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

[sixdogs]

How do others create shade and block the hot sun on their patios or porches? We're looking for an easier way to block the sun on our patio.

It's hotter than heck on our flat Midwest farm ground and I'm looking for ideas. We don't have any trees on the south up against the house because the septic and basement drain is there and I don't want a small or cumbersome awning because of the high winds we often get. We have a porch so I could put an awning off of that but I would always be cranking it up or down and I'm sure it would cost $$thousands. Same thing with a small umbrella type thing. The wind would pick up and it would be gone. Maybe I do want an awning and just don't realize it would work.

Recently, I saw a triangular lightweight fabric type flag thing that looked like a three corner sail. It hooked to two points on the house and one point on a pole or post or something 20 ft or so away from the house. It was probably 20 ft square and did look like it would work and be easy to get down if the wind picked up. Has anyone seen this?

How do others in hot areas create shade for themselves on hot patios or living areas around their homes? Awnings, umbrellas or ? What works for you?

 

[s219]

My neighbors have a real nice awning that can roll itself up if it detects a wind load. Might be something to look into. Mounts to the house only.

 

[4570Man]

My deck is naturally in the shade in the evenings. The downside to the natural shade is the deck requires frequent pressure washing to keep it looking decent. I personally hate the deck. After I have been working out in the heat all day I don't have the slightest desire to come home and prolong the misery by sitting outside.

 

[Deere Dude]

What about an awning like on campers? I saw a couple houses with those on the side.

 

[JMER817]

This is how I do it...lol

 

[DuckSlayer1017]

This is how I do it...lol

That's next years project for me.

 

[Wagtail]

Have a local Google for Triangular Shade Sails. They're very common down here, especially in a town backyard environment, but would work for you.

You can put up more than one so that they overlap each other for a nice aesthetic effect. Bottle screws are used to tension them.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

How big is your mother-in-law? :dance1:

 

[lennyzx11]

Sunsetter awnings are pretty nice. Little pricey though.

 

[Pirate]

If you want to sit out on your patio during a nice heavy rain storm, skip the RV awning.

 

[txdon]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.