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We are looking to sort our tired old patio out, and to fit a patio awning of some description. Our patio is south facing and is a real sun trap, so we need some shade to make it useable in the summer. The area we would like to cover is approx 5.5 x 2.5m. Looking at awnings online, 2 things spring to mind
1. They are very expensive for what you get
2. There is probably a lot of crossover with the murky world of double glazing sales.
Can anybody recommend a reputable supplier (west mids based), or an alternative to a conventional patio awning? Thanks in advance
Have you considered the 'sail' type affairs? Bit more stylish perhaps?
I've thought about it, the two things that are putting me off are
1. I would need an extra post (or two - it could be supported on 3 sides)
2. I've not been able to find anything about loading on the walls in higher winds. The nice thing about the awning is that you can retract it quickly if the winds pick up, so the worry about loading on the walls is less of an issue.
Have you not thoughts about a permanent roof? The thing with retractable awnings is that if you do have a storm and you have to retract it you have to move all the furniture under it too. We bought an aluminum with plastic roof construction with UV plastic roof panels which supposedly stop the harmful rays. It wasn’t cheap but it should last a number of years. A cheaper option would be a free standing awning/ roof. A metal construction with a material cover. That way it isn’t attached to your house at all.
Rotor - the nice thing about the awning is that it can be removed. When I’m looking out the window in the winter, I’d prefer not to be looking at a structure or some sort, and having light into the hose reducedx
We currently have a tatty old awning that was there when we bought the house, it’s actually really good, a more modern one would do the job. Prices seem to be coming out at 4-5k, that’s too steep. Perhaps I need to look at shade sails more seriously - any recommendations for decent ones? Lots of cheap ones on eBay etc, but I imagine they won’t last much more than a year
What about something like this......and powered too
We got one from the seemingly constantly replenishing primrose ex-display listings. Used to be auctions starting at £1, which occasionally meant ultra bargains. Seems all BIN now, but still excellent value if you aren't fussy:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?sid=primrose_london_uk&isRefine=true&LH_ItemCondition=4
Mr lumpa bought a triangular tarp from decathlon, put bolts in the wall and attached two points and then a wooden post to hold the other end up.
We have one of these:
It's great. Lives in the garage in the winter. Fairly big and doesn't take off in wind. Spend the rest on bikes.
To those of you who have shade sails, have you mounted them off the walls of your house? I could mount off 3 walls, and put in one post, but I’m concerned about the loading on the walls if we get unexpected high winds when the sail is up.
https://www.rbsails.com/architectural-canopies/
Not a recommendation as I haven't used them but I found these guys whilst searching some time ago
Is there a way to refurbish your current awning? If the mechanical parts are good can you replace the canopy?
Not really, we want it to be wider than the one we currently have, and it’s pretty old fashioned. The newer ones look a lot neater, but are coming out in the region of £4-5k!
I did up our side patio a couple of years ago, and didn't want a permanent cover, but also needed shade in the sun (it's SW facing). Area is about 5m x 4m
Bough one with an aluminium frame and a retractable canvas awning.
It's weathered 2 winters now, and is still in good nick.
You can buy new canvas awnings for about £70, so might replace it a year or two, as it's faded a bit.
Also put down Ikea wooden clip together decking. That's weathered really well too.
From this:
To This:
To This:
Jumping in on this thread, how does the retractable hold up to rain? we're trying to work something out for our patio, looking at something angled for potential rain run off, but they mainly seem to be fixed if on a pergola.
Jumping in on this thread, how does the retractable hold up to rain?
I don't know about modern types but our old house had a retractable awning which could keep you dry in light rain but start leaking in a downpour. The problem for us is that rain is generally associazed with thunderstorms and high winds in the warmer months in these parts and so we would have to roll the awning in anyway or risk damaging the awning, the wall or both.
@ajantom - where did you get that frame?
I’ve got the same issue - tried one of those parasols that hang off the wall but it destroyed itself in the slightest bit of wind. We’re south facing but have a playing field behind the house so get a strong breeze coming over that quite often.
Only issue is we have bifold doors that open outwards onto the patio so needs to be high enough to clear those - it looks like yours clears a door that opens out underneath it so could be ideal really.
@joebristol
loads of companies do them. They appear to be the same product, just rebranded.
I shopped around and found one place doing them for about £330 all in.
To fit the 5x4m space I bought a 4x3m pergola.
Just checked my emails, these guys...
https://www.qubox.co.uk/search.php?search_query=pergola§ion=product
Prices have gone up a bit, but not drastically.
I have a couple of 3x3 sailshades. One at the side on the deck, one at the back over a gravel area. I used to buy the kookaburra shades and they lasted a couple of seasons. I have bought a couple of cheaper versions off eBay the last couple of yrs but they don’t last as long as the kookaburra ones but are less than half the price. I’ve got wall bolts on one side and long peeled machined posts the other side. If they’re fixed taught they’re not a problem in the wind. If you don’t get the fall right they will hold water in very heavy downpours and they stretch and always make hold water then! The colours look nice and modern and they are easy to take down in winter.
We paid extra for a remote controlled electric version and are glad we did. Do your own research here to find out what suits your needs best. If we'd have got a manual wind out one, we wouldn't use it half as much. I echo the point above about being careful in the wind - a breeze will catch them quite easily. Ours bounces around a fair bit in the breeze but no damage as of yet.
Lidl are selling a 3m sail shade with LED lights next week for £20
Asda have triangle and rectangle sail shades in at the mo.
One option is to get something like a Palram Sierra or Feria (alu+twin wall poly roof) with either clear or bronzed glazing.
Or get clear glazing and you can get "shade horizontal curtains".
Now they're all mostly out of stock and more than a grand for your size patio..
Agree with ranolddd go electric if you can budget it. Ours has been a god send keeping the sun out of ground floor windows and just being able to sit out under it on sunny days.
We're hoping to stick a rectangular sail shade in soon. Any advice on decent places to get one (other than Lidl as it's a triangle) would be greatly appreciated. All I can find online as the Primrose ones.
Also, someone told me the poles for these have to be at an angle to help with the tensioning. Is that right? If it's concreted (postcrete) into the ground, surely it won't move?
To those of you who have shade sails, have you mounted them off the walls of your house? I could mount off 3 walls, and put in one post, but I’m concerned about the loading on the walls if we get unexpected high winds when the sail is up.
I’d be gob smacked if any wind was ever enough to damage the wall, before the sail disintegrated and was torn to shreds. Bricks and mortar with decent anchors will be fine for carrying a sail shade.
@ajantom does that pergola fix to the floor at all? Have been looking at a similar one but no information on whether you fix it to the floor or if it's just heavy enough that it won't move.
@bassmandan - yep, the legs have a plate with four bolts in each plate.
I only fitted 1 bolt per leg (M8 bolt into an expanding collet, drilled into paving slabs) and it's been fine over 2 winters now.
Another possible solution.
Literally just bought an awning. 3.5m by 2.m5, covers the whole patio. Manual wind, less than a mnute to wind out, cost £230 of Amazon. Delivery direct from supplier. The only thing about it were the supplied wall anchor bolts, they were not much use so bought some bigger ones (and drill bit) for another £30.
They aren't that heavy, and any weight is actually at the wall for the roller. Really pleased with it - drilling was a bit of a pig as two holes I hit the edge of a wall tie, so had to bend out the way. I did drill into the mortar around the bricks though, 8mm pilot hole then 16mm drill bit.
Was a present for MrsF's birthday as she fancied one after buying a gas fire pit, so this keeps the heat in.
Why not think about a pop up gazebo? We bought a heavy duty one from gazeboshop.co.uk and it is pretty darned good.
I’ve had a sailshade in the wall of my clay brick 1900s house for 15 yrs. I’ve been through a number of shades and even replaced the vertical dug in poles once but the rawlplug fixings have been fine. I tend to take it down in the winter but the odd sail we’ve had has bowed and stretched and help a massive pool of water in the early days and the fixings still held.
