Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Metal Gazebos

For starters, why a metal gazebo? Why a gazebo at all. For one, they are just stinking cool. You can't get around it. Your always going to have a bonus to your yard or garden with a gazebo. Why though do we want the metal? Number one reason.....You enjoy being lazy. I do, I'm a put little effort in and get a lot out type of guy. That is exactly what you will get. You just set the thing up and bam....you're done. It takes care of itself. It doesn't require any sort of extra labor. It won't wear out in the weather. With wood you are going to have to do some (though not much) preventative care. We must ask ourselves though. Are all gazebos created equally? No, and what holds true is the old saying, "you get what you pay for" Mainly you are going to find three types of metal used. You got your steel, wrought iron, and your cast aluminum. Those are your typical choices. Each one will have it's own strengths and weaknesses that I'll hopefully cover in another post. Now you can run out and buy a cheap metal gazebo that the neighbors dog snaps the leg on or you can put up something that superman would have to go around the choice is yours. I just want to talk to you a little bit about the reasons you might want a metal gazebo in the first place.

Lets start out with portability. I myself am a person who needs constant change. I don't know if it's that my job has me doing the same mundane nonsense day in and day out or that I just have a low attention span. Either way, I don't like things to be exactly the same all the time. If you find yourself in this boat then one of these bad boys is right up your ally. They are a since to put up and take down. Unlike your wooden gazebos that are much more stationary. A couple of things to keep in mind here about this point. Think of your plants, how well do they transplant? (Don't mind the pun)You may be a mover and a shaker, but your plants might be more of sitters and dwellers. Not that you have to move your plants with your gazebo, you can always just get you some new ones. Don't forget to go back and put something in the empty space left behind, might look a little silly.

Ok, onward and upward. How about up-keep? This is the seller for me right here. There isn't any upkeep. You just assemble and enjoy. How long, as long as you want for many years. The "majority" of you metal gazebos are powder coated with rust proof paint. They are known for lasting, that is why they are a good investment. I can't say enough about their ability to go toe to toe with old man winter and all his not so fair weather friends.

The look....ok, here is where I'm a little biased and have to back off some. I guess it is just my own personal preference but I really like the look of the wooden gazebos better than the metal. The metal can seem a little bit draconian to me. I don't even think I'm using that word correctly. I think I heard it in finance jargon somewhere but it sounds good. Dungeons and castles is what I mean by it. By all means if that is the look and feel you are going for then go for it, me personally though I just like the wood.

An additional note about the weather. The metal gazebo canopy is made with a wind vent to allow blowing winds pass on through and release some of the pressure on the structure. Now I know it isn't "highly likely", but without this feature you could possibly see your metal gazebo blowing down the street.