If you’ve invested money in patio furniture to make your outdoor space pop, you may not have factored in the cost of patio covers.
You may wonder whether covering your furniture is even necessary. Unfortunately, given the changeable weather and its extremes, even the most robust furniture can deteriorate. To help make it last and to get the most for your money, covering your furniture can prove the shrewdest move of all.
In this guide, we explain the cheapest ways you can follow to cover your patio furniture. We look at a range of options and offer cost comparisons.
First, let’s look in more detail at why protecting your outdoor furniture from the elements is worth it.
Key Takeaways
The cheapest way to cover patio furniture is to use material covers. Made of the likes of strong materials like polyester, they can withstand severe weather conditions.
If you need to guard against extreme weather conditions, like intense summer heat, a permanent structure may be required. However, they can be expensive, sometimes costing thousands of dollars.
To make sure you don’t overspend, get the right measurements and take advantage of warranties and guarantees.
What Happens If You Don’t Cover Patio Furniture?
The US has a wide range of climates and weather cycles. Some parts of the country, such as Oklahoma and Kansas, experience extreme winds and lie within Tornado Alley. Other states like Wisconsin and Minnesota experience a lot of snowfall.
If you live in an area like this, chances are you’re going to need to guard against the weather. While protecting your patio furniture from tornados can be a tall order, fighting the impact of the likes of snow and rain is possible.
If you don’t guard against the elements, your furniture is likely to get damaged and dirty. Wooden or wicker furniture, for example, can develop rot and mold if exposed to too much snow or rain.
Similarly, patio tables with glass tops may get broken or smashed in extreme winds, and may crack if they freeze in wintry conditions.
While plastic is more resilient and robust to extreme conditions, that too can crack and weaken. Windy conditions can also see your furniture covered in dust, grime and debris, meaning you’ll be left with an unsightly outdoor space and the need to clean everything before you use them again.
What Types Of Weather Do You Need To Guard Against?
The US is subject to a wide range of weather conditions, from storms with golf ball-sized hailstones to wildfire-inducing heat.
The main conditions to guard against include:
Before you decide what approach to take with protecting your patio furniture, it’s important to understand what you’re up against in terms of weather. So having an idea of the climate throughout the year will stand you in good stead.
Let’s look at the different ways you can cover your patio furniture.
Different Ways To Cover Patio Furniture And Their Costs
There are various ways to cover your patio furniture. You may opt for something flexible like a material cover, or you could go down the more structural route. Let’s take a look at each and then consider the costs.
Using Material Covers
One quick, easy and effective way of covering your patio furniture is to opt for material covers.
There are various benefits of using these types of patio cover, such as:
Flexibility - if you have a piece of furniture that’s an awkward shape, a material cover can easily adjust to it.
Practicality - some people don’t have the space or ability to construct a permanent structure. Material covers therefore offer a practical option.
Durability - material patio covers such as those sold in the PatioCover.com store can withstand all weather types
Aesthetics - in some cases, building a permanent structure may not look very good in your outdoor space. However, you can construct pretty structures like pergolas, though they only offer partial coverage
In many cases, material covers come with drawstrings or clips, making them easy to fit and also helping ensure you get a tight and secure fit around your furniture.
Building A Structure
Another option you could take to cover your patio furniture is to build a permanent structure. This could be a garage, shed, roofed area or more of a garden structure like a pergola.
Permanent structures can be ideal for those who have to deal with real extremes in weather. For example, you may need a roof to provide shade from the scorching rays of the summer sun. If you live in a windy area, having a protected space for your furniture may stop it blowing away or getting damaged.
Some of the commonly used materials for building a permanent patio cover include wood, aluminum, vinyl and plastic. Depending on the materials you opt for, the costs may vary, something we’ll look at next.
Which Method Is Cheapest?
The cheapest way to cover your patio furniture depends on your needs. If you need to protect from extreme conditions, a permanent structure may be required and that will naturally cost more money.
For everyday protection, as well as guarding against even severe weather, material covers offer the cheapest and best option. Being made of durable materials like polypropylene and polyester, they can guard against rain, wind, snow and heat.
The investment is small too. For instance, the cost of a medium outdoor chair cover is just $26.77 in our store. An extra large loveseat cover is $36.65 and the cost of our BBQ grill covers start at just $30.
When you look at the cost of buying a cover compared with buying a full replacement, it’s a no brainer.
As for the costs of permanent structures, this can vary depending on the material. Wood is considered a cheap material due to its availability. Prices per square foot can be around the $30-35 mark, with total prices potentially reaching the thousands. In short, permanent structures are often a much more expensive investment in the short term.
However, if you already have a structure on your property, perhaps a small shed or garage, the cheapest method by far is to utilize this. If you want to protect your furniture further from the likes of dirt and creepy crawlies, using a material patio cover will serve you well, especially for a small investment.
Tips On Getting The Best And Cheapest Prices For Patio Covers
To make sure you get the very cheapest prices for your patio covers, it’s important to get the right measurements.
You can head here to see our measuring guide. Each piece of furniture may require different measurements so spend time doing the research, and if you need it, get help. It always pays to get this right. If, for example, a cover is too small, you may experience small amounts of damage, but damage all the same.
It can also help to look for the likes of warranties and guarantees with your purchases. This is something we offer as standard in our store. It can also help to get a guarantee for any structural work done in case that roof springs a leak!
Buy Patio Furniture Covers Today
Now that you understand the costs involved with buying covers for patio furniture, you may wish to start browsing options. If so, you’re in the right place.
In the PatioCover.com store, you can find a wide range of material covers that can protect against even severe weather. We also offer a broad range of sizes, and can even cater to those more curiously shaped pieces of furniture.
We also offer a lifetime warranty on purchases and free shipping across the country. And if you’d like to have some queries answered before you go ahead with your purchase, we can help with that too. You can message us now via our live chat or call us on +1 281-609-2854.
Learn More About Patio Covers
If you'd like to learn more about patio covers and how they can help you, check out these guides below:
Jan Craig
Writer
PatioCover.com
