The sweat begins to roll down your back and your eyes begin to sting as it trickles down your forehead, past mother nature’s ingenious yet strangely ineffective sweat blockers – your eye brows.

Your children and beautiful wife seem to fairing no better. They appear to be melting on your patio furniture, sinking slowly into the plush, yet slightly faded fabric you got only last summer. Usually extremely active, your two young boys seem to have the life drained out of the them by the scorching rays of the sun, there blond hair melting off of their heads.

What one single addition to your patio or deck could change this scene complete? A patio awning, that is what.

Now there are several different types of patio awnings that you can choose from. Some are made from various fabrics – canvas, polyester, and several other synthetic fabrics. Others are made of high grade industrial aluminum which provides a sturdy bulwark against the elements as well as the sun. Each of these awning types has its own set of benefits and drawbacks, so making a careful analysis of what is going to work best for you, your family, and your patio type is an important step that you should not overlook.

If you need protection from year round sun then going with a permanent awning fixture is probably going to best meet your needs. You might live in a part of the country or the world where the sun is constantly beating down on your patio in all the seasons and the heat of the sun is to be avoided. Also another consideration is whether you want your awning to also provide protection from the elements such as rain, snow, and hail. Precipitation protection should also be a concern in you patio awning selection.

Without a doubt, if you are looking for year round protection from the sun and elements on your patio then you will want to go with a more permanent patio awning. For that, aluminum is probably going to be your best bet and Alumawood is probably going to be the what you are going to find in your search. Aluminum patio awnings are strong, durable, and require very little maintenance, but they are permanent so those looking for only seasonal protection should look elsewhere.

Where should those seeking seasonal protection look? To retractable patio awnings.

A retractable awning is going to be made of fabric and will be able to be stored compactly inside a holding case that is attached to your wall. At the push of a button, or for those inclined to go a cheaper route – the twist of a crank, the patio awning will extend over your patio giving you the protection from the sun, its harmful UV rays, and freak summer showers.

Retractable awnings really shine in patios that sometimes need shade to stop the sun from beating inside the house or to provide protection during a evening meal on the patio. A retractable patio awning is going to cost a little bit more than your regular fabric awning, but the price can be worth it in terms of comfort and ease of access.

Patios are great for entertaining all year round and patio awnings do a good job at opening up the space for use in all types of weather conditions. They add value to your home and create a welcoming environment for afternoon meals and evening get-togethers. If you are considering which patio awning to purchase, feel free to look around and see what this site has to offer in terms of awning information for your patio.

Patio Awnings is a post from: Patio Awning Inc.

In general, fabric patio awnings are a great way to provide shade to an outside space in a way that give a nice splash of color and interesting shape to your architecture.  They are great for saving energy and reducing the amount of direct sunlight that is able to pour into you windows.  And they are fairly durable, lasting several years before the elements begin to make a noticeable difference with how they look.  Let’s take a look at some of the different offers of retractable patio awnings.

Different Retractable Patio Awnings

Retractable patio awnings are a very popular type of fabric awning.  There ability to provide shade when needed and to retract back into its casing to let the sun shine down make it a perfect addition to a patio that gets some sun during the hot months of the year.  Retractable patio awnings are not necessarily the cheapest items on the market and can run from several hundred dollars to a thousand dollars or more.  There are some models that have arms that need to come down to support the awning’s weight while there are other models that do no require this feature.

Here are some examples of patio awnings currently featured on Amazon.com that do not have arms that need to support the awning’s weight:

Green Manual Patio Awning – This retractable patio awning is brought to you buy your friends at Target.  It is 12′ x 10′ in dimensions and will provide some quality shade for an outdoor sitting area or to shade a sliding class door or windows from the heat of direct sunlight.  It has an aluminum and stainless steel construction so the non-fabric parts will be resistant to rusting.  This is important since rust can get on fabric and turn it an unpleasant orange color.

The fabric is a polyester weave that has been treated with a Teflon coating to improve its durability when exposed to damaging UV radiation and the rain.  It will also help prevent the awning from developing an accumulation of dirt and mold.  When the awning is not in use, a protective covering will keep it safe from dirt birds (birds seem to poop on everything, including patio awnings), and the sun.

It is a manually controlled awning that is operated by a hand crank that can be found on the left-hand side of the awning when looking at it.

Retractable Patio Awning – Motorized Pro – 12ft. (Black) (12′ wide x 10′ extension) – This retractable patio awning is a motorized version, meaning that all awning motion is controlled by a mechanical device that moves the awning open and closed. You won’t have to crank this sucker by hand like you will have to do with the one previously mentioned. This awning is sold by Sunsetter, a major name in retractable patio awnings.

The dimensions in this awning are the same as the one mentioned above (12′ x 10′ – so 12′ wide with a 10′ extension).  It will also fit under eaves and overhangs as low as 7′6″ – which is fairly low.  This low clearance is pretty useful for adding the awning to a section of the house that is on the side or rear of the house with a sloping roof.

The canopy of this retractable patio awning consists of 5-layers of Acrylic, Dacron and color pigmentation – giving it a good chance of resisting fading, mildew, the sun’s UV rays, and harsh weather at the hand of the elements.  It can be installed on lots of different house sidings, including wood, masonry, brick, aluminum and vinyl.  The motor on this retractable fabric awning need to be plugged into a regular outlet, which is nice because you won’t have to hire an electrician to get this puppy installed.   It comes with a SOMFY motor that will power this patio cover, but a hand crank override is also installed if power were to go out at your home.  The SOMFY motor is controlled by a remote control, offering the ease and comfort of automated rolling.

This awning also comes with a built-in weather breaker (included) that will descend from the fringe of the facriv when the sun gets low on the horizon or an uncomfortably cool breeze marches in.

If you are interested in find more retractable patio awnings check out this page on Amazon.com: Retractable Patio Awnings

3 Reasons a Fabric Patio Awning Might Not Be For You

Here are three reasons why you may not want to purchase one of these types of awnings:

1. You want long lasting, durable support (if this is you, you might want to consider an aluminum patio awning)
2. You need protection from more elements than just the sun and light rain
3. Your outside space is abnormally large

Retractable patio awnings will make a great addition to any home that is looking to get some shade up in a well used area. They provide shade when needed, but are able to be stored economically – giving you the biggest bang for you buck. While they are not good for every person in every situation, you can really get a lot with a retractable patio awning.

Retractable Patio Awnings is a post from: Patio Awning Inc.

Metal Patio Awnings

As one might expect, metal is the material of strength and durability for home awnings. They can be initially more expensive because the cost of the raw materials (aluminum, tin, etc) is generally much greater than that of fabric, but this is not always the case depending on the type of fabric awning you are comparing it to (like a motorized retractable patio awning - these cost a $1000 or more).

Metal awnings have been traditionally used over windows and doors but this is not their exclusive use. They also can extend workspace or storage space on the side of a house or garage. One of the main reasons it is used extensively in this function is because of its natural durability and natural resistance to the elements. Metal is profoundly sturdy and can take quit a licking from mother nature and human idiocy and still keep on ticking.

The other benefit that metal patio awnings provide is their ability to absorb a lot of the heat generated by the sun. They suck it up like magnates, or white on rice, or a one year old and birthday cake. Metal awnings are to heat as water is to thirst – it completely obliterates it. So all that heat from the warm afternoon summer sun is going to get absorbed by your metal patio awning and not by you and your family sitting outside to enjoy a nice summer afternoon. You’ll be degrees cooler because of its hard work.

But sunlight is not all that metal patio awnings are good at absorbing. These also do splendidly well at taking all forms of precipitation and pinning them to the ground, Greco-Roman wrestling style. Who wants a nice afternoon BBQ to be disrupted by a quick summer shower? Nobody! Who wants their wood storage area to be crushed by a snow drift three feet deep? Only crazy people! Metal awnings can provide this type of protection again precipitation that canvas awnings simply cannot compete with.

But what about rusting – doesn’t precipitation have some power to whoop a metal awning’s tush? Hahaha – never! Many, if not most, metal patio awnings are made with wonderful aluminum. This metal sent from above is actually resistant to rust (that is why aluminum cars don’t really rust, ever) and can come in many different shapes and sizes. It may be the same material that makes up flimsy aluminum cans, but aluminum is actually a very strong and durable metal that is also very pliable under certain conditions.

This pliability allow awning manufacturers to create them in various styles and colors so that you can easily find a color and style that matches the rest of your home. Corrugated aluminum awnings are not the only thing around!

As one might expect, patio awnings that are made out of aluminum are pretty much going to be stationary. You might be able to find one that is able to move flush with a wall, but this simply will not work if you have an entryway or window that the awning would block when it does so. Also, metal won’t roll so that type of retractable awning is out of the question.

Fabric Patio Awnings

Fabric patio awnings are exactly what they sound like – patio awning made out of some sort of fabric. This could be either a canvas or a synthetic fabric like GORE™ TENARA®.

Here is a blurb from GORE, the manufacturer of this fabric:

Made from 100% woven high strength expanded PTFE fibers, the ‘woven’ family of GORE™ TENARA® Architectural Fabrics, combines exceptional textile aesthetic qualities, unlimited flex-life, complete immunity to UV sunlight, and exceptional flame properties.

Woven GORE™ TENARA® Architectural Fabrics enable designers to achieve interesting interior projects that have strict flammability requirements, as well as provide a true ‘textile’ look for exterior shade structures.

Ideally suited for interior and exterior retractable, deployable and permanent structures utilizing a wide variety of structural techniques, including fixed & space frame, tensioned cable-edge, geodesic, and stapled panel systems.

As you can see, this fabric is engineered to be incredibly strong and to endure the most aggressive elements that nature will throw at it. The UV protect is particularly important since exposure to these rays alone has been the cause of deterioration for many fabric shade structures over the years. If the patio awning is made of canvas, it is much more likely to suffer wear and tear because of the wind, rain, snow, and sun.

However, fabric awnings are much more likely to be found in retractable awnings since fabric is extremely pliable and can easily be rolled up in a small space. Almost all retractable awnings are made from some sort of fabric.

Another benefit of fabric patio awnings is that they are much cheaper than their metal counterparts. As I have already mentioned, this difference in price is combined with a diminished ability to withstand the forces of nature that will be its daily companion as it brings shade to your patio.

Finally, fabric awnings can be much “prettier” to look at than metal ones. They can often be richer in color and texture and are generally more pleasant to look at from far away and from directly underneath them than metal patio awnings.

What Works Best For My Patio Awnings
Since most patios are of a small nature either a metal or a fabric awning can be a good fit, but which one works best for me? That answer is going to be something that you take the time and weigh the different pros and cons about. A metal patio awning will be much more durable and do a great job of fighting off the elements, but it will also be much harder to change once it is installed and will probably cost you a little bit more.

The fabric patio awning will look better, has the potential to be significantly cheaper than metal, and can be retractable or easily moved when not necessary. Its downsides consist of decreased durability from element exposure.

No matter what you go with, you are going to find something that is going to increase the value of your home, add interest to your patio or deck, and provide wonderful shade from the intense sun when you need it most. Are you consider the purchase of a patio awning?

Patio Awning Materials is a post from: Patio Awning Inc.

Whether you have a retractable awning, an aluminum awning, or a canvas awning we hope that our website will provide the information that you are looking for to meet your need.

That is our desire – to provide useful and informative pages for our viewers, and if you find anything to add to a topic that we cover we would love it if you would leave a comment.  Your feedback will make this site better for everyone.

So take a look around and get to know Patio Awning Inc. as we walk in the world of patio awnings together.

Welcome To Patio Awning Inc. is a post from: Patio Awning Inc.