Last year, my wife and I bought a gazebo for our back patio. We put it together ourselves, and enjoyed it for one week, before a freak May thunderstorm came through, picked it up like a toy, and deposited it in pieces into the woods next to our house. Here is the tragic before and after.

This year, we are looking for something to put on the back patio again, but we’re having a hard time deciding. There is a very cool, heavier-duty gazebo (below, left) at Lowe’s that is just in our price range. It is more open, less like a parachute, but it’s only about 50 pounds more than the one we bought last year. There’s no guarantee it won’t suffer the same fate.

There’s also a heavier, but slightly smaller, steel pergola (above, right). The flat “roof” isn’t as cool as the gazebo, but it’s still a nice looking structure. The down side of both of these choices is that we would have to pay extra for delivery, and we’d have to find the time to put them together.

I am leaning heavily toward a very large 11′ by 11′ cantilever umbrella. What I like about it is that it offers better coverage from the elements, the base is nearly 300 pounds so it won’t tip over or blow away, it’s retractable so during a storm we can quickly crank it down, plus it can be fully retracted and covered during the winter months.

It will also be delivered to our home and set up (sand in the base, etc.) free of charge.

My wife doesn’t think it’s as attractive as the other choices, but what do you think?

–Brian