Anyone make a grill cover that will last more than 1 season?

[Paul Franklin]

Subject says it all. I've tried several brands of "premium" covers for my weber gas grill. Include Weber brand and whatever brookstone sells, plus some others. The best so far is some type of cloth with a PVC like coating, but after a season (usually less) out in sun/rain they all develop pinholes and or cracks that make them leaky as a sieve.

And I'm in NE Ohio, not some scorched earth hell-hole desert.

I don't mind paying for quality, I just can't find it.

Anyone know a brand/type that lasts?

TIA,

Paul F.

[bob haller]

i never cover my grill, its a outside appliance designed to live outdoors...........

do you cover your car? cover your house?

a well designed gas grill should do fine outdoors

[John]

Try a Garden Ridge model called "The Grilling Enthusiast" if you can find it. The wife bought it at a Garden Ridge shop just outside of Pittsburgh but she said she also saw it at Big Lots. Fortunately the wife bought two for exactly the reason you are looking for a better one. Well this is the best made I've seen, its plastic covered cloth with a flannel liner, reminds one of the old oil cloths that used to be on the kitchen table. Color choices are dark green and dark green ;)

But weigh the sucker down cause it makes a great parachute and if blows away like our first one did who ever finds it in your neighborhood won't ever give it back!

$14.99 each three years ago.

John

[JimT]

I just ask my wife to make mine. For a decent seamstress it's pretty simple.

[Dean Hoffman]

I wonder if a motorcycle cover would work. Mine is a Dowco Guardian. My last one lasted years in Nebraska weather.

[John]

Not everyone wants to take out a mortgage on an all stainless model.

John

[Paul Franklin]

I live in the woods. If I don't cover it, it's soon covered with bird crap, leaves and needles from the trees get wedged in all the little cracks and openings, and it get's loaded up with sap droplets. If you use it with sap and bird droppings on it, it bakes in on and it becomes much harder to clean. Rain does not remove baked on sap and droppings.

I don't have time to clean it and hose it off the 3-4 times a week I use it during the season; much easier to pull the cover off and be ready to go on a nice clean grill.

Paul F.

[aemeijers]

Isn't that what sheds are for?

[Jim T]

Yes and everyone has one in their backyard just like you do.

[Vic Smith]

Glad I held my tongue about covering the Weber. Mine's been outside for 14 years uncovered without harm. Rain, snow, sun and wind. But no bird crap, sap, pine needles or leaves bother it. They go for my cars. The OP needs to cover that Weber. To-the-ground covers trap moisture. He might bungee a small tarp over the top to keep it clean. Here's one, a 4x6. Cheap.

--Vic

[Ed Pawlowski]

I had a Vermont Castings grill and it had an excellent cover, very durable. Problem is, the grill rusted out after 10 years. Any place a holde was drilled, places where the gas burners passed, all rusted over time. The burners and grates were still in great condition, but the parts that held them went to crap. I think it was because the cover held moisture.

I bought a stainless steel Weber Summit and have no plans to cover it. I may just tarp the top. The grill should outlast me.

[aemeijers]

Do I really need to put a smiley after every joking post?

-- aem sends...

[JimT]

Do I?

[bob haller]

build a grill shed, put it in close by shed when not in use......

[Steve B]

"John" wrote >

The stainless steel ones require way too much maintenance and cleaning just to make them presentable and/or usable.

Steve

[tom]

I have a Nat Gas Weber that I use the storage underneath for a hibatchi and other various items that rust if I don't use a cover for the grill. I'm using the same Weber cover that I bought with the grill in 2006. It has a few cracks and pin holes but still keeps moisture from the storage under grill.

[jamesgangnc]

I have not had much luck either. Lately I've just been buying the $6 walmart one and replacing it once a year.

[Han]

Paul Franklin wrote in news: [e-mail]:

My grill cover was bought May 2004 together with the Sears Kenmore grill (~$20 for the cover). Grill has stayed outside under the awning over the garage entrance since then. It doesn't look that well/good anymore, but is still intact and functional.

[Steve B]

I have bought several over the years for various barbecues, and gone through a few that came with the barbecues. I have a home, a summer cabin, and three vacation rental houses, so have seen a few.

Out of all of them, those I bought at Lowe's lasted the longest. The one that lasted the longest was four years. That was 24/7 in the desert heat. Whether or not one lives in the desert, or in the snowy woods, any 24/7 exposure to sun, wind, snow, rain, or weather in general, a cover has hard wear. Anything will develop holes and tears and separation quickly.

There is no "best" or perfect cover. You can pay a lot, and perhaps get a better one, but it won't amortize over the years. It won't last that many years.

I have a Singer Walking Foot sewing machine, and can build one out of Sunbrella, one of the finest outdoor canvases in the market. Yet, when I analyze my time, the cost of materials, and all, I would rather just go get one at Lowe's that will last three to four years, and do that every few years.

Steve

[aemeijers]

What somebody suggested up-thread, a little 3-sided 'tractor shed' to wheel the thing into after it cools, is sounding better and better. 4 posts plus a little cross-bracing or siding, and a little sloped roof, should do the trick. In my experience, tarps or covers on equipment stored outside, often do more harm than good, due mainly to condensation. You could even combine the shelter with a bird-feeding platform or plant stand or something.