Our Story

The J-Hook™ Story

This is a classic story of “necessity is the mother of invention” (Plato).

The Necessity:

At the cottage, a shade umbrella needs a base that will accomplish two things:
The base needs to be easily mobile and therefore lightweight.
The base needs to be strongly secure and wind-proof.

Problem

It’s a sunny day on deck and dock. The sun is travelling its path, your shade umbrella sits in its heavy immobile base. Your shade umbrella needs a solution to make your shade easily mobile. 

It’s a windy sunny day on deck and dock and the wind gusts continue to blow over the heaviest of umbrella bases. Bungee cords, heavy garden rocks, just don’t work. The umbrella needs a secure wind-proof base.

Our story

It’s one of those “feel good” stories. We came together as near north lake neighbors and have become fast friends while learning the ropes of invention, patent, trademark, production, marketing and sales.

On a sunny summer day with wind gusts @ 30km, Beth and Dean arrive by boat at Kaz and Roma’s dock. A large sun umbrella shades Roma’s deck chair. A small, lightweight umbrella base holds that umbrella in place in spite of the wind gusts. As the sun travels its path in the sky, Roma picks up her J-Hook prototype #1 umbrella base and simply places it to her shade advantage.

Amazed that something so strong could be so easily re-located, Dean declares that Kaz should “Patent that!” Hence the birth of the “J-Hook™” Deck and Dock umbrella base and the company “Lakehouse Innovations™”.

Our J-Hook Deck and Dock Umbrella base will change the way cottagers experience relaxing on the dock. Our climate is changing. We no longer worship and sit unprotected in the sun. We still love being on the lake, enjoying the outdoors, but we need to be shaded from the harmful rays.

Space is at a premium on our docks. We need our shade umbrella holders to be lean, sleek and easily portable.
Windy days, gusty days are all part of cottage life. We need our shade umbrellas to be strong, to not blow over into the lake, spill our beverages or injure our guests.

The Problem and the Solution

• How often have you lugged an extremely heavy shade umbrella holder all the way down to the dock, only to have it topple over at the first big gust of wind?
• How often have you replaced a disintegrated sand filled, plastic umbrella holder? Or a rusted out base that bleeds rust stains?
• How many times have you stubbed your toe on an enormous space engulfing umbrella holder that still doesn’t stay secure on windy days?
• How many times have you declared: “There must be a better solution for this umbrella!”?

We, at Lakehouse Innovations™, have shattered the current theory of deck and dock shade umbrella bases.

The Counter-Intuitive Problem:
“If it’s not big and super heavy, it just won’t work”.

Introducing the J-Hook™ Deck and Dock Umbrella Base. Manufactured with high strength aluminum alloy and weather resistant high grade Stainless Steel, this sleek and space saving J-Hook™ Umbrella Base for Decks and Docks is sturdy and secure in any windstorm and, environmentally friendly, it won’t rust out or disintegrate over time. Our patented, simple but genius J-Hook™ design will hold your shade umbrella in place in the wind, yet its lightweight design allows you to easily re-locate your shade umbrella as the sun travels its path

Proudly Crafted in Canada

We are very proud to say the J-Hook™ is “Crafted In Canada”. From purchasing high grade Aluminum and Stainless Steel through Laser Cutting, Welding and Fabricating, through to the final Powder Coating process, we are determined to keep the jobs at home.