How To Make a Really Neat Umbrella Stand

So you spent the first part of the summer refinishing the deck and picking out the perfect patio furniture. Or you spray painted and refinished all your outdoor furniture. Whatever, you don't want one of those boring old white, water filled umbrella stands. They just don't cut it. So you need any pot that floats your boat. Should be a ceramic pot though and not plastic. You will also need concrete, water, a piece of pvc pipe, duct tape, and felt or furniture sliders.

First, put the duct tape over the drain holes in the bottom of the pot. You don't want the concrete to ooze out the bottom. Because the pot we chose for this project was much taller than it needed to be to keep the umbrella upright, JB drilled drain holes in the sides of the pot.

He dumped concrete into the pot by the bucketful and then adds water. You can see he has the hose crimped in his hand so it doesn't fill the pot with too much water. I have no idea how you know how much water is enough - I guess you just do.

DO NOT MIX the concrete at home with your hands. It's not good for you nor is it advised. In fact, you might actually want to wear a mask while dealing with dry concrete. You do not want to inhale the dry concrete either.

JB just kept dumping in concrete and bits and water until the "texture" was right. Once the concrete had started to set, he put in a piece of PVC pipe which is longer than the concrete is deep.

Make sure you use that duct tape and tape the bottom of the PVC - otherwise it will fill with concrete and you won't be able to stick you umbrella in the pipe. You can sorta see that the concrete only fills this pot about halfway. We put the furniture sliders on the bottom so it would slide around on the deck easier. We could also put dirt and plant flowers around the top since it has the drain holes. Tomorrow - I'll show you some of the "Umbrella Stands" around our yard. Enjoy.