If you are looking at installing an umbrella to shade your pool, you have come to the right place!

Taking a swim in the pool can be extremely tempting and could be the ultimate way to cool down during summer, but a bit of extra shelter from the sun can be welcome on seriously hot days. So during peak summer months, pool umbrellas can become your best friends.

And there are plenty of options for cooling your pool, too. Implement some of these methods and you'll ensure supreme comfort and UV protection while you take a dip.

Accordingly, we have created a guide so that it can help you to make the right decision and choose the right umbrella. So get your pool summer-ready with these looks!

Types of pool umbrellas

• Cantilever umbrellas: A cantilever umbrella is one of the best shading solutions for your pool. The device is suspended in the air and is supported from the side rather than the centre. Most of these umbrellas have offset posts and bases and they offer a lot of free and unobstructed space below the canopy. So you will have a lot of shade coverage at all times by changing the angle and tracking the sun's movements.

If you have a pool in your cafe or resort, these versatile and stylish umbrellas can act as perfect cafe umbrellas when you need to accommodate plenty of guests in your outdoor space.

• Patio or market umbrellas: These umbrellas have a heavier gauge and piece pole that can be inserted through a table or fitted into a stand. They're highly durable for both residential and commercial use and are made of top-quality marine-grade materials that offer heavy-duty protection from the sun or rain. These umbrellas come in different sizes and shapes and can shade a large area.

How to choose the right pool umbrella?

Frames: When using a pool umbrella or a beach umbrella, make sure to use one that has either stainless steel, aluminium or fiberglass frames.

• Aluminium: Aluminum is the most popular material used for frames or poles. They are lightweight and durable and aluminium is resistant to corrosion.
• Steel: Stainless steel has been treated to handle rough weather outdoors and are as durable as aluminium frames.
• Fibreglass: Umbrellas with fibreglass frames and poles are extremely durable. Fibreglass is lightweight, flexible, strong and resistant to both wind and weather. These umbrellas also last for a long time, making them a good investment in the long run.

We would advise you against buying wooden frames because it isn't able to handle extended exposure to rain, sunlight, and cold temperatures.

Fabric: Most popular fabrics that are being used in pool umbrellas are acrylic, olefin, polyethylene, Spanish recasens, and Italian Para Tempotest. The 100% solution-dyed fabrics lock in colour, which means that colour won't wash out or fade. The heavy-duty canopies are resistant to sun, wind, and rain. Most of these canopy materials are budget-friendly too.

Base: An umbrella base is crucial to protecting your pool as well as guests. The purpose of a base is to hold the cafe umbrella or beach umbrella in position so that it does not fall over or blow away. The thumb rule is that umbrellas having a diameter of less than nine feet will need about 50 pounds of weight while umbrellas that are larger than nine feet will need 75 pounds of weight.

Tilt mechanism: Pool umbrellas come with different tilt and non-tilt options. Tilt umbrellas are extremely easy to use. With these umbrellas, a crank is used to open the device and tilt it. You can simply stop cranking once you have opened the umbrella to the desired amount of shade. This ensures that you can block the sun at all angles without having to move the umbrella.

Size: Choosing the right size is important when it comes to providing ample shade for the pool. If you are using an umbrella with a table, it is vital that the product is not too small. Similarly, you shouldn't select an umbrella that is too large for a table. Otherwise, it may fall over.

Shape: Pool umbrellas can come in many different popular shapes like octagonal, square or rectangular. It depends on your taste and needs the kind of shape you want to choose to shade your pool.

Conclusion: Selecting the best pool umbrella for your pool deck can be challenging because there are many factors to consider, including the size, pole finish, fabric and lift mechanism. You also need to keep in mind the location where will you be using it: whether it will be in-table or freestanding and whether your area is prone to high winds or not. But we hope that after going through this guide, our readers will be able to choose the right pool umbrella for their commercial enterprise or home, based on the type of umbrella, frame, size, and fabric.