Very easy to put together, and provides the perfect amount of shade for our small deck.  However, it really does need to be weighted down or it will fall over.  Instead of sand bags we opted to use two clay rectangular pots placed on top of either side of the umbrella stand. We planted Marigolds in both pots and it not only serves the purpose of weighting down the umbrella (due to the weight of the pots and the soil inside), but it's decorative as well!