Looking for a solid cheap Gazebo, any recommendations?

[joolsjules]

Hi all

Can any one give me any advice on what and where to get a decent gazebo tent from? I am looking for one for a craft table I am doing in June. I had a look on ebay and saw them there but I'm a bit concerned they may be a bit flimsy. The plot I have will be 9'x9' so anything up to that size really. It will come in handy if i do anything else like this so I am happy to invest in one but quality and price are important. I don't want one that will take off in the first gust of wind but dont have a huge pot of money. Can anyone give me some advice good tales and bad, any help much appreciated. Jue x

[AliCat]

OK - many will disagree with me here but for my first outdoor show, I spend £60 (gazebo on special 1/2 price offer!) for a pop-up gazebo. It was a two-day show and the gazebo broke overnight (it was windy so can't really say I was totally surprised!)

The only stall still 100% intact when we arrived the next morning was a cheap one where you push the poles together and build it up. Price (at the time) £12!!! Needless to say, on my way home after salvaging what I could from the wrecked stall, we called off and bought a cheapy gazebo. I do a lot of outdoor shows and many are ones where the gazebo is left up overnight and I still use my £15 (new price!) gazebos. One of them lasts me a year and I buy a new one at Homebase during one of their many 'everything x% off' weekends in preparation for the following year. It tends to be the cover which gets damaged from all the pulling and pushing around (the stitching at the corners can be torn) so the poles are kept as spares and/or extensions to my existing gazebo if space allows.

This long diatribe is leading to the conclusion that, in my humble opinion, you are as well spending less on a gazebo - they all shake and move in windy weather and I have seen more broken pop up/expensive gazebos than I care to mention! I have less stress if I have to throw away my one than the other stallholders trying to work out how to justify the money they have spent!

I know people who love their pop up gazebos and much depends on if you will have someone to help you put it up at the fair - my hubby is always with me so it is easy to put up ours but I couldn't do it on my own! If you only have one or two outdoor events booked, you can get a cheap one and always upgrade if you want to when you are starting to do more.

Hope this helps!

[potpartner]

we got one of these and they seem fine but hav'nt been out in a gale force 9 with it (yet )

unfortunately their special offer has expired but they are well made http://www.easygazebos.com/?gclid=CI...FUEb4Qod1n7nHg

[Thomas!]

Get a cheap gazebo by all means but make sure you rope it down as even a bit of wind can cause damage to them, especially if they're open on all sides.

[greannancrafts]

We get ours from here http://countryseatsuk.co.uk/canopydetails.html - they get used 10 -30 times a month all year -providing they are weighted properly with cast iron weights (£130 ish) they will with stand most winds.

Jane

[Turn That]

They look very good and I would get one or two of them and they look quite upmarket, professional and would create a good image. In my car boot days I didn't have a stall and chucked a tarp over the stock at the first sign of rain.

[joolsjules]

Thanks Guys
I'll take on board what you said. I think I will go for a cheap one at the moment as I wont be going to too many outdoor events. I found one at Focus online for £40 with 3 side panels and phoned the store to check if they had it in stock. They informed me none of the stores have it currently neither did the warehouse. Might be in in a couple of weeks...... oh well. the event is in June so hopefully I will be able to pick one up in time. Unless you know of somewhere else? Don't know why they bother putting it on there if they don't have them?
Thanks again anyway. Guess i will just have to be patient.

[AliCat]

The ones I use are from Homebase and cost around £15 - there are no side panels but you should be able to pick some of these up elsewhere for not a lot (infact I think Homebase may well sell side panels as a separate item). Even paying for both it should come to less than £40. I think B&Q sell something similar too for around the same price. They are 2.7m x 2.7m which is a little less than your 3m x 3m pitch but you do need to allow some space for your guy lines so this size fits perfectly.

You could have a look on Ebay for side panels (quite often that is all that someone has left once the gazebo has gone!) Argos & Homebase online are linked so you may be able to order one there to pick up in store or be delivered (they should be showing the same price as they are the same item but one may have a wider selection than the other).

As you say, you have plenty of time to do some shopping around!

[joolsjules]

Thanks Alicat
I looked on the web and your right, £14.44 for the gazebo and £19.99 for the side panels at Homebase. The only thing is there's only 2 side panels and I was really for 3 or 4. A lot of the gazebo side panels are for 3m gazebos and the one in homebase is 2.7m not sure how that foot difference would affect attaching them? I assume they are velcro fastened. I also checked out B & Q, Argos and Ebay before hand but not for the panels. So I will have a hunt around for the 2.7m panels. Thanks for your help once again. I hope I wont be selling the covers on ebay after my event in June..

[Lilac Moon]

hi I bought an argos one 3m x 3m with 3 sides and use 2L pop bottles full of sand to hold it down on hard standing and washing line thrown over the top on grass to help with the high winds. never left it up over night tho so dont know how it would fair. it's 2 years old now and may last this year. cost me £90 total . so £30 a year. not bad

[AliCat]

It doesn't matter if your side panels are slightly larger than your gazebo - mine are for a 3m x 3m and actually because of the splaying out of the legs, the bottom attaching loops needs that extra width. Mine are velcro loops but I also have some curtain types (which cost me about three times as much as the gazebo!) which attach with plastic clips. I got these ones from a camping shop and they are in 1.5m widths which you join together at the centre but they are handy if you want to close half a side!

If it is particularly windy, we actually take all the sides off anyway as they can act like sails. We also tend to roll up the bottom of the sides or create a gap at the top to allow wind to pass through without hitting a solid side but 99% of the time there isn't any problem and no need to do anything special - its all trial and error as usual!

[Ciren]

i just come back from tesco's and they are selling them,