Top Five Shade Sail Tips

About This Video

This video is not created by us. It is freely available on YouTube and we have simply included it here as we believe it is an interesting video in relation to some areas relating to shade sails. The fact it is on our site does not imply that we necessarily agree with the information, ideas and advice given, nor do we necessarily endorse the products or methods used. None of these videos shows our products. Please bear in mind that these videos may be from other countries with different climates where the design, fixing and use of shade sail will differ.

If a video creator leaves the embed functionality enabled for a video, that person has agreed to allow other people to share that video on other mediums (including websites) without YouTube’s prior written permission according to YouTube’s Terms of Service. However, if you are or represent the creator and would prefer the video was not used on our website please get in touch.

Video Transcription

Hi, this is Andy, and right away I want to give you five important tips for installing your own professional quality shade sail.

Tip one: Wherever possible, avoid installing triangular shade sails. Why? Because they give very little shade.

You see, shade sails are made with curved edges and triangular shade sails accentuate that curvature. The end result is something we commonly refer to in the industry, as the g-string effect.

Here’s a good example of a bad example: I climbed up on the roof took this photo. The home-owner’s aim here was to shade his table, and as you can see, he ended up with a very disappointing result.

Tip two: Use HYPAR designs. HYPAR shade sails are an industry standard. Here’s a typical example. A HYPAR shade sail is simply where the high and low points are installed diagonally opposite, to create a twist in the sail. This not only gives a great architectural effect, but it creates large areas of usable shade.

Tip three: Get the foundations right the first time. This is one of the most common mistakes for the DIY shade sail installer. They simply don’t dig the holes deep enough, and in the first strong wind, the posts move and the whole job is ruined. Bottom line: deep holes, strong poles and plenty of concrete.

Tip four: Allow for the take offs. This simply means shade sails need to be tensioned at the corner and you have to allow for this. It’s a common mistake people make. They buy a 5 metre shade sail and then put the posts 5 metres apart. What they end up with is something like this, a saggy sail, and you don’t want that.

Tip five: Plan for the curvature. Shades are also made with curved edges which erode your coverage. Best if I can give you here is to say, plan your sail to be as symmetrical as possible. This sail works well, it’s about 10 by 10 meters. This sail doesn’t, it’s about 8 by 4 meters, or twice as long as it is wide, and that accentuates the curvature.

The bottom line is this: installing a shade sail isn’t the easiest thing in the world, but if you follow some basic principles, it doesn’t have to be hard. In fact, it can be a lot of fun and a great sense of achievement when it’s done.

DIY Shade, shade sails made easy was written to ensure that you avoid the common mistakes most people make and end up with a professional quality result.