind will it actually take before the parasol tips over and either damages itself or something else?
Compare a lot of our domestic umbrellas and look at the finer details like the fabric thickness, the pole size and material, the base weight and size and how do they open and close?
We know most of our parasols are of a far higher quality than the usual ‘standard’ mass produced brands and models on the UK market and are certainly fit for purpose. We even offer parasols more suited to protection from rain and wind if required. Take a look at our extensive range online, call or email us for further help.
One of the highest quality and bespoke parasol ranges available is from May parasols, a very large, long established, family business in Germany, manufacturing the highest quality parasols for domestic and commercial use. Over time we will be adding the complete May umbrella range to our website for reviewing and buying directly online.
May offer centre pole and cantilever umbrellas and one of the largest selections of sizes shapes, colours and fixing base options for any umbrella. Many of the parasols can also be fitted with lighting, heating and other nice options to further enhance your outdoor living space at home in your garden.
Imagine coming home after a long day at work, leaving your worries at the door, while taking off your shoes,walking through your house or flat to open the door to the outdoor patio or balcony – it’s a door to freedom. This is where you find your oasis, the place that lets you find peace.
You will see many different umbrella models within our website and shop. There are many cantilever, side arm supported models now available and also the constant expansion of our centre pole models too, for the very largest sizes possible.
Which one is best for you? Simply put the side arm, cantilever umbrellas can never deal with as much wind speed as a centre pole parasol, so if you have an exposed garden or patio then maybe the side arm isn't for you? We like to think that most parasols are suitable for wind speeds where you are still happy to be sitting outside and enjoying the outdoors and when it isn't comfortable then neither should your parasol be open and exposed. The simple fact is we do have many centre pole parasols which will take quite high wind speeds and have been tested to certify the speeds they can be used in.
The side arm system will obviously give you more flexibility when it comes to positioning the canopy cover, especially over table and chairs but the centre pole parasols can go to far larger sizes and properly positioned through a table can give you the largest covered shading.
All the parasols are super easy to operate at whatever size with either a simple rope pulley system or a winding handle system, either direct or geared, when the size and weight increases.
All the parasols we sell have fully replaceable parts, which might seem obvious to some but it really isn’t these days. Any product which is manufactured to a high standard and is actually a developed product over time, engineered to be the best it can in its field will normally have replaceable parts to give you the best chance of the very longest lifespan and a peace of mind too. In an increasingly throwaway world where we might make a snap decision on buying something as it looks like a great deal, we normally find out it is a mass produced product which has no support and certainly no parts available when something breaks in a year or 2 down the line.
At that point you have to fully replace. Buy cheap and nearly always buy twice, or even more these days it seems….
There is no exact science to this, just a whole choice of square, round, rectangular and oval in shape and many different size options too.
Some general rules of thumb might be for 2-4 persons to sit underneath on a standard table then look at 1.8m - 2.4m in diameter or across any width. For 4-6 people then look at 2.4m - 3m sizes and for 6 plus people look at larger than 3m sizes BUT it is up to you and if you want to shade for longer and as the sun rises or goes down then the larger the better of course.
Any parasol used outdoors larger than 4m x 4m becomes quite a serious system to manage but if it is specified and installed with the correct in ground or surface mounted base then it isn’t a major concern in wind but does need closing above wind speeds which are making it flap and move but also windier than you would like to sit outside in anyway.
Most larger high quality parasol systems will have a geared winding mechanism to make life easy in operating and the whole canopy also lifts when closing and opening to avoid sweeping across a table, or making you have to limbo to go underneath the closing canopy.
This is a constant query and the simple rule of thumb, assuming you are a normal person, is that if it is too windy to sit outside comfortably, then it is too windy for your parasol to be open as well.. Most high quality outdoor specified parasols will be able to deal with wind speeds of around 20 - 25 mp/h, but we are talking here about centre pole supported parasols and not side supported or cantilever models.
Obviously the larger the parasol, the more it can move around in windier conditions, but saying that we do offer the fantastic Vortex parasol, which is tested to be open for long periods of time in wind speeds over 100km/h - a speed of course, where you wouldn’t be outside anyway.
It isn't really a domestic parasol by design but has been sold for domestic use previously. The May and Tradewinds centre pole parasols are one of the better models for a sturdier wind resistance if your garden or patio is more exposed or you are by the coast.
The simple answer is that it depends on the parasol brand, model and fabric choice. Any of our centre pole parasol options would certainly not be phased by rainfall as the sloping angle of the canopy is sufficient to let the water drain off quickly. Would you want to use an umbrella in the rain? Maybe if you have started an outdoor party or barbeque and it starts to rain then yes, you would.
There are fabric choices with companies like May which offer greater water resistance and properties to deal with water for sure. Light rain, no problem at all, any rain accompanied by wind then close the parasol and be safe.
In the ranges we offer there are over 100 different colours to choose from for your new parasol canopy. Standard framework colours are available and special colours on request but for the fabric choices there are plenty of standard colours available to choose from and some special fabrics too, generally for commercial use.
The exact UV protection varies from colour to colour and if this is important to you please email or call us for exact details. A lot of the details are in the PDF colour brochures.
