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Awnings are the perfect way to create beautiful shaded outdoor gardens and patios, provide shade for your vehicles, and decorate and shade your windows. While awnings can make your home attractive, they offer practical use as energy conservers and cost savers. As energy and cost savers, awnings help reduce and block up to 94% of UV rays. They also lower the cost of air conditioner cooling in your home or commercial space. What should you consider when purchasing outdoor awnings? The seven tips below give you a starting point.
Tips of Buying Awnings
1. Awnings Material and Space
The market offers awnings made from fabric, metal, and material such as aluminum or wood to suit different client needs. Analyzing where you would like to install it, its size, and its purpose will enable you to select the awning suitable for your needs. Smaller-sized awnings add beauty and shade to a window and garden table. A large size awning gives you better shade coverage and creates more space in your outdoor patio or garden. A good practice to follow is to measure the area you need the awning installed and present these to the store’s salesperson.
2. The Durability of the Awnings
Awnings can provide temporary or permanent shading for your choice of outdoor space. Ask yourself, would you like to have a shade covering for your visitors, for example, at weddings, events, or restaurant gardens? Then the right choice would be to use awnings made from fabric that are easy to install and uninstall.
Aluminum, fiber, wood, and some types of acrylic fabrics awnings provide more permanent coverage for your home. These awnings offer low maintenance, resist strong winds, and are perfect for all-weather all year round. If maintained, they last for many years at minimal cost to you.
3. Quality
The higher the quality, the more expensive it will be, but will last longer. Therefore, its durability offsets its costs. Your home or commercial space location weighs in when selecting the quality of awnings. Does your place have strong winds, high humidity, or heat? Then varied awnings offer different levels of coverage. Fabric awnings come in either acrylic, acrylic coated, or vinyl fabrics. These synthetic fabrics repel water, resist mildew, UV light, and are less vulnerable to fading, thus keeping their original colors longer.
4. Style of Awnings
The market offers a varied range of awnings styles to match your home or commercial space needs. Styles include the traditional open or closed side panels, dome and elongated dome-shaped, quarter barrel, gable walkway awnings, to mention a few. The awning style you select depends on your taste and the space you want to cover.
5. Type of Awning
You can select among the different awnings. These types include stationary and retractable awnings. Stationary awnings do not come with any mechanism, as fixed frames support the covers. Retractable awnings must have warranties and guarantees. These retractable awnings include mechanical parts that are prone to mechanical failure through constant usage.
6. Color of Awnings
As a practical décor item, the color of your awning needs to complement the colors of your home or commercial space. A black material awning will absorb light and heat to create a warmer area, thus useful during cold weather. For warmer weather, consider darker colored awnings with open sides to allow the blowing wind or breeze to cool the space beneath them. Bright and light-colored awnings reflect, block sunlight and heat, and thus provide cooler places beneath them. By selecting the right colors, you create a charming usable space for your home or commercial space.
7. Your Budget
Knowing your budget will aid you in selecting the right and affordable awning for your space. As stated before, the higher the quality of the awning, the more money you will need. However, your budget does not limit the choice of awnings available to meet your needs.
Summary
Awnings bring an added advantage to your home by increasing the attractiveness and appeal of your home and creating usable outdoor space. You can select to purchase a ready-made awning and install it in your outdoor area or have one custom-made for you. If you would like to have custom-made awnings, consider using materials such as aluminum and wood to fit your space. For more information, read posts like this awnings blog post by Blind Guys.