PDA

View Full Version : Does anyone use a sun awning and in winter?



vix84
04-06-2013, 08:27 PM
Hiya, Im wondering about a sun awning and also using it in the winter when it rains/pours! Would one withstand winter conditions too? So the sand and water tray can stay out under the awning and then I can stay dry :) Anyone use one or recommend a certain one? Rough cost?

sarah707
04-06-2013, 08:36 PM
I can't recommend the company / guy who fitted it cos he was rubbish - but the awning is great for all weathers.

You can see some pictures on my website :D

Photographs - Knutsford Childminding (http://www.freewebs.com/sarahnev707/photographs.htm)

Rick
04-06-2013, 08:40 PM
I can't recommend the company / guy who fitted it cos he was rubbish - but the awning is great for all weathers.

You can see some pictures on my website :D

Photographs - Knutsford Childminding (http://www.freewebs.com/sarahnev707/photographs.htm)

I could do with one of those! :D

vix84
04-06-2013, 08:50 PM
Looks like it would be great for summer and winter, I was thinking of one of those that roll back though, but think it would be too flimsy in strong winds...

Although we do have a big log cabin/shed at the end of the garden and Ive turned it into a room for the garden bikes to be stored and there is a table football in there, maybe in the winter the table football can go away and I can put the sand tray in there and a chair and a heater ;-)

On that note .... the glass windows on the shed are not thickened or anything, I was thinking of putting a sheet of clear plastic over them so they can't be broken, what do you think? Got to be cheaper than the sticky stuff you can put on it? Must be about 12 square windows!

hectors house
05-06-2013, 08:25 AM
Argos have the wind out awnings in the sale at the moment, also I saw them at the Range at the weekend - just can't make my mind up whether to get one and then find it gets broken if I use it in winter to protect kids from rain or to get my husband to build a wooden frame like the one on Sarah707 website but put perspex roofing on it as I don't want to make the rooms in the house dark if it is up all the time. It is really annoying that you can't claim them back against tax if permanently fitted to your house, but you can if you buy a free standing gazebo that you will have to replace every year as not made to with stand heavy rain and gales! Sarah I see that yours has your name on, does that work like clothing with your name on that you can claim against tax?

Samcat
05-06-2013, 09:14 AM
We've had a wind-out awning on the back of our house over our patio doors as it's south facing, for about 12 years now. It's a good quality one, made to measure and cost about £1000 back then and is great for giving us some shade. However, we are always wary of having it out when it's windy and if it starts to get gusty or really windy, it gets rolled back in. We've never wanted to risk it breaking, as goodness knows what it would cost to repair or replace.
So from personal experience, I wouldn't recommend one for all weather play. You also have to remember that if you've had it out and it's rained, it needs to dry before being rolled in or it will go moldy.

hectors house
05-06-2013, 11:22 AM
We've had a wind-out awning on the back of our house over our patio doors as it's south facing, for about 12 years now. It's a good quality one, made to measure and cost about £1000 back then and is great for giving us some shade. However, we are always wary of having it out when it's windy and if it starts to get gusty or really windy, it gets rolled back in. We've never wanted to risk it breaking, as goodness knows what it would cost to repair or replace.
So from personal experience, I wouldn't recommend one for all weather play. You also have to remember that if you've had it out and it's rained, it needs to dry before being rolled in or it will go moldy.

Thanks hadn't thought about making sure it is dry before it gets put away - so if a wet day is followed by a windy day you risk the awning breaking if you leave it out or going mouldy if you put it away:panic:

vix84
05-06-2013, 01:54 PM
Good point about the mould! A plastic roof sounds like a good idea as I wouldn't want to block out the light, but then Id like shade in the summer, hmmm ... May just have to get a big umbrella! How do you all operate in winter with open access to outside? I wouldn't want the door just left open in winter and the children deciding to suddenly come in with muddy boots before Ive had time to remind them. Also what if one wants to go outside and one inside, do you just hover by the door, I guess as long as the outside is safe and you can see them its fine

sarah707
05-06-2013, 05:18 PM
Sarah I see that yours has your name on, does that work like clothing with your name on that you can claim against tax?

He got the name wrong :rolleyes:

And no I didn't claim it against tax I didn't think it was worth trying to justify it if I was ever questioned - there's probably a perfectly good argument I could have used but I didn't bother.

:D

hectors house
05-06-2013, 05:29 PM
Does anyone have a Sail? - just had an e-mail from company called Shade4less - only about £25 for a small triangle shade but you have to buy and install poles or timber to secure it to.

Samcat
05-06-2013, 06:29 PM
Does anyone have a Sail? - just had an e-mail from company called Shade4less - only about £25 for a small triangle shade but you have to buy and install poles or timber to secure it to.

We had sails in the playground of the school I used to work in. They were more hassle than they were worth in the end, the fixings forever coming loose and the school having to get the company out to repair them.

hectors house
05-06-2013, 06:34 PM
Ok thanks - back to the drawing board - shade in the summer isn't the problem, I have a gazebo I can use, I just want something I can also use in the winter to protect from rain as well - something that won't blow away, collapse under weight of snow or go mouldy if I need to take it down when wet!