I’m erecting a gazebo on patio paver blocks. The blocks are 18" x 18" square. The gazebo is 10’ x 12’ with four beveled corners allowing for up to 4 mounting holes in each corner.
As is well known these gazebos are very prone to wind damage.
My question is, any suggestion on how to anchor the gazebo to the paver stones to prevent moderate windy days from tearing it down? I’ll be sure to remove the screen and canvas covering on those breezy days so just the frame is exposed.
I’m thinking I could drill holes in the pavers and use a lead anchor bolt. Or drill through the paver into the crushed stone and deeper still into the clay base and insert a long tent type stake.
Another idea was to put two of the corners on the edge of the grass as it meets the patio and again use long tent stakes and then drilling into the pavers on the other corners as suggested above. This would eliminate damage to some of the pavers.
Maybe some large decorative stone weights on top of each corner flange.
We’ve got a big metal gazebo/tent on our driveway, and we haven’t anchored it for two years. It’s been fine, but one thing I’ve heard is putting sand bags in the legs to anchor it down.
Last week we had a very windy storm, and I was watching it closely during the gusts. The canvas was ballooning pretty good, but it never left the ground. I’d say unless a tornado hits, anchoring wouldn’t be necessary, even in the strongest of non-tornado winds.
I think the decorative stone idea really would be enough. Also, I wouldn’t recommend removing the canvas tent too often. If yours is anything like mine, it’s a PITA to get on and off, and the more you take it on and off, the quicker the seams will get worn out.
Thanks for the info. I like the idea of sand bags. I’ll try that idea first. I’ll take your word about the canvas removal. It’s been suggested that we order a replacement canvas soon before the style is outdated.
This will be our first time with a gazebo. We have had those folding ones and the wind does a real number on them. So I thought I would have the same problem with the metal gazebo.
I’m not 100% sure on your usage whether this gazebo is meant to be a permanent structure or not?
As Happy suggests, sandbags on the corners will work reasonably well, as will stakes/tent pegs. But either of those are IMO temporary solutions which won’t stand up to a really heavy storm. (Unless you do pull the canvas off beforehand).
I would not recommend attaching it to the pavers, unless they themselves are concreted in (doesn’t sound like it) Any storm sufficiently powerful to move the structure if sandbagged/pegged will happily carry away 2/4 pavers of that size, and you’ve simply created some nice stone blocks on the end of this flying gazebo to cause more damage with.
If the gazebo is to be a completely permanent structure, personally I’d create some concrete footings to bolt the gazebo too. But I always overengineer my home projects, and whether you want to go to that much trouble, as it would be some work a bit tricky to do it under/around the existing pavers.
No it is not meant to be permanent structure. Especially in the Western New York area. It will only be used used during the summer months. My wife came up with a unique idea, to buy some large flower pots weighted with sand or stone and plant something in each one and anchor them to each corner. I think this can be easily done. This should take care of any typical windy days. Any windstorm beyond that and l doubt anything short of a permanent structure with footers would work.
These are meant for soil. This is on paver stones.
But thanks for the reply. We decided to buy four large flower pots filled with sand and use something like a wreath hook to attached to the lower section. This seems to stabilize the unit very well. Any winds that can pick up after this will be beyond any reasonable thing I can prevent.