Product
Folding-Arm Awnings
Retractable fabric shade on spring-tensioned arms — no posts, no permanent roof, gone into its cassette in seconds when you don't need it.
Retractable fabric shade on spring-tensioned arms — no posts, no permanent roof, gone into its cassette in seconds when you don't need it.
A folding-arm awning turns a baking north- or west-facing patio back into a usable room over a highveld summer, and retracts to let welcome winter sun back in — the seasonal argument a fixed roof simply can't make. With no posts, there's no interrupted view and no clutter around the braai. Projection runs to roughly the 3–4m class over wide spans, and solution-dyed acrylic fabrics are built to hold their colour under strong South African UV.
A full cassette seals the fabric and arms away completely and suits exposed positions best; semi-cassette and open mounting are the more budget-friendly alternatives. Control is by crank handle or motor — and motor plus a wind sensor is the responsible spec here. An awning caught open in a highveld thunderstorm gust can be destroyed; auto-retract protects the investment. LED lighting and a vertical drop-valance are available as add-ons on premium lines.
An awning is a shade product, not a rain product — it copes with light drizzle at a pitch, never a highveld downpour or standing water. Wind ratings are real limits, not suggestions, and the fixing substrate matters: brick, timber and steel all behave differently, which is exactly why a proper site assessment is part of the free measure.
What you pay for is shaded ground: square metres under the fabric with the awning fully out, fitting included. Hand-cranked, expect R3,500 to R5,500 per square metre, with the cassette type — open, semi or full — deciding where inside that range you land. With motorised operation and a wind sensor, budget R5,500 – R7,500 for each square metre of projection.
Over an open back lawn with nothing upwind, the motor and the sensor are the better spend, because an awning that retracts itself as a Highveld storm builds is the one still standing next summer. A short awning above a door is charged at the minimum, and whatever the fixings go into shifts — brick, a timber fascia, a steel post — changes the number as well. The free assessment on site answers it, and what arrives afterwards is a written price for your own patio rather than a range.
Patios and braai areas shaded and storm-protected, from renovated stoeps to the grandest entertaining gardens — always specified with a wind sensor for genuine highveld protection.