DIY shade sails from Mulders to save money
Installing a simple shade sail can make your deck or backyard sun smart.
A smart DIY approach can save a lot of money by avoiding specialist installation costs.
A shade sail supported by posts is essentially a small construction project. Holes need
to be measured and dug, posts sourced and concreted in. Multiple site visits are also
needed to secure accurate measurements throughout the project.
Many competent DIY'ers tend to buy a shade sail only as they have already worked out
which posts or other strong fixing points they are going to use. This approach can offer
big savings on third party installation costs.
Mulders principal shade designer suggests four main points to getting the initial DIY plan
correct. Firstly decide where shade is wanted and measure the sides and diagonals of this
whole area. A common error is to buy a Ready Made Shade Sail, get it home and find it will
not match up with available fixing points. We recommend that customers first work out their
fixing points and measure from these to design their final sail size.
Secondly allow for the fact the sail covers a smaller area after allowing for fixings and
tension curvature. To ensure the shade sail is stable in winds it must have some curvature
and not be on one level plane. The most common method is to have each pair of diagonally
opposite corners at significantly different heights. Sails that are not properly tensioned
end up holding water, hanging limp and becoming unstable in heavy winds. Sails work best
when they are under enough tension to give curvature, are not on a level plane and are
'twisted' for stability
Finally ensure that any proposed fixing points are strong enough to bear the stresses of
a sail under strong wind conditions. Proposed fixing points like walls or roofs are sometimes
too weak to withstand the load of a sail under wind pressure. If unsure consult a local engineer.
Once the overall dimensions are finalized, the sail cloth area and the number of fixing
devices needed to pull the sail into tension can be costed.
Mulders can help on shade sail design and manufacture all sails on site in their Melbourne
factory. Every shade sail is made from premium grade extra heavy duty cloth which offers up
to 95% UV protection. Sails are interlock seamed with twin lock stitching. All sail shade
edges are hemmed with heavy duty UV stabilized webbing. Corners on sails larger than 25m²
are reinforced. The colour choice is endless and shade sails can be water proof as well if needed.
A full range of their sail shades can also be seen online at www.mulders.com.au.
For further information contact:
Mulders
phone: 03 9571 7544
fax: 03 9571 7344
web: www.mulders.com.au
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