A grill must be well maintained so that it can continue serving you well. Several factors are up for consideration in maintaining a grill.
Here, we’ll take a look at an often overlooked, yet simple aspect that can help maintain the quality and continued service of your grill, which is measuring for a grill cover.
One of the most important first steps when purchasing a grill cover is usually the size. if you purchase a grill cover thats too small it will rip much quicker and likewise a grill cover that is too large will either fly away on your or get damaged by wind because of its heavy movement. Below we cover every aspect to keep in mind when measuring for a grill cover.
Read more here for the best grill cover guide.
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Getting Started
To start us off, let’s take a look at the aforementioned aspects that need to be looked at in the quest to getting you the right grill cover:
- The Size of your GrillYou will need to get the correct measurements of your grill so that you can get enough material needed to make the grill cover.
- The Material for your Grill CoverSeveral options are available here from oilcloths to tarps. It’s preferable to go for water-resistant materials but if the material you do end up going for isn’t working, the situation can be remedied later by using water-resistant spray on your finished grill cover. (2, 3)
- The Tools at your disposal
For this DIY exercise, you’ll need the following tools:- A measuring tape
- A pair of scissors
- A pen or marker to mark out your measurements
- A sewing machine
- A good working area
- A little time
Yes! Dedicate a little time to a few days if you don’t have much free time even on weekends to work on this project and you can surely get it done.
The Process
Now let’s get into the specifics of the project at hand.
- Measuring for your Grill Cover
In this step, we need to get 3 measurements; the height, width, and depth of your grill. It’s best to have your grill closed up when taking these measurements.
The height is measured as the distance from the highest point of your grill down to the ground.
The depth is the distance between the front-most and the back most points of your grill.
The width is the measurement of the distance between the outermost edges of your grill. - Making out the Patterns
With the measurements you’ve taken in the above step at hand, you need to draw out patterns matching the size and shapes for all your grill’s sides. You can do this on a simple piece of paper. But before that, you should answer the question: What size grill cover do I need? This is a very important step since it will afford you efficiency in handling the next step.
To ensure that the cover ends up properly fitting your grill, including an allowance of an extra inch or two for your measurement is needed. - Cutting the Patterns Out
With your patterns at hand, place them on the material you’d gotten for the project, trace, and cut them out. Having followed the above step, this step is easy to accomplish and allows you to fully utilize the material you have at hand. - Sewing it all together
The sewing machine comes into play at this point. It’s important to use a strong, high-grade needle to ensure the sewing progresses properly. Carefully lay out your cut out material and sew them up together according to how they’re supposed to match up.
To finish off the sewing process, you can opt to add a drawstring at the bottom of your finished cover. Since we included an allowance of a few inches in step 2, there is room for this to be made possible. Fold the base edges and sew a lining that will allow you to insert a rope to be used as the drawstring. While this is not necessarily a must, it is a good way to finish off this great DIY project. You may check these DIY smoker projects here.. You may check these DIY smoker projects here..
Benefits of getting the best measurements
The best grill cover material provide benefits such as:
- Protecting your grill from effects caused by the elements e.g. rain and strong sunlight can corrode some parts of your grill.
- Protects your grill from dust and dirt which ends up saving you clean-up time when it’s time to use the grill again.
- Aside from the grill itself, it protects your grill accessories too.
- For people living near coastal areas, salt corrosion is a possible threat to your grill and a grill cover does plenty to prevent this.
Final Words
The process may seem a little daunting when simply reading it out here but once you get your hands moving, it will end up being a very satisfying endeavor. It is a known fact that a good number of the grill covers available on the market can be quite tedious to buy since they may end up not fitting your particular grill as well as they should, which adds weight to this piece. You can customize your grill cover to fit perfectly and also add as many modifications as you’d like to it to match your taste. Give it a go!
What size grill cover do I need? Check that link to know more.
References:
(1) DIY - https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/diy
(2) oilcloths - https://www.dictionary.com/browse/oilcloth
(3) tarps - https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tarp
