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I have bought a wall mounted parasol (this one), and now I need to attach it to my house.

The parasol comes with 14mm wall-plugs and appropriate carriage bolts - my problem lies in where to attach it. The spacing between the two holes on the wall bracket would seem to allow either:

  • both bolts close to the edge of a brick
  • one bolt in the centre of a brick and one bolt in the mortar

I have attached some photos to hopefully show what's going on:

mount and ruler 1

mount and ruler 2

The parasol is obviously going to be quite a weight - especially if there's any wind. What would be best to mount it securely?

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  • From the top pic, it looks like you could move the hole centers down to the 45mm and 155mm marks. That would put the edges of the holes just off the edge of the bricks. I'm not sure how deep they go, but the top one would have the top of the anchor supported by the brick, which would support the downward pull. The bottom one, though, would have mortar at the top of the anchor, which might not be quite as strong. You could drill a new mounting hole in the bracket to align with your brick spacing. What does the mfgr say to do in this situation?
    – FreeMan
    Apr 6, 2022 at 13:56
  • Mortar and near an edge of brick, I would try to avoid. I would think about mounting a wood plank or making new holes to match up with the centre of bricks.
    – crip659
    Apr 6, 2022 at 13:59
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    @FreeMan talking to the manufacturer is good shout
    – Boris the Spider
    Apr 6, 2022 at 14:11
  • I would get some sign post steel (U or Square channel with holes) about four feet long, attach it to bricks at the ends to provide better leverage and in one or two places in the middle too, and then attach the included bracket to the post. There could be a lot of side-to-side force from the wind too, this doesn't solve for that.
    – jay613
    Apr 6, 2022 at 14:45

2 Answers 2

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I would be considering making a plate for that bracket so that the bolt holding the plate to the wall goes into each brick cleanly somewhere close to centre.

Are there two or 3 brackets? if so then a plate for each one or one single plate or plank would work.

The idea is to spread the load.

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  • Just the one bracket - there's this extruded aluminium wall plate then a steel plate that slides in and the horizontal arm bolts to.
    – Boris the Spider
    Apr 6, 2022 at 14:12
  • I would make sure that additional plate extends in both directions - not just a vertical plank kind of plate, but a wide one, so loads can be spread both horizontally and vertically. As it's out in the open, make sure it won't deteriorate over time, so at the very least consider stainless steel. And if the bracket that comes with the parasol is aluminium, you'll have to electrically separate it from any steel elements (like the bolts) so you won't get (accelerated) contact corrosion. Wouldn't want to get a parasol on your head in a few years.
    – MiG
    Apr 6, 2022 at 14:50
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I asked the vendor for advice and this was their reply

We would advise to install the top screw in the center of the brick.
The top screw will carry the weight of the parasol, and has to be strong. The bottom screw is only there to stop rotation of the bracket, and isn’t as important, so a smaller screw in the mortar will be sufficient.

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  • With a single screw, no matter how strong it is, I would still be concerned about the brick that the hole is in. Wind force will rock it slightly, and over time slowly pulverize that brick. If anchoring is concerned (so a back plate on the other side of the wall, where the bolt tightens both plates against the brick), that might help a bit, and plates on both sides with multiple screws should pretty much eliminate this.
    – MiG
    Apr 7, 2022 at 9:45
  • I guess it depends on what kind of compression strength your brick has. I'm quite surprised by the manufacturer's answer, a good tug from an unexpected strong wind will very likely do damage when the parasol is deployed.
    – MiG
    Apr 7, 2022 at 9:46
  • Yes. I'm also concerned that a 14mm hole in the brick will do nout for its strength. However - replacing a brick is pretty easy, so I'm going to give it a try and see what happens. Easier that sourcing someone to weld be a stainless steel backplate with bolts in the right place...
    – Boris the Spider
    Apr 7, 2022 at 10:57
  • Do keep in mind that that structure might hit someone sitting underneath if that brick fails.
    – MiG
    Apr 8, 2022 at 15:10

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