Cheapskate Tips: Salvaged, Reused DIY Yard Umbrella

It can get scorching hot down here near California’s Great Valley, elevation 50 meters (164 ft).

Consists of: old umbrella stand, old aluminum folding sloop mast, found hunk of redwood cutoff, salvaged umbrella struts, inherited tablecloth.

So every other year or so I need to buy another umbrella at $50-70 for even small frail ones.

Here’s what I needed. I killed this jigsaw but finished with the spare one.

Fierce sun damage and wicked Pacific winter storm rain and winds degrade, then collapse them, breaking or bending the struts.

I prefer screws but these 2 inch galvanized nails work fine.

Predrilling pilot holes prevented splitting of the cheap, weathered old Asian hardwood struts- birch?

So this year I used up some old umbrella struts salvaged from a neighbor to build my own version.

I needed to tighten the nut to keep everything from rotating. Some slight rust but fine overall.

It’s a standard metal stand, getting decrepit but still usable, like me and everything else in my world.

I wedged in this old chrome mystery bike component to compensate for the thinner aluminum sloop mast compared to the old wood umbrella mast.

The (inverted) Port-a-bote sloop mast with wood plug.

I found the redwood block in my dwindling woodpile.

I drilled a 1.5 inch (0.0381m) hole down about 2 inches (0.0508m) deep to fit the wood sloop mast stub.

I suspect I’ll secure the redwood block to this eye on the sailboat mast using aviation safety wire. As one does.

It’s merely a press fit right now to the aluminum mast but I suspect high winds would quickly fly it off and through the air to destruction. So some means of solidly fixing it is needed.

I just let the sticks ‘run wild’. I’ll cut off excess length after stapling on the tablecloth.

It all needs to be quickly removable too, in case I finally sell the Old Town canoe and the two DIY sail rigs.

You cannot have too many clamps.

The nice old round cotton tablecloth I inherited from somewhere. I used it as a dust cover for years in the garage.

A bit oblong and lopsided but serviceable, like me.

But after I sprayed it clean it looks ok, albeit a bit stained and not as dark as I’d prefer.

After stapling tablecloth to struts, and clipping stick ends with dying jig saw.

But the price was right, says the frugal tightwad cheapskate. Ecological and minimalistic too.

It is tall and throws a nice cool shadow.
The proud papa.

I have not further braced it so the wind could have already flown it into pieces on the ground as I tap this out.

No matter, I’ve got more old struts. I’ll rebuild better than ever!

Total cost for this project (amortized over 27 years) is: umbrella stand- $2.25, 21 galvanized 2″ nails- $0.75, staples $0.25, 2nd hand aluminum dinghy mast- $4.50: Total = $7.25.

Unless noted, all text and images by todgermanica.com.

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