Many people have gotten pretty metal gazebos for their back patios or yards, usually with a canvas cover. If left out during the rainy season, the water can pool and stretch the top in unexpected ways. This can result in an ugly, ill-fitting cover that leaks. Here is a great way to keep the cover in place, without damage or a lot of expense.
My friend sent me some pictures of her creative solution. Buy some round foam tubes (for insulation) from the home improvement store. You can also use pool noodles, but they are not generally a neutral color. Tuck them between the metal bars and the canvas to encourage the water to run off instead of pooling. They even cut notches in the foam to ensure they stay in place.
They also tried picnic table weights and fishing weights to pull it down, but it still would puddle up a bit. The foam was way more effective. The only downfall is that it is a bit difficult to open or close the curtains, but it is easy to pop off the foam and reattach.
Hope this helps!
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Jess - thanks for this video - I have had this happen and this will help save my new cover as in Florida when our rains start we have a downpour almost every day.
Where is the video of which you spoke? I can only find pictures. Thank you.
What size pipe foam did you use? I see 1/2 - 1.
That seems about right. This is my friend's gazebo so I don't have access to measure it. You just want it to be thick enough to be relatively rigid to keep the canvas pushed away from the metal structure.
How many did you use?
There is a small section on each corner and another one in the middle of each side, to keep the canvas away from the poles. There are four more small pieces in the middle to prevent sagging there. It was probably about 2 long pieces of insulation. It really does work great.
I would consider taking it down during the cold season, especially if it gets very windy. I lost a similar structure a few years ago during a very bad storm. I didn't have it staked or weighted down though, which would have helped.
This idea is GENIUS! Using the black pipe foam insulation makes it hardly noticeable at all, and folks, it works like magic. In the midst of two days of hard rain, 1.7 so far today, and there is NO water pooling on our new canopy. Thank you, thank you for posting this!
I'm so glad it worked out for you. I thought it was a great idea and their canopy has lasted through the last two years with no damage or sagging.
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