Sun Awnings provide excellent shade from the sun and shelter from light showers. They can provide you an area to sit outdoors, under shelter and they can keep your whole home cool as well as furnishings protected from the damaging UV rays of the sun.

The problem comes about when you do not have a flat wall to install your Sun Awning to. Fortunately there are several solutions that will allow you to install in these situations.

Bungalows are particularly awkward to install Sun Awnings to due to the lack of solid wall space. You should never install a Sun Awning on the top courses of bricks as the force will just pull the bricks away and end up causing damage to your property. Also there is the risk that the Sun Awning could collapse when this happens.

So what do you use if you are in this situation? Well, Sun Awning experts will use what is known as spreader plates.

These are plates that attach to the Sun Awning at the top and then come down the wall, usually by between 50 to 75cm. Usually there are three fixing points spanning down the wall. This means that even though the Sun Awning is situated around the top courses of bricks, the fixings are much lower down. These have the strength of brickwork above meaning they will not pull away.

Another problem that often will affect bungalows is that even with spreader plates, the Sun Awning is just too low and unless it has hardly any pitch on it and extends completely flat, then you will restrict your view and potentially hit your head on the front plate when it is in use. Having a Sun Awning coming out flat is not a good thing as even with the slightest shower, rain water will pool on the fabric, very quickly causing extreme stresses on the Sun Awning possibly leading to damage.

The solution here is to use an S shaped bracket. Similar to the spreader plates these come down the wall around 75cm and have three to four fixing points. At the top the brackets steps out and upwards. This allows you to clear soffits and usually the Sun Awning sits just above the gutter line.

Any house that has the upper walls tile hung will also benefit from a smaller version of the S bracket. It simply doesn’t step out quite so far. As each bracket is usually custom made, they can apply to many situations.

Another common problem that crops up time and time again when installing a Sun Awning is that there is a pipe, maybe a drainpipe or soil pipe right there in the middle of the wall that you wanted to install your Sun Awning to. Pipe brackets are the solution here.

Pipe brackets are usually quite compact brackets. They usually consist of a plate that attaches to the wall of the house, an extension, usually box section, extends out horizontally to the desired distance to clear the obstruction. A second plate connects to this box section that allows you to fit the Sun Awning.

In some instances brickwork may be of such a poor standard that it will not take a Sun Awning.  It may be a timber framed building, or even a static caravan where you wish to utlise the Sun Awning. If this is the case then the only alternative is to make the Awning freestanding. This is easily achieved using support posts.

Support posts are generally made out of 8cm box section. They are sunk in the ground close to the building. As with all the brackets mentioned above, they are powder coated to blend in. The Sun Awning then mounts directly to the posts meaning that the fixings are totally independent to the building itself. Usually a hole is dug around 60cm deep and fast drying cement is used.

Taking all of the above methods into account there is rarely a time that a Sun Awning can not be fitted to a property. Some people are just not aware that these options exist. Sure, they may add a little extra expense, but the benefits of using a Sun Awning far outweigh this minor negative.