Abnorm-al DIY Awning and ShadeSail

[MGfromBC]

Just wanted to throw a few more potatoes in the pot.

I tie everything down with bungies that are just barely tight but lots of them.
Like other great minds my vertical poles started life as extensions for paint rollers.
Half inch steel conduit slides very nicely into 3/4 inch conduit.
With various lengths, some flattened ends, holes at the end of most of them,  I can create almost any length I want.
This works well with different size tarps or across diagonal, etc.
The little loops of bungee with ball or hooks on them are great too.
With the conduit, and little bungees I can set up my tarp for shade or rain.

 

[highdesertranger]

X2 on the bungees. Use bungees at every guy line and tie down point this allows the tarp to give with the wind. It relives a lot of the stress on the tarp. Highdesertranger

 

[66788]

Doug,  thanks for the Spax tip you gave me last week at the quarry.  I bought them at Home Depot for $1.79 each, and got some fender washers to anchor my fake turf that keeps blowing

Stay safe my friend.

 

[MGfromBC]

The area where I spend a lot of time in the summer is called, by the climatologists, a semi-desert.  When I put up a tarp it is ALMOST totally for shade.  

I put one end of the tarp along the right side of the car and extend it across the roof to a ridgepole between 2 adjustable poles. Either half or two thirds of the tarp is on the right side of the ridgepole, above the car roof.  Then I put a singe pole in the middle of the remaining side and use long bungees to run from the remaining corners to stakes in the ground.  It looks sort of like a house roof with a dormer.

This method has evolved over time through a great deal of trial and error.  

While the skies are ALMOST always clear, blue and sunny; the area is also prone to sudden, short, violent afternoon thunderstorms with very high winds and sometimes hail.  

This set up seems to survive and at worst just needs some straightening when I come back out of the car.  I think the peaks on three sides prevent the wind from creating lift like you would find on a wing or sail.  I've also watched as the wind enters one of the 3 peaks and has 2 ways to exit.  Maybe too many set ups are the other way around.

MG

 

[maki2]

I really like using the Spax screws as well. I do travel with a cordles drill driver.  Using that method instead of pounding in stakes is faster, quieter and creates a lot less stress on the arthritis in my hands.

Not sure how well they would hold things in sand but they worked fine in Quartzsite and here in the Ponderosa forest in norther AZ. They hold better than stakes do.

 

[Malamute]

A recent Awning follow-up:

WINDS...Dateline Nevada
Shade cloth............ NO Problemo

Grey "tarp"........those sewn/reinforced outside corners were no match for the violent winds we've seen in Nevada

I've got some thinkin-to-do..........(the top held fine)

Have you come up with an upgrade for the outside edge for wind resistance?

Would another sleeve and flexible rod like you used on the vehicle side work to allow the load to spread out? It may want another attachment point mid way, or may not....

Pex may work, would 1/2" pvc pipe? Its flexible yet semi-rigid. CPVC (tan, off-white color) may be a step up, I dont know in this instance, but its rated higher for hot water than standard white pvc.

 

[abnorm]

I use

....... Quilting thread is made of votton and it is not all that UV resistant. You can get sun rot with cotton and nylon thread. Heavy duty, 100% polyester thread is a better choice for outdoor projects that you would like to hold up for frequent use over the years.

I use a Heavy Polyester Quilting thread.....................Not Cotton

 

[gizmotron]

This is a great thread and I love some of the ideas that people have come up with to make their own shade or weather protection. I discovered 10oz & 14oz vinyl coated polyester fabric. I also found a cheap place to get it. ( https://www.mytarp.com/collections/fabrics ) 10oz just cost me $7 per yard at 61" wide. It lasts forever, won't get damaged from the wind, and does not get old and cracked from the sun. It comes in many colors. Best of all you can cut it and weld it together fully waterproof. You use a special glue, HH-66, and you weld the seams without any need for sowing. You can add stainless steal grommets and it looks like a million bucks. Because you can weld it you can make any shapes and sizes that you want to. I made my folding pop-up trailer that I lived in for 2.5 years with it.

 

[abnorm]

After 4 years the first CoolARoo SunShade has failed............a cotton corner strap broke on the shade and I sewed a strong web strap in it's place.........The strong waxed thread I used CUT thru the sunshade fabric in the wind and the corner was gone

Maki took the remains for a project

I ordered two shades from Wayfair deeply discounted.....SUNNY Brand.......20' x 13'.....about $50 each
(Coolaroo was $200 back when)

I hung the first one and it has a hole/flaw in the fabric about 2" wide and 4' long....I need to check #2

Even with the flaw.......the shade is still bucking the 20-30 MPH winds out here in the Desert

 

[GoingMobile]

Great thread! glad it got resurrected and came to my attention. Been wanting a sunshade but too cheap to go for the rv pre-fab ones. Some great tips here. Thanks.

 

[abnorm]

Here's that Wayfair sunshade






Even with the flaw in the fabric the shade is a deal for me at $50....if it stays together !

I've got some "Double Stick" tape by EternaBond....I'm thinking about a project using tape instead of sewing the plastic tarps ?

 

[maki2]

If you need the tarp sewed to reinforce it I can likely manage it next week when I move back to La Posa South (unless the weather gets too hot in which case this snow bird begins migrating north a bit)

 

[tx2sturgis]

R.I.P. Cool-a-Roo. We knew ye well.

 

[maki2]

R.I.P. Cool-a-Roo. We knew ye well.

That coolaroo has been reborn I have resurrected it and in the process has now experienced a cellular division into two shade cloths.