Shade Sail - need a good one that won't break the bank
 

I actually want a few of them. Coolaroo seems to be a popular brand...anyone use them?

http://71.41.112.226/Images/Shade_Sa...and_TRIAV7.jpg

Coolaroo Sails

Shadesails.com has some more expenzive ones, but I wonder if it worth 2x the price..,

Shade Sail - #1 TopQuality Tensioned Shade Structures and Tensioned Fabric Structures from Shadesails.com! The Official Site

They also have a cheaper Eclipse line.

Anyone have experience with theses? I just want the sails. The hardware I'll get at the local HW stare.

My friend makes and distributes the sails and my company installs them, occasionally.

I will get you in contact with him.

PM me.

Sent you an e-mail Randy. PM is a little bothersome on my iphone.

We have a coolaroo 16' 5'' triangular sail on our roof deck, works great! Cost was $97 and included the hardware and two turnbuckles.

Where did you get 1 for that price, these are cool need 1

I have two Coolaroos, and am looking to add a third. They work well.

I got mine from AceHardwareOutlet.com, they have them listed under coolaroo's parent company name, Gale Pacific.

Here is a pic of ours from when I was setting it up, we're very satisfied with it.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1273063082.jpg

Yeah - we want to go this route too - Souk post what you find out..

We got ours from a local patio funiture place a few yrs ago. It's a 16 footer. Not sure of the brand , I thnk it was about $145? Love it. Although its time for a replacement, its pretty beat up.

Will do.

This is what I'm wondering....longevity. I intend to leave them up throughout the summer months. The Koolaroos are about $100, and the Skyclipse are twice that, but promises better quality. I want to get 3-4 of them to cover a 30X15 patio...the Koolaroos may have to do since I'm not willing to pay $1000+.

Grant - that's a great looking patio/balcony.

Mines probably about 8 yrs old. Its usually up from may to october. Never taken down. Between the sun beating on it, suffering through a few severe storms, it held up pretty good. I cant complain.

Thanks! The Coolaroo makes it MUCH more livable since there is no natural shade to be found on our roof. I wish I had bought one years ago.

I can't really comment as to longevity since I've only had mine for a couple of months, but the fabric itself seems fairly bulletproof... reminiscent of the stuff they use to make winter pool covers, or the stuff they use for the bouncing surface of an outdoor trampoline.

Vin - that's the feedback I was hoping to hear.

It gets pretty windy where we are some days, so the roughed material as Grant described it is a plus.

Quick question...do they offfer any protection from light rain? Do they hold water and sag?

Something I'm interested in as well. So what do you do to attach that 3rd point. I don't have the brick pillar like in Tishabet's photo. Sink A post in concrete? Looks like that in the photo in the orginal post, my patio layout is similar to this.

(edit, ok so I'm reading the Coolaroo installation instructions now...... :))

Jay

Jim - I understand that they are not meant to provide rain protection, although my internet search did turn up some waterproof ones. I suppose a light rain may run off a sloping sail even if it isn't meant to be impermeable. The weave on the regular sail appears to be tight enough to allow this if it's just a light drizzle and the sail is angled.


Jay - My patio is between two structures, but if I didn't have this configuration, I would probably do something like this (with the pipe or conduit allowed to pivot at the wall). This would only work if you had height...or you use a right angle triangle sail and place the pipe under one of the non-hypotenous side of the sail.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1273073164.jpg

The Coolaroo is somewhat stretchy, so the cantilevered design posted above may not work if you have any significant wind. To stabilize the pole you'd need a lot of tension on the rope/cable that is the lower stay and the Coolaroo which is effectively the upper stay, but the Coolaroo isn't really made for that. Mismatch between the properties of a rope/cable and a Coolaroo. I'd simply have another rope/cable acting as the upper stay.

The Coolaroo is not water-resistant in anything more than a very light sprinkle. But, it is easy enough to cut a tarp to the same shape as the Coolaroo, attach it to two of the Coolaroo mount points, roll it up neatly, when it rains, simply unroll the tarp and connect it to the third Coolaroo mount point.

Bought a roll of Coolaroo fabric (100' ft or so) at Lowes 5-6 years ago. Used it to cover a pergola in the Chicago suburbs from June-Sept. Today? Minor fading, no significant stretching, only thinking now of replacing it. Actually doubled it up to get a little more sun protection over the patio. Attached with screws and hasn't ripped, torn, etc. around those areas. Great stuff.....

Thanks Enzo. The blue 16'5" ones I want are out of stock. They appear to have the best prices. I sent then an e-mail about back ordering it.