With all this rainy weather I am thinking of purchasing a retractable awning. I have no experience with these but I am thinking that we will enjoy our front deck a lot more with an awning. Often there is a drizzle which drives us indoors but it is still warm and lovely.
My question is whether you need to get the motorized version or if the manual crank is really a big deal. The other thing is I am thinking of getting just one and centering it over our french doors ....or... a couple of them? Canadian Tire is selling one for 300+ dollars. I do not want to spend a fortune, living in Quebec we do not have a really long warm season.
Any suggestions? I included a couple of photos of the deck so you can see the space. I was thinking that if I only buy one and center it above the doors then I would install it right below the window that you see in the photo, above the french doors.
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I have 2 awnings on my home - one motorized and the other with the hand crank. GO WITH THE MOTOR!!!!! I love the motorized one and use it every day and hate the hand crank one, never use it and am looking to get a motor installed. I find the hand crank VERY hard and slow.
I am going to check out Rona. The professionally installed ones really do not look that different from some I have seen in the stores for much cheaper. The price however is amazing....1200 and up for the professional version. Sort of out of my budget given that this is only part of my outdoor budget. Thanks again, great explanation!!
We purchased a retractable awning eight years ago from Rona for $550….(Prices are lower now). It is 12 feet wide and rolls out 8 feet and has a manual crank. It was very simple to attach to the house and can be adjusted for slope and can also be removed just by lifting out of the brackets for the winter (the brackets stay on the wall). I do not remove mine I just roll it all the way in and cover it for the winter. There are only bars under the awning at the top…no poles down either side. I usually leave it rolled out about 3 1/2 - 4 feet when I am not using the deck.. just to keep the rain away from the door and the sun off the house. Leaving it only this far is okay in the wind too. Usually if we have a very strong wind I will roll it in but this has not happened often (they said it would be okay in the wind but I just don’t want to take any chances.) I find it really handy if we are barbequing and it begins to rain, then I just pull the BBQ under the edge of the awning . I really don’t think you need to go for a professional installation which would be very costly. The awning I have is still in great shape and I have no regrets for purchasing this one.
Well, I guess I will call around. I am thinking that the fireplace is going to cause problems since it gives off a lot of heat which is probably not good for the awning. I will call around and see what quotes I can get. I was hoping that there was a simple solution and one that did not cost too much money but then again I agree that the investment will probably be worth it in the end.
:D Now to convince DH that this is part of the overall backyard budget...even though it is the front yard wich was supposed to be more or less completed. ;)
I have to go with the others. Get an awning that covers the area you want to use.
If it helps convince you, I have a back patio that I covered with that wipply plastic stuff (it was what was there before so I just replaced it) mostly so the dog would go outside (she hates rain or snow). I have to say it's really nice to have the area covered and be able to go out there and not be chased inside when it is raining.
I think I would be doing the same thing if we had a garage. Of course when our summers are so short we do whatever we can to be outside. That is why we made such a big deck and the bug season seems more manageable for us when we are off the ground. :)
I believe if you look on line at Costco they sell this item. Worth a try, I would imagine they would have the company contact you or you could call Costco on-line for information about it.
I would love to have one of these awnings but we do not have the right configuration, so we always end up sitting in the garage.
Retractable awnings are worth every penny. I would also suggest a [U]professional good quality awning[/U]. It will last for [B]years [/B] and they have a tremendous amount of colours to chose from. Hand crank is no big deal to use, but if you want motorized, go for it.
Thanks Joanna for your kind comments. We love this deck too. We have a great backyard that we are planning on working on over the course of the summer but we really do spend a lot of time out on the front deck as a family. I will phone and see if I can fit that into my outdoor budget. We have a great deal of landscaping to do but I feel like this will extend the season on our deck.
Again, my suggestion is to call in the professionals. They can answer all your questions and show you a wide range of options that you can choose from.
In my very unprofessional opinion, if you go with a shorter depth awning you will have to move your furniture closer to the house in order for it to be covered in the rain....which might spoil the whole look and feeling of space you currently have and hinder access to your doors.....
Do you think since I have two different depths to my deck that I should go with the shorter depth. The part where the chairs are sitting goes out 12 feet from the house and the rest of it is only 8 feet. The other thing is that we have our outdoor gas heater in the middle of the chairs which I do not want to really move.
My neighbours have an awning (motorized version) and it makes all the difference in the world for their deck....fabulous!!! Your deck is really beautiful, too..... so I would suggest that you spend the extra money and have a professional awning company come by and give you their ideas and do the installation. An inexpensive awning poorly installed will cost you more in the long run. Not having a long summer season is all the more reason to have a better awning installed as you will be using it to the fullest.
Again, your deck is really lovely!!!