How do others create shade on a sunny and hot patio?

txdon · Jul 31, 2016

My swimming pool water gets too hot so I put up "sails" two years ago. This is the 3rd year same sails from Outsunny - about $25 each. Triangles 18' on each side. They work great. I do take them down in the Winter, but they have survived 50mph winds and many, many 100˚ days.

Amazon.com: outsunny 18' triangles: Patio, Lawn & Garden

JRobyn · Jul 31, 2016

We got lucky, lucky, lucky 2 years ago - found a "market" umbrella at Aldi for $40. Cranks open and closed easily, probably 7-8ft square. Had to buy a big water tank base for it to hold it down. The base holds about 30 gallons, so would probably hold it in place even in a pretty stiff breeze. But we just close it. I think it may even be "Sunbrella" fabric. I expected the sun to shred it in 1-2 years, but it's still holding up well.

sixdogs · Jul 31, 2016

txdon said:
My swimming pool water gets too hot so I put up "sails" two years ago. This is the 3rd year same sails from Outsunny - about $25 each. Triangles 18' on each side. They work great. I do take them down in the Winter, but they have survived 50mph winds and many, many 100˚ days.

Amazon.com: outsunny 18' triangles: Patio, Lawn & Garden

That's what I was thinking about and it's good to hear that they work. I'll do a little investigative work and run it by the wife. Looks like a winner.

txdon · Jul 31, 2016

sixdogs said:
That's what I was thinking about and it's good to hear that they work. I'll do a little investigative work and run it by the wife. Looks like a winner.

I bought the triangles from 2 different places they are not exactly 18' (17'6"-18'6") so be sure to get them, measure them, and then put the poles or attachment further out to stretch the material. Pulleys or bungie cords work good.

EddieWalker · Aug 1, 2016

My deck is on the West side of my house, so once it becomes afternoon, it's all in the shade. For areas that don't have any shade, I've found that giant umbrellas are quick, cheap and easy. I have three right now. I put a piece of 1 1/2 inch PVC in the ground so it's easy to slide the umbrella into the pipe and remove it. For clients, I've added lengths of black or grey PVC pipe to the posts on their railing to do the same thing with the umbrellas. I've put the PVC pipe on different posts and they can move the umbrella from place to place depending on the angle of the sun. It's a lot cheaper then anything else I've seen, and very effective.

sixdogs · Aug 1, 2016

We don't want to put up an awning but my wife asked how much they cost. Any ideas? She's dead set against one but asked.

k0ua · Aug 1, 2016

We put of two of the 10x10 canopies leaving a strip in the middle that the BBQ grill can be deployed on. It seems to work for us. It gives us 200 square foot of shaded area.

GLyford · Aug 1, 2016

We have one of the squarish shade sails, two corners on the house, one each on a 6x6 in the lawn. This is for a west side patio and deck on the back of the house. Can still be too hot in the heat of the day. Built a small deck out front (east) to replace dying concrete steps and put in a patio there, too. Now what we find ourselves doing is sitting on whichever one is out of the sun at the moment.

joefromga · Aug 1, 2016

Pergolas are nice and they look nice and add value. They aren't rain proof but they provide more shade than you would imagine at different times of the day and give you places to put plants, string lights and mist systems if you get some serious heat.

Four posts and then cross beams and rafters. One weekend and you can have a nice setup.

I built this a few years ago for my old lady and she loves it. More involved than a pergola but I don't have any pic's of that right now. Added a hand built swing and misting system with lights and it's an oasis from the sun.

Creamer · Aug 1, 2016

How about a frame and sunscreen netting? I am not sure what you call it but my deck has four posts up with 2X6x crossing and 2x2s going across them. It breaks the sun up some and works well for us because of where our deck is located. Some friends of ours have a similar frame but they put the sunscreen netting over it and while not totally blocking the sun it breaks it up a lot and has lasted for years.