The Ultimate Buying Guide to an Instant Gazebo!

Buying a gazebo tent is not easy, especially if it’s your first time. With so many options in sizes, shapes, and features, it becomes nearly impossible to choose the right one. But what if you had a cheat-sheet that would give you all the right pointers for selecting a folding gazebo?

Sounds neat, right?

Behold, the instant gazebo buying guide!

Let’s begin with the basics:

What is an instant gazebo?

Also referred to as pop-up gazebos, these canopies gained momentum because of extreme user-friendliness. The ease of use stems from how these gazebos are manufactured. Their accordion-like design makes it easy to expand and collapse the structure with just some push and pull. And since an instant gazebo just needs to be ‘popped’ to set up, you don’t require a lot of manpower to do so. Just a one or two man team should suffice.

Finding the right canopy is very similar to buying an event marquee. You must determine if the gazebo tent fits your needs. Where will you use the canopy? How many people are going to attend the event? What activities do you have lined up? Is the event recreational or professional? Satisfactory answers to all these questions will guide you towards the right instant gazebo.

How do I choose a gazebo?

Let’s start with the obvious.

Size

Not all tents, gazebos, canopies, and marquees are made equal. For instance, a folding gazebo that would be perfect for your niece’s birthday party might not be right for your wedding reception. Instant marquees are often used for events that need a quick, hassle free setup. Leisure activities such as a day on the beach or a backyard barbecue party might get away with a 3m x 3m marquee but a trade-show requires nothing less than a professional gazebo; printed with your business’ branding and supplemented with promotional accessories.

Once you figure out where you’ll be using your new instant gazebo, you can work out the appropriate size based on the number of people who will attend your event, seating and table layout, accessories such as heating and cooling units, lighting, bar counters, flooring, etc.

Great! So, now you know how big a gazebo you need. Time to figure out what it should be made of!

Material

A gazebo tent can be divided into two main components – the lower body frame and the top canopy roof.

Most pop-up frames are made of either aluminium or steel. Steel is sturdier but it is bulkier than aluminium; making it less portable as well. Steel frames are powder-coated for prevention against rust, but the coating starts peeling after sometime. Aluminium, on the other hand, is lighter, portable, and can be anodized to prevent rust. Aluminium forms aluminium oxide, a hard substance that becomes the topmost layer of the frame, preventing further rusting. Steel simply rusts, since the powder-coating is just a superficial layer until it flakes off.

The best way to find out if a gazebo roof is right for you is to measure how thick the material is; otherwise known as denier and denoted with a ‘D’. A denier is determined by measuring the weight of a fibre 9,000m long in grams. For example, if a 9,000m long fibre weights 600g, its denier would be 600. Although, just a higher denier value doesn’t guarantee superior strength, as every material has its own strength.

Polyethylene is commonly used for low-quality gazebos, while standard suppliers prefer to manufacture their canopy fabric with vinyl coated with polyester (PVC). A major chunk of canopy buyers also prefer PVC-coated polyester marquee because it is low-maintenance and lightweight and offers better protection against UV-rays and rain. Most polyester tents are flame-resistant, an important feature that you mustn’t overlook.

Legs

Pop-up gazebos offer a choice between straight or slanted legs. This doesn’t only have to do with the aesthetics, but the type of leg that your gazebo has, directly impacts the overall structure.

Slant legs, although more stylish, are less stable; especially during inclement weather. They might provide more space near the ground, but the headroom keeps decreasing towards the top. Consider this, a 10x10m pop-up with slant legs offers approximately 64-square feet of shade, while their straight-legged counterparts provides 100 square-feet of shade.

And yes, you guessed it right. Straight legged canopies are costlier than the slant-legged gazebos.

Accessories

Last, but not the least, let’s discuss how you want to add oomph to your new instant gazebo. You can add retractable canopies, curtains, sidewalls, wall blinds and doors, and shelves to create a warm, welcoming, and inviting ambience.

So, which is the best gazebo to buy?

When you put it all together, buying the right instant gazebo doesn’t have to be a great mystery. With this succinct guide, you know enough to make an informed buying decision. But if you still need help, our experts would love to speak to you! Give us a call on 0800 424 313 right away!