Question About Patio Dining Table and Rain
DIY patio table with umbrella and beer hideaways.
Best low maintainance patio furniture?
Looking for the Best Patio Sets for Small Spaces 2025?
How many pieces come with products in Patio Dining Sets?
Is there a Ocean Blue product available in Patio Dining Sets?
What are the shipping options for Patio Dining Sets?
Videos
Hello all, I'm new to patio "ownership" and I have a question.
For those of you that have patio dining tables with umbrellas, what do you do to protect the table from rain? For clarity, my patio table is "rust-resistant steel", which I assume means coated. I'm in the midwest, so we get four seasons.
I don't see a lot of great options:
-
Remove the umbrella and cover the table when it rains, which seems almost infeasible due to unexpected rain/frequent rain.
-
Only remove the umbrella and cover the table when extended or heavy periods of rain are expected (less of a pain, but still...)
-
Cover the table in the winter, and just leave it uncovered in spring and summer (I'm hoping this option can work, but I wonder if it will be good enough for a "rust resistant" table)
-
Stop using the "through-the-table" umbrella and get a cantilever umbrella (this may not work because my patio is small, but I'll try if it's my best option). Then cover the table easily as needed.
-
Get a patio cover with an umbrella hole (the grommet hole in these covers is small, so the umbrella might have to be removed to use this type of cover anyway).
What do you do? Do you remove the umbrella any time it rains? That seems a bit unrealistic, right? Do you remove it only in heavy rains? Just want to keep my table in good shape for a long time. I'd be super happy to get 10 years out of it. Thanks!