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Shade Sail Installation Guide - How to Set Up Your Conservatory or Garden Sail Shade
Clara Shade Sails Step by Step Installation Guide
As our shade sails are aimed at the DIY market and we are unable to give any specific design, measuring or installation advice, we have put together this guide to help you.
1. Decide what shape will work well with the space and how much cover you want
When working out the shade cover that will be provided, you need to take into consideration the path of the sun to make sure the sail will shade exactly where you want it to. Adding several fixing points on a post, wall or fence so the sail corner(s) can be lowered or raised can also help you achieve adequate shade. You can find more information in our blog, How to better plan and organise your garden following the sun
We have several shade sail options available on our website to help you find a suitable sail in the shape and size you need:
1. Ready-Made Shade Sails
You can find a large selection of ready-made waterproof and UV resistant white Clara Shade Sails, and UV and water resistant coloured shade sails in our All Ready Made Shade Sails Collection
2. Made to Measure Shade Sails for Indoors or Outdoors
If you can’t find the right size in our ready-made shade sails we also offer a Made to Measure Service on our website. You can either measure up and install yourself, or if you prefer some help with installation, our partner installation company maybe able to help. Just request information via the online quote form.
3. Bespoke Conservatory Roof Shade Sail Blinds or Electric Roof Lantern Blinds
If you are specifically looking for interior shade sails for your conservatory, glass roof or lantern, and like the sound of someone coming out to your house to measure up and install a bespoke design for you, then we have a premium Bespoke Conservatory Roof Shade Sail Blinds option for you.
We are delighted to now also offer a “one click close” fully automated lantern blind option as part of this range.
2. Decide what fixtures you need
For larger D ring shade sails, or if you want more of a permanent installation, we recommend using shade sail fixture kits, which include pad eyes, turnbuckles and carabiners. These will help provide a more secure and tensioned structure.
For spaces in between the fixtures and the sail’s sewn in D rings, you can fill the gap with rope, wire cables or ratchet straps, these are also very helpful if you want to tension your sail. All our ready made sails are supplied with rope.
For made to measure sails with eyelets there are several options available for attaching Eyelets to a frame:
- Nylon rope
- Cable ties
- Bungee Ball Loops
- Hooks
Please note that all eyelets must be used when installing your shade sail to avoid the sail becoming damaged. Eyelets are placed in each corner and at regular intervals of 30-40cm along each side, and are placed approximately 0.5cm from the edge of the shade sail.
If you are installing your shade sail in a conservatory, or have one of the smaller ready made shade sails, you can use screw in hooks or eyelets. Simply hook on the D rings in each corner, or use the rope provided to tie your sail to the hooks.
3. Work out your shade sail measurements and fixing points
D Ring Shade Sails - Measure the area that needs to be covered.
Made to Measure Shade Sails with Eyelets - Measure the interior of the frame or the length of the wall or fence that the sail will be secured to.
You will also need to consider the following in your measuring and installation planning:
Once you have decided what fixtures you are going to use to install your shade sail, you need to factor in their sizes, and allow for space for each one.
If you are planning to use a Clara Shade Sails Fixtures Kit, the measurements are:
- Turnbuckles – Width 1.25” (3cm) x Length 8” (20cm), extending up to 11” (28cm)
- Carabiners - Width 2” (5cm) x Length 3.25” (8cm)
- Pad Eyes - Width 2” (5cm) x Length 3.25” (8cm), Inside of D Ring: Height at base 20mm x Depth 18mm
If you are leaving your shade sail out in the rain, you must angle it to ensure rainwater runs off and does not pool on top. This also applies to Made to Measure Shade Sails made from HDPE, so you need to take this into consideration in your planning. Make sure your fixing points allows for your shade sail to be angled by at least 20-30 degrees for rain run off.
Angling
Triangle Sails need to have at least one corner that is at an angle of 20-30 degrees lower than the others.
Rectangle and Square Sails need to have two corners that are at an angle of 20-30 degrees lower than the others.
Along with angling, if you are leaving your shade sail out in the rain you must pull the sail as tight as possible so the material is completely taut without any sagging. This means you need to allow space to pull the shade sail tight, which we refer to as tensioning space.
The recommended tensioning space is approximately 10% of the shade sail length from each corner, so after you have allowed for the fixture lengths, you will also need to add on the tensioning space to work out your fixing points.
Example - a square 4m shade sail will need an additional 0.4m from each corner for tensioning.
If you don't plan to leave your shade sail up in the rain and are happy to let the sail “billow” in the wind, you can ignore these instructions.
If you are installing your D ring shade sail in a conservatory, or you plan to use your shade sail for sun shade only and will take it down when it rains, you will only need to allow for the length of any fixtures or hooks you plan to use to fix each D ring in place.
Conservatory Installations – We have a shade sail Conservatory Installation Guide available on our website, with a video to show how to add fixing points to wooden frame conservatories.
If you have a UPVC conservatory and are unsure about which fixings to use, we recommend that you consult the supplier of your conservatory first.
You can also find recommendations and advise about installing your conservatory shade sails from other customers in our Conservatory Living Blog
4. Set up your posts (where applicable)
We don’t sell shade sail posts or poles, but they can be purchased from many DIY stores.
These are general recommendations for the height, width, and hole depth of the shade sail posts or poles, but if you are unsure or have any concerns, it may be best to use the services of a local DIY expert or builder.
A width of 125mm for wooden posts or a diameter of 50mm for metal poles would be a good minimum size. The height of the poles depends on how far it needs to go into the ground, plus how tall your highest fixing point will be once you have allowed for angling the shade sail.
Based on the length of the sail plus your fixtures/hook length and tensioning space (D rings shade sail only), measure from your other fixed points, and dig a suitably deep hole for the pole or post:
- Shade Sails up to 5m – Hole needs to be at least 400mm square and 900mm deep
- Shade Sails over 5m or for very windy locations – Hole needs to be at least 400mm square and minimum of 1200mm deep.
Make sure your pole or post is angled at 5-10 degrees, and fixed securely in the ground using a mixture of gravel and concrete to keep the pole or post in place and to stop any movement:
- For firm ground it is best to add a layer of 100mm deep gravel at the base of the post before adding concrete.
- For soft ground it is best to add a layer of 100mm concrete and allowing it to set before adding a layer of gravel at the base of the post and more concrete.
For further guidance, you can see the installation of a wooden post for one of our Clara shade sails on the British Sign Language website for their program You, Me, Garden?.
5. Set up your Shade Sail
Fix your sail in place using fixtures or rope. All ready made shade sails are supplied with rope
Waterproof polyester - Before setting up your shade sail, you need to make sure that the seams and any labels are facing down, so the waterproof side is facing up.
All Materials - Making sure any seams in the middle of your shade sail are running parallel with the angled slope, rather than across it, use your fixtures and/or ropes to connect each D ring to it's fixing point, pulling each corner as tight as possible. The sail should be completely taut, so the material and seams are not sagging. If you are finding this difficult you may want to consider using turnbuckles or ratchet straps.
If you are still having difficulties, you may need to move your fixing points further apart.
Here are a couple of customer photos with great examples of how the shade sails should be installed
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Waterproof polyester - Before setting up your shade sail, you need to make sure that the seams and any labels are facing down, so the waterproof side is facing up.
All Materials - Fix your shade sail in place, making sure you use all eyelets around the edge of the shade sail to avoid your sail becoming damaged
Whilst you don’t need to allow tensioning space, you still need to make sure that the material is taut, without any slack, so rainwater doesn’t pool.
6. Sit back and admire your new Clara Shade Sail!
If you have followed these instructions, but find you have an issue with the shade sail, please get in touch through our contact page or by email to info@clarashadesails.co.uk. We will reply to you as soon as possible.
We are happy to answer any shade sail questions you may have ahead of purchase, but a reminder that our sails are aimed at the DIY market, so we are unable to give any specific installation, measurement or design advice. If you feel you need additional help, then you may want to use the services of our installation partner for Made to Measure Shade Sails, or a local builder or DIY expert for ready made shade sails.