Freestanding Structures Overview

Possibly one of the most original freestanding structures to offer protection from weather in a domestic or commercial garden or terrace was the Parasol. Totally self supporting and able to be located almost anywhere you choose. As products have developed rapidly now in the 21st century to offer larger and more diverse ways to cover larger spaces, the need for more products to be free standing has become more and more relevant. Demand has grown for freestanding solutions because there are so many situations where it is either impossible or impractical to fit onto a building. More and more customers are also wanting to create covered outdoor areas away from their buildings too.

• No reliance on the integrity or height of a supporting wall for fixing
• Often negates or satisfies planning issues by not attaching to the property
• Offers covered protected outdoor space away from the main building
• Can often use weight box ground supports so no need to drill into the ground
• Many systems can be relocated at a later date if freestanding.
• 4 open side or 4 full vision sides possible with open or protected apertures
• Can be extended when required.

Awnings Online have a range of products which have been designed and developed from the outset to be freestanding. The reality is however a lot of the wall mounted products can also be made into freestanding models, by using various forms of aluminium frameworks to fix the original products too. This can alleviate a problem with a weak wall, a wall which is too low, a totally uneven wall, and so on. Maybe you can't even fix to the building because it is listed? There are many reasons and one benefit of a freestanding structure is that it can be relocated if ever required..

Freestanding structures for outdoor weather protection will always be best secured to the ground itself with suitable concrete pads or a complete base. In many roof top structures a steel or floating base has to be created to ensure the integrity of the external roof itself. When there is any doubt about the ground itself or restrictions then weighted boxes can also be used. Steel or similar boxes filled with sufficient ballast to create the securing required for the relevant size of the structure.

Basic freestanding weather protection systems will allow rainwater to flow off the side or all 4 sides, but more complex and luxury type solutions will have rainwater guttering integrated into the horizontal roof sections and will take rainwater away down the drainage pipes in the supporting legs. This system obviously makes for a far more inviting area where splashing rain will not end up inside the covered space.

Awnings Online can assist with whatever doubts or installation issue you may have and more often than not there is a solution to enable freestanding products to be used.