How do you layout shade sails?
Table of Contents
How do you layout shade sails?
Designing Your Shade Structure
- Ideally, any one side of a shade sail should not be longer than 40–45 feet.
- Long and narrow sails should be avoided.
- Triangles and other flat shade sails should slant sufficiently to prevent pooling rainwater.
How deep do shade sail posts need to be?
Post lengths should be taken into account with the proposed height of the sail plus the depth of your footings. Footing depth should be a minimum of 36 inches deep and 30inches square. For example, if your post height is higher than 8 feet, we recommend a hole depth 40% of the height above ground.
How do you tension a shade sail?
Due to the opposite thread directions of the two eye-bolts, rotating the body one direction brings the bolts together, thus tightening the sail, and turning it the other direction lets the tension out. Using turnbuckles at every attachment allows for freedom to adjust the tension in the sail at each corner.
Can you attach a shade sail to fascia?
If you are planning to fix your shade sail to a fascia, it is highly recommended to use fascia support, which can be connected to overhangs of trusses or rafters. This will provide a sturdier connection and better stability.
Is a 4×4 post strong enough for a shade sail?
If your posts will actually be 12′ above ground, and they’re not supported with any sort of diagonal bracing, you will want 6x6s (or at least 4x6s). 4x4s will flex and bounce substantially at that height.
Should a shade sail be tight or loose?
You’ll also want to make sure that you have enough room for maximum tensioning at the corners. Corners that are not taught can wear the shade sail down faster, and you also won’t have a tight, secure fit which can cause the material to buckle.
Can shade sails be flat?
A shade sail must never be flat as the forces to keep it flat are beyond the design and engineering parameters. A shade sail should always have 2 high points for 4 or more cornered shade sails. In some cases, your design may be ok with just 1 high point.
Can you use wooden posts for shade sails?
The centre of the hole should line up with the point of the sail corner. You could use treated timber posts (round posts use minimum 125mm diameter, or square posts 125mm x 125mm) or a galvanised steel post at least 4mm thick (round minimum 100mm diameter, or square 100mm x 100mm).
How do I stop my sun sail from sagging?
If your shade sail starts to sag, you can re-tighten it and bring it taught. One way to do this is by using a wire rope that runs through a pocket sewn in the perimeter of your sail. Simply pull the wire rope on each corner until the shade sail retightens and all sagging is removed.
Should a shade sail be tight?
We say tighten until you think it is tight then tighten some more! The sail should have no sag or droop and you should pretty much be able to hang off it or even sit on it (do not do this, this is just for description purposes!).
