Shade Sail?

[deadwing]

I'm starting to put together a plan for building a patio and adding shade to my yard.  I love the idea of a shade sail - they look cool, they add a nice pop of color, and they provide solid shade.  It's my understanding that shade sails should come down in the winter (snow) or for strong wind storms.  I'm sure it's easy enough to take down, but my biggest concern is if I will be able to put it back up by myself.  I live alone and I would need to plan in advance to have help (so an unexpected summer wind storm could leave me without the sail for a couple of weeks if multiple people are required).

The other option I'm considering is a pergola, but I'm just not as excited about it.  I'm open to other suggestions for creating shade.  I'm also planning on planting a new tree (the tree that was here when I bought the house was badly rotting and had to come down), but I know it takes years for a young tree to grow enough to offer appreciable shade.

[mrsukyankee]

We just ordered one for our top porch (the sail shade). I like that it's something to put up and down. It doesn't look difficult at all to put up and down on your own once it's set up. I expect to put it up in a few weeks, so will share with you once it's up.

[deadwing]

I agree it doesn't *look* hard... I have plenty of experience doing things by myself that are meant for multiple people. For some reason, the shade sail is giving me pause. I look forward to your update, mrsukyankee.

[winecat]

I wonder if an awning pull rod would work?

[redheadk]

We have them, we are on our 2nd set. So long as you can reach the attachment points, you should be able to take them down and put them up yourself. We installed ours with turnbuckles. To take them down, we just loosen the turnbuckles until we can unhook the sail.

[simpsongal]

Jun 19, 2020 13:43:20 GMT -5 redheadk said:

We have them, we are on our 2nd set. So long as you can reach the attachment points, you should be able to take them down and put them up yourself. We installed ours with turnbuckles. To take them down, we just loosen the turnbuckles until we can unhook the sail.

I was thinking this seemed like the ideal answer.

I'm interested in it now that you post about it. That or an awning. I had planned on a pergola over our patio, but I realize that won't provide tons of shade in direct sun....

[ellipses84]

You can do it yourself, but you need to be able to reach the attachment points. You’ll probably need to use a ladder.

[deadwing]

Thanks, everyone, for the responses. I assumed a ladder would be necessary. Clearly I was overcomplicating this in my mind.

[deadwing]

Jun 19, 2020 13:45:25 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

Jun 19, 2020 13:43:20 GMT -5 redheadk said:

We have them, we are on our 2nd set. So long as you can reach the attachment points, you should be able to take them down and put them up yourself. We installed ours with turnbuckles. To take them down, we just loosen the turnbuckles until we can unhook the sail.

I was thinking this seemed like the ideal answer.

I'm interested in it now that you post about it. That or an awning. I had planned on a pergola over our patio, but I realize that won't provide tons of shade in direct sun....

This is part of why I'm "meh" on a pergola.  Sure, you can add a canopy to it, but the majority of those are tan and boring.  I think pergolas look nice, but aren't super functional.