Whether you are going on a camping trip or wanting to set something up in your backyard, you must make sure your pop-up gazebo is properly anchored so it doesn’t blow away.
You don’t want to be sitting inside of it, for it to be blown over or away. A pop-up gazebo that is not secured properly is dangerous to the users and cause damage to other properties
These types of canopies are easily lifted into the air when the wind gets underneath them and if they are not anchored down they can easily be blown away like kites.
Anchoring a pop-up canopy to the floor isn’t difficult or expensive and is easy if you do it the right way.
Here’s How to Stop Your Pop up Gazebo Blowing Away
- Use an extra rope to secure the frame
- Add leg weight bags
- Peg it from the bottom
- Rope it from the top
Doing these four things will keep the gazebo safe as well as the people inside.
Screw/Peg the frame legs down
This is one of the first things that should be done when setting up the gazebo since it’s the best way to keep the gazebo from flying away.
You want to peg all of the legs into the ground in order to keep the gazebo stable.
What’s even more important is the type of pegs you are using. This is more important because certain pegs don’t perform well with different types of terrain.
If the gazebo is going to be set up in a sandy area you need to use sand pegs because they’re designed to be more stable in the sand than pegs that were made for soil.
Tie Extra Rope Through the Frame
Preferrable with nylon rope, you need to tie the rope around the frame of the gazebo and onto another object such as a vehicle. A lot of vehicles now have side-steps to tie them to.
Once the frame has been secured, tie the rope to the side-step. This makes the vehicle act like an anchor for the gazebo. If your vehicle has a bullbar, you can use this instead.
In fact, people actually prefer using bullbars instead of side-steps since they are easier to tie the gazebo to.
If you are in your backyard then that’s okay too. It doesn’t have to be a vehicle you use for support. If there are trees nearby, you can attach the gazebo to trees for extra support.
All you have to do is tie the rope around the base of the tree. It is recommended to use a vehicle instead of a tree because trees can get struck by lightning.
Being closer to a tree will put you more at risk of getting hit by lightning so only use this as a last resort.
These will act as guy ropes should you not have sewn-in material hoops on the gazebo.
Using Leg Weight Bags
This is exactly what it sounds like. You attach bags that weigh a lot to the legs of the gazebo. The extra weight adds strength to the gazebo, keeping it attached to the ground.
How much weight to use depends on how windy it is but generally, 18 kg per bag is enough. But if the weather is going to be really bad, using bags between 20-25 kg will help.
There are a lot of weight bag packs online that you can buy but before you do that, make sure it has the right number of weights. Some gazebos have 4 legs and others have 6 legs.
Don’t waste money by buying too many weights or not buying enough or even the wrong type.
Rope it from the top
It’s not enough to have rope going through the frame. you also need to have rope coming from the top as well. This is what connects the entire gazebo to the ground.
Add rope to each corner of the gazebo and tie them at a 45-degree angle. 45 degrees is the best way to tie the ropes because it offers the most support.
Not doing it at the correct angle can provide less support or even damage the gazebo by stretching or creating tears in the fabric.
For extra windy conditions, use two ropes per corner. After you’ve done each corner. make sure the gazebo is stable. Move it around a little bit to see if it stays in place.
If it moves a lot, go and look at each leg to make sure they are all in the ground and that the ropes are securing the frame of the gazebo.