Measuring for an Awning

When measuring for an awning, the width, projection from the wall, height of the awning from the ground, the pitch of the canopy cover and the lowest height for the front profile when fully extended, are all the dimensions you should consider.

A ‘standard’ size and currently the most common size in the UK is a 4000mm wide awning with a 3000mm projection. On a standard house wall this awning could be installed at around 2800mm high from the ground, with a pitch of around 15 degrees on the canopy, so when fully extended the front of the awning would be at around 2000mm from the ground. The 3000mm projection would be less now, because of the angle of the canopy.
To guarantee a good rainwater run off from the fabric canopy a typical self supporting awning should be set at a minimum pitch of 14 degrees, but preferably greater than this if possible.
You can install and set a lot of retractable awnings to be at zero degrees of pitch, but then these should bever be used in the rain..At less than 14 degrees you should never leave the awning unattended when open and manage accordingly with rainfall.

Each awning brand and model will have a different and specific standard bracket position, so when measuring for an awning, please be aware of certain awning models which have fixed bracket positions.Many have brackets which can be repositioned but mostly the brackets tend to sit where the awning arms meet the cassette and mechanism.
Please check the specific model of awning and the fixing positions and be aware of limitations if you maybe have on the structure you are fixing to.

The ‘Ordering Width’ measurement refers to the overall width of the awning cassette or end to end dimension of any mechanism, when it isn’t a full cassette awning model. The fabric cover will ALWAYS be narrower than the awning width simply because of the physics, please check for exact fabric canopy width if this is important to you.
The ‘Projection’ is the length from the back of the awning brackets to the front of the leading profile and is when the adjustments in the arms are fully extended. Most awnings will be offered with the projections in 500mm increments, whilst the width is an exact millimetre dimension and most of our awnings are made to measure as standard.

When you are measuring for an awning and you have obstacles such as downpipes or maybe brickwork features so the wall isn’t totally flat you can choose to ignore these and focus on the width you need for the greatest shading. All the awnings have their standard fixing brackets but you can always order ‘stand off’ or ‘pipe’ brackets which enable the awning to be fitted away from the wall and in front of any obstacles. You might also discover unsuitable sub structure for fitting, such as single skin brickwork or maybe the awning position sits right over a lintel? In this case you can also spread the loading of the awning down, up or across your wall using spreader brackets.

Please email or call us with details of your obstacles and issues and some dimensions and we can advise if it isn't obvious from options given already.

We have never known anyone to complain about any awning being too large, but a few people have wished they ordered something slightly bigger once they realise they had plenty more room and needed more shade and cover with the awning.
You create outdoor protected space with an awning for relaxing, entertaining and dining so covering your tables and chairs with enough overhang at the sides and front to deal with the moving sun is essential. The direction your patio, terrace or garden faces is also a huge factor to the awning size. Maybe take a long stick and at various times of the day hold it out from your building wall to show exactly where the shadow sits and this will show you what the awning will also do.. Of course have the stick or rod at the length you think your awning should be and also hold it at about 2m, but angling up to the height where the awning position will be - usually somewhere between 2.5 and 3m in most cases. You might be surprised how little shade you get at certain times of the day, but whatever your reasons are for an awning you will find other benefits other than just sunshade.

We offer many awning models with manual or electric drop down front valances and these are perfect to protect from low lying sun (West facing gardens) and also provide privacy and protection from cooling breezes. Many have a maximum extension of 2.1m to give total cover from ground to awning font profile…