The Awning Project
August 2009
The deck- before. The umbrella kept flying away in storms and we needed more
shade on the side where we took out a tree.
Painting the pipes. I used a small foam roller for the pipe and spray for the
hardware.
Attaching to the house. We had to put some boards across the inside to
secure everything.
The frame, all set up.
I put a painters tarp on top until I get the fabric cover sewn up.
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So, it worked out great and here's
why: structural pipe fittings. It's like tinkertoys for grownups!
I started at
this website- they have lots of cool ideas and plans too.
But I actually bought my hardware from these guys:
www.easyfit.com
It's a good thing I'm not having
sleep problems anymore- I would have dreamed about rearranging pipe
structures for at least a week!
We used steel hardware and 1" galvanized plumbing pipe. That's a 12 foot run
and it's completely stable.
Attaching the hardware to the house was the hardest part- Jeff had to go in the
attic.
That hardware is worth every penny. After everything was prepped, it took
about half an hour to assemble.
It's the first project we didn't fight over. Very cool.
UPDATE. PART 2 SEWING THE AWNING
My advice? Do not do this. Find a professional do it for you.
It's totally worth the money and good for the economy.
Ow. Ow ow ow. The night before I started I looked up "sew awning" on the internet.
One of the sites snarkily advised "Get ready to do a lot of pressing". Holy Cow.
They weren't kidding. The fabric is so stiff it takes forever. And the only place
big enough was on the deck itself.
Yeah, a steel table and professional machine would have come in handy.
Most of my time was spent moving and folding and flipping the huge heavy thing.
Three days later. The finished product having it's seams sealed. I got some black
self-wrap velcro to attach it to the frame. I got my fabric from the folks at
Seattle Fabrics, by the way. They have a great collection of specialty fabrics and
the coolest hardware and dodads for "soft" construction.
Sophie, our lovely spokesmodel, admiring the new patio lites. I ran a cable across the
end there and hung some shower curtains up for rain and shade. It's hard to see but
we also put up a mister along the near side of the canopy frame.
Ta Da. Greetings from my patio table!