How do you anchor your canopy?

G

grambow

Member
Joined
May 20, 2006
Messages
176
Reaction score
0
I finally bought a canopy for detailing in my driveway. Having east/west facing exposure makes it difficult to wash, clay, and polish without baking chemicals onto the paint. My question is how do you anchor your canopy to concrete (concrete blocks, etc)? I cant think of anything worse than the wind taking the canopy and gouging it into my car. Thanks for your help!!
 
Check out my avatar for a pic of my canopy in action. I use bungees purchased at the home depot and 5 gallon buckets filled with water to anchor.
 
travis2375 said:
Check out my avatar for a pic of my canopy in action. I use bungees purchased at the home depot and 5 gallon buckets filled with water to anchor.
Click to expand...


That's how I would do it.

Just to add to what Travis posted...

Water weighs approximately 8 pounds per gallon so a 5-gallon bucket weighs approximately 40 pounds.

After the job, empty the bucket on some nearby flowers, trees or grass and now you're back to a lightweight container for traveling. Plus you can place your buckets inside one another and even place something inside the last, top bucket to conserve space.

Use bungee cords not rope.

Why?

Because as strong gusts of wind blow by the bungee will stretch or give without spilling or tipping the bucket over. A solid strand of rope leads to knocked-over buckets.


Used this technique for years in rainy Oregon and the windy SoCal area...
(wrote about in in numerous posts on forums)


:xyxthumbs:
 
I have some nice weights I got from Pep Boys for my tent. I've had it go thru some pretty wicked winds, and not lift off. I'll take some pics and show what they look like.
 
travis2375 said:
Check out my avatar for a pic of my canopy in action. I use bungees purchased at the home depot and 5 gallon buckets filled with water to anchor.
Click to expand...

Can you provide a link for that canopy in your pic? I need one...
 
I was thinking about this and came up with a different plan that will work for some.

A 2 car garage and I need more garage space.

When it comes to washing, I have 2 12x12 canopies and I'm not a fan of having extra buckets, cinder blocks or sand bags to secure them while they're up.

My solution *plan for the weekend* is digging a few holes at the edge of the driveway. Here is what will be used for each of the 6 anchor locations around the driveway.

  • 1'x1' and around 18" deep
  • STAINLESS eye bolt with a 1/2" eyelet hole ; at least 9" thread length
  • 4 stainless nuts
  • 2 stainless washers as big as you can buy *Fastenal had 3" in stock*
Thread the first nut within 1" of the eye, add a washer, then a nut to lock the washer in place.
Same process again, but near the end of the threads of the eye bolt.

After digging the hole, use some cardboard with dirt on the back to form something close to a square for the hole.
I have a stick of rebar to feed through the eye bolt and let it hang in the hole about center of the square, but anything thats solid to feed through the hole and support the bolt will work.

Quickcrete mix to fill in the hole to encase all portions of the eye bolt, but the head.

The square has a divot which allows the eye bolt head to be recessed from the surrounding ground height. * I did this so it wouldn't catch a blade when I mow the grass*.

With the bolts being stainless, no rust worries! Use climbing rings to hook to the eye bolts and the canopy. DO NOT use the cheap snap rings people use as key chains in various colors! They are cheap for a reason, and will fail!

Rope to secure between the hooks and canopies. The in-ground cement isnt likley to move in the Oklahoma wind. When a wind does come along to move that block, best be worried about getting into a storm shelter.

photos Saturday or Sunday to explain things better.
chris<pixelmonkey>:D
 
a few images might help

The photos should explain the rest after the weekend.
chris<pixelmonkey>:D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top