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Metro NY Gardener Porches & Decks Design Dilemma

Ideas for sun protection/shade on small balcony?

4 years ago

Hi everyone.

I have a small balcony which I'd love to be able to sit on during the day, but... I typically can't do so as there is no shade.

I looked into getting a 'clip on' sun umbrella...something that can clip onto the balcony rail, and that has an arm that can be adjusted/tilted as needed...and then 'locked' into place...but either they are unattractive...reviews indicate that the clip mechanism fails rather quickly...etc.

So then I was thinking about a sun 'sail'... one of those square, or ideally triangular shaped pieces of UV-blocking fabric, but.... most of them are too large for my balcony. Then there's also the issue of how to attach it. (My building landlord probably wouldn't allow for me to have someone insert permanent 'anchors' into the side of the building.

So... I'm trying to think of a creative way I could maybe purchase a custom-sized sun sail, and then affix the three corners utilizing 1) a light fixture that is already on the wall of my balcony and 2/3) trellises that I have on my balcony. I'm thinking I could have ties made of fishing line permanently tied up on these three posts if you will, and then whenever I want to put the sail up, I have three hooks at the ready, which connect the grommets/holes in the three corners of the sail, to the three knots of fishing line that I'd have on my light fixture, and in two spots of my balcony trellises.

Thoughts?

Thanks!!

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Comments (7)

PRO
Wood's Shop
4 years ago
It would help us if you posted some photos of the area Lynn.
Esther-B, Zone 7a
4 years ago
I think you can easily build a frame of PVC tubing to fit your space, and then order some Sunbrella fabric to create a shade. After sewing a casing on the fabric, you could leave one PVC uncemented to be able to slip the fabric shade onto the PVC tubing and off for cleaning. You could also just seam the sides and sew velcro on one edge to surround the PVC pipe and then press the velcro to its opposite number on the other side of the fabric. Or, you could sew some nylon strapping loops closed with strong velcro along the seamed sides.

Link to Sunbrella fabrics to make shades

Arched PVC canopy frame, shade from fabric

Make a tent top from PVC for fabric shade
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thinkdesignlive
4 years ago
Don’t attach anything to an existing light fixture. A strong wind could do damage. Here is a DWR umbrella that might work (expensive but is a minimal footprint)
https://www.dwr.com/outdoor-umbrellas/midcentury-sunshade/942.html?lang=en_US#lang=en_US&start=3
Lynn Nevins
Original Author
4 years ago
Thanks for the input everybody. And good point on not attaching to the light fixture because of strong wind could pull at it. Anyway I know myself and I'm definitely not going to do anything that involves PVC pipes and sewing and all that. The DWI worm thing looks nice but it's obviously insanely expensive and I don't want anything even with a small footprint on my balcony floor I wanted something off the floor. I'd previously looked into sun umbrellas that are on a pivoting arm and they can be affixed to a balcony rail but all the reviews I found suggested that most of them the locking mechanism on the arm eventually stops working. So it sounds like unless I want to invest in a professional custom-made cantilevered canopy type thing that I can wind open and close over my entire balcony that I'm just going to be stuck not sitting out on my balcony during the mid day hours.
Lynn Nevins
Original Author
4 years ago
PS above message was sent using voice to text please ignore any weird typos
Robbin Roussin
2 years ago
You can attach a beach/patio umbrella to your railing with zip ties. It works really well and doesn't take any floor space.
John Jordan
2 years ago
We travel often and we know how sometimes we want to hide from the sun. Have you considered the option of fabric as on tents? Quite convenient and practical. We ordered tents from Woods Canada there are so reliable options that not only the sun will not disturb you, but also various mosquitoes. In our backyard, a tent is always open for children, they play and relax there. It seems to me that this option is interesting.

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