Patios and outdoor spaces in general are becoming extremely cherished parts of our homes. They are places where the stress of the day and the week magically melts away and only good memories remain. People are investing lots of money to spruce up their patio, buying patio furniture and accessories. While patios themselves are wonderful additions to your home, a patio cover or awning seems to create an actual room out of your outdoor space.
Patio awnings are included in those patio accessories that contribute to enhancing the enjoyment of an outdoor home space, but they also constitute a way to protect the investment that goes into creating that space. Awnings will protect you and your furniture from the elements, but the wide variety of styles, colors, and designs will assure a perfect fit with your décor.
A patio awning can be placed into one of two groups: retractable and stationary. The former are quite popular, stylish, and functional. A retractable patio awning comes with levers allowing you to manually adjust the depth and pitch of your cover, using spring-loaded arms to create tension in the fabric of the awning. The patio will never be the same, no matter which one of the two you choose.
Retractable awnings come in both manual and electronic styles (also called automatic patio awnings). You can manually adjust the depth of the awning’s fabric with the former style; decide whether to keep the awning completely or only partially open. The push of a button controls electronic arms in the latter style, while you can also use a remote control on this style. Thankfully, most of the electronic awnings come equipped with a manual override feature in case there is a power outage or a problem with the motor.
Besides the aesthetic appeal and protective function of outdoor patio awnings, these structures also increase energy efficiency. Indeed, the majority of patio awning materials used to create these covers can block damaging UV rays from the sun.
One of the most popular residential styles of awning seems to be the canvas awning, available in a huge selection of patterns and colors. There are traditional styles, with open or closed sides, waterfall, quarter barrel, gable walker, double bar standard, and semi-circular entrance styles, among others.
Canvas awnings most often come with a special acrylic protective coat to combat the effects of the elements. Furthermore, a large number of awning companies will provide at least a five-year warranty on their awnings, covering damage that should have been avoided by the coating; in places where the awning is well cared for and not exposed to harsh weather, however, the warranty could last about 10 years. After this time period, though, canvas fabric will probably have to be replaced; replacing the fabric costs much less than installing an entirely new awning, so make sure you keep track of when your awning is getting up there in age.
There are also wood patio awnings and aluminum awnings; while a wooden patio awning looks beautiful, the aluminum awning variety has gained popularity because it is pretty much maintenance free; while it is true that some canvas awnings can last up to 10 years, these types of awnings will eventually fade and will need to be replaced.
Aluminum patio awnings, on the other hand, do not have these issues and will last for an indeterminate amount of time. The only disadvantage to aluminum awnings is that they are not available in the wide range of patterns, colors, and designs that canvas awnings come in; indeed, some homeowners express the concern that aluminum awnings may actually decrease the beauty of outdoor spaces. This claim, however, is relative; what is not relative is that aluminum awnings provide better protection against solar heat than canvas awnings.
Awnings are such versatile outdoor accessories that they find their way into being used for a variety of applications. You can even find them associated with RVs, which can include anything from a small trailer attached to the back of your car, to the huge driven trailers. RV awnings can be found both on the windows of the vehicle and not; one type of awning can be rolled up, while a second type stays open with the awning fabric and roller tube exposed. RV awnings can add a nice touch to any motor home, also providing virtually the same benefits as general patio awnings. Solar heat gain can be reduced by around 70% and this means that money can be saved by an RV awning; patio rooms, furthermore, can also be RV accessories thanks to an elegant awning.
