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High quality standard and bespoke outdoor living products designed to create additional beautiful outdoor space protected from the often great, but extremely variable British weather.
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With Us TodaySamson Awnings offer a vast range of fixed or Retractable Awnings, commercial Retractable Canopies, Glassrooms, Parasols, External Vertical Blinds and Freestanding Structures to protect from the UK weather and extend the use of your outdoor space all year round.
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Retractable Awnings
CREATE YOUR PERFECT OUTDOOR LIVING SPACE WITH OUR HIGH QUALITY RETRACTABLE AWNINGS AND TAKE CONTROL OF THE VERY DIVERSE UK WEATHER.
Looking for bespoke quality retractable awnings? You are in the right place!
If you appreciate being outside as much as possible, enjoying your patio, terrace or garden with family or friends, or simply as your own space, then a retractable awning is a great addition to help control the sun, shade and rainfall whilst outside.We supply a wide range of awning products, purpose made to measure with a huge selection of fabric designs to choose from. However, if time is of the essence, we are now holding limited stock of the most popular awnings from the best selling Erhardt collection. These high quality awnings are available for fast delivery and installation.
Choosing an Awning
Most people want to know the rough price of any product before investigating a lot further. This is particularly relevant when specialised or purpose made, which most Samson Awnings products are.
Many of the products have vast price differences depending on size, specification, and other factors.
What Our Customers Say
Retractable Awning Price Guide
Standard Manual Awning
Price From £1,580 plus VAT
What’s included:
- Made to measure sizes up to 6m x 3m
- 7 cassette colours to choose from
- Over 150 fabric selections for you
- Adjustable angle for the fabric canopy
- Manual operation with winding handle operation
- 5 year Warranty
- Suitable for both Domestic and Commercial applications
Standard Electric Awning
Price From £2,800 plus VAT
What’s included:
- Made to measure sizes up to 7m x 4m
- Over 300 fabric canopy choices
- Over 60 cassette colour finishes
- Remote or smartphone control
- German manufactured and designed for UK weather
- Wind sensors to retract in high winds
- Choice of cassette styles and models
- 5 Year Warranty
Luxury Electric Awning
Price From £3,400 plus VAT
What’s included:
- Made to measure – up to 14m x 4m
- Over 400 fabric choices
- Over 200 cassette colour finishes
- Electric operation with multiple control options
- Smart app control options
- Designer cassette styles and features
- Optional drop down front valances
- 5 Year Warranty
From Planning to Installation Made Easy
1. Initial Contact
Call us directly on 01933 448 844, submit an online enquiry or visit our showroom to speak to a member of our team.
2. Price Proposal
We will then send you a price proposal to review, and make changes if required. We can also do some initial visuals.
3. Site Survey
Once you are 100% happy, we will arrange a site survey to check dimensions and to ensure the specifications are suitable.
4. Installation
We will complete your installation and handover a professionally installed product which will have guarantees in place for added peace of mind.
Made to Measure Retractable Awnings
Most models are bespoke in specification with made to measure sizes, ensuring the perfect fit and functionality for your outside space.
There are over 500 high quality awning fabrics to choose from over several ranges. When looking for a retractable awning for your home, you should take care to ensure you choose the right style, size, colour, fabric, controls and features, providing the sun shade and overall protection you want to truly define your ‘outdoor living’ space.
A retractable folding arm awning can be used for anything from creating adaptable sun shade and UV protection for a room or in larger sizes for an outdoor area to sit beneath, or for many people, to enable some protection from rainfall in our very changeable British climate.
An Awning is for Life, not just the Summer
Electric Retractable Awnings
Effortless Electric operation with built in safety
Most folding arm type awnings are now fitted with electric motor drive operation, simply because it makes it easier to control and manage in both domestic and commercial environments.
The electric internal motors used are super reliable and all our models have a 5 year warranty as standard. The electric awning can be stopped at any point during opening or closing to provide partial or full shading depending on the sun position. The standard control are either wall mounted switches or remote handsets, however more and more people are using smartphone app controls. The technology has advanced to make this a very simple and low cost option with massive benefits.
We would recommend anyone ordering an awning over about 4 metres wide to have electric operation, simply because the larger the awning the more effort is required to operate manually.
Controlling your Awning
Control your awning effortlessly with a remote control handset, capable of multi-channel options to control the cover, LED lighting, dimming, drop down front valance, infra-red heating and other electric awnings or blind options. Smart app control is also very desirable for operation and control away from your home and for weather sensors to effectively look after the awning too.
Safety
Nearly every electric awning we install has a built-in motion, or wind speed sensor to retract the awning if the wind speeds get too high and disruptive.
Awnings can deal with varying degrees of wind depending on the model, but all have a maximum wind speed tolerance and should never be left open and unattended and this is where the sensor is a great option to include.
The Fabric Makes The Awning
The quality, colour and light transmittance of your awning fabric can make the ambience on your patio and in your conservatory far more special.
Colour nuances, patterns and textures succeed in creating that uniquely special effect by virtue of their brightness and hue. Natural sunlight can be diffused, harnessed or totally blocked, all depending on your choice of fabric design and colour.
Harness Natural Light
Unlike a solid louvre bladed pergola roof, which totally blocks out all natural light, specialist external awning fabrics are designed to enhance the space underneath and bring warmth, style and your own atmosphere dimmed or brightened by natural light from outside, not relying on electric lighting when in use.
Our leading manufacturers have more than 200 fabric patterns each, all in coordinated colour groups. You are certain to find the perfect design for you and your home.
The highest quality awning fabrics will ensure the longest lifespan and performance against UV, damp and general daily wear and tear.
When it comes to making your fabric choice, allow yourself to be inspired, enthused, speak with our specialist sales team for more information.
We welcome you and your family to come and try out the selection for yourself.
Visit our Showroom
6-8 Meadow Close, Ise Valley Industrial Estate, Finedon Road, Wellingborough, Northants, NN8 4BH
Our Outdoor Living team welcome you to visit our comprehensive showroom which is one of the largest in the UK, since 1992 at the same location. We have inside and outside working models of awnings, pergolas, glass verandas, retractable canopies and umbrellas. Our range of products that you can use for yourself and relish in the joy of outdoor living are from our trusted, impressive manufacturers such as Markilux and Weinor.
Please call on 01933 448844 to ask about our products and our team will expertly guide you through the pages of the website to see what products we have here, and how to make the best choice. Our showroom has a lot of products to view and try but if there is something very specific it might we worth checking to make sure we have a working example or sample to see and review.If you prefer we can provide budget prices for you, via email but for this we do ask for at least one image of the area you are considering installing to so we may assess product suitability and sizing, etc. Please send us images of your home or business and some basic measurements and this will commence our email consultation!
What Our Customers Say
How to choose an awning model
Selecting the best retractable fabric awning for your home from over 60 different folding arm models is easier if you recognise some basic differences.
The shape, size and style is one major factor for many people and of course the choice of fabric is perhaps the largest decision, but also how it is to be fitted and what its specification and features are is another large deciding factor.
Basic budget products sold mainly online will simply provide sun shade, but will not be able to be used in even a stiff breeze and certainly not in the rain. Larger, higher specification awnings with heavier duty arms can stand decent wind speeds and also provide protection in light rainfall.
Some other key decisions when choosing are:
- Round, Oval, Square, Rectangular, or extended canopy cassette styles
- End fixed or variable position bracket fixing points to suit your house wall obstacles.
- Face fix, vertical fix, wall niche fix and roof fix options to suit the exact position required
- Steep pitch or average pitch for the fabric canopy and arms
- Lighter or heavy duty arms and overall specification to suit size and site conditions
- Basic, standard or luxury specification with additional features to enhance shading
- Control of the awning. Local control or control from anywhere at all?
Most designs are available as manual or electric operation and the electric designs are using world leading Somfy motor drives for reliability, quieter operation and the ability to integrate smart home technology for the control and safety of your awning.
Awnings with LED Lighting
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Awnings with Drop Down Valance
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Extra Large Awnings
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Designer Awnings
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When an Awning isn’t Enough!
The enhanced outdoor space solutions
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Enhance Your Living Area In Aesthetically Pleasing And Technically Attractive Way
All the awnings have a minimum five year guarantee on the electric motor drive units.
From a basic and robust design electric awning to premium electric awnings with built in LED lights, heaters, drop down front valances and a wide range of control and safety accessories – including Somfy smart home control integration.
Our premium ranges have all been designed, tested and mainly manufactured in Northern Europe by World leading manufacturers.
The operating mechanics, electronics and unique, high quality fabrics will deal with the very diverse and aggressive UK weather and have built in safety devices to retract in high winds. We also specialise in enhanced retractable products if higher levels of weather protection are required, such as our retractable pergola systems
Enhance Your Living Area In Aesthetically Pleasing And Technically Attractive Way
What is the best retractable awning for your home?
The best awning for your home is the one which provides exactly what you imagined in the first place when thinking of your outdoor area and how you could repurpose that space.
Whether that was simply sun shading for a room or part of a larger outdoor scheme to create extra space outdoors to use most of the year round for you, friends and family too.
The best retractable awnings sold in the UK in terms of high quality and performance are from Markilux, Weinor and Lewens – High quality, established specialist manufacturers, offering a very wide range of various awnings, verandas and pergolas to suit all outdoor shading and weather protection. These 3 manufacturers happen to be German, but are very well established in the UK, with excellent service, back up and warranties. Proven and tested technology and quality….
Samson Awnings also offer a range of UK manufactured awnings for faster turnaround, all with high specifications and Somfy electric drives.
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Installation Brackets and Fixing Solutions.
The single biggest challenge for any retractable awning installation is the actual attachment to your wall or structure. A self supported awning fully extended and jostling gently in the breeze will put enormous pull out forces back to the supporting wall. If you have a double skinned, old school, brick and block house wall, with no interruptions or obstacles, then most awnings will install directly using the standard wall fixing brackets where they are recommended by position along the cassette. It is always recommended of course to use chemical fixings for any awning as their pull out force limits are far higher than any plug and screw method.
Types of bracket fixing
You have ‘end fix’ awnings and you have all others, where the brackets for installation can be moved and also multiple additional brackets can be added if required.
The single biggest problem with installing any folding arm awning is the building being a single storey construction. We see this almost daily now as more and more homes are having single storey flat roof extensions, with the largest glass doors possible also used, leaving very little space or strength in the surrounding brickwork to fit any brackets, or indeed any space for the awning cassette and mechanism.
The Solution?
The solution is using purpose made vertical ‘spreader brackets’, which come in almost any size required. Their purpose is to gain multiple fixings and strength down the brick walls either side of the glass doors and then present the fixing bracket points higher up for the awning.
With a single storey extension also comes limited height so any awning or indeed other products require height at the back to enable a pitch on the canopy when in use. The awning must be fitted at a height which allows a sensible pitch so as not to be an obstruction.
Other brackets include solutions for:
- Goal post framework to provide a free standing fixing when you cannot fit to the wall ever or you might need extra height too above the guttering height.
- Samson Awnings have years of experience in specialist brackets for awning installations and will provide the solution for your installation.
- Downpipes being obstacles and requiring brackets to stand off from the wall.
- No fixings available underneath the awning so use horizontal spreader brackets or ‘flag post’ brackets to offer a fixing point where required.
- Bad or weak brickwork so use large flat spreader brackets to obtain fixings in better areas on the wall and spread the load bearing of the awning
There are so many awnings if you start looking and the price variation is enormous, but you really do only get what you pay for with an awning.
If you are looking for something larger than around 4m wide and right up to 14m wide and want to be able to use it a lot, then you should only look at awnings manufactured in Germany or Holland as they have tested and developed their products in the same climate as we have here in the UK. Their market is considerably larger than the UK, so their experience is far greater on development and manufacturing
Don’t just take our word for it, ask around or do some proper research and viewings if possible, you will soon see the massive differences between a £299 and a £3,000 at the same size.
When it comes to much larger awnings over 5m wide and with desirable features like electric drop down front shading valances or high quality LED lighting options, then there are obvious models and manufacturers as mentioned above.
Open, Semi or Full Cassette Awnings?
All folding arm awnings are categorised as either being open, semi or full cassette.
It is very wrong to assume the full cassette awning is the best, simply because everything is enclosed inside. Semi and open cassette awnings generally have the greater ability to incorporate more variables in terms of the bracket fixing position and also most are also what is known as a ‘carry bar’ awning in their mechanics.
A ‘carry bar’ or ‘torque bar’ awning means the awning arms are connected to a single length of square or rounded profile along which the brackets for mounting can be fixed to. This torque bar spread the forces from the arms more evenly across this bar which in turn generally means a more stable awning when extended.
The full cassette awnings tend to have the arms fixed at specific points with the bracket fixing also directly behind that position only. There is no connecting bar between the individual arm connection points.
A full cassette awning is perfect for many UK homes simply because you want the fabric ticked away in the wintertime and there are also so many styles now for the full cassette models, many of which incorporate LED lighting, or are used as a mini canopy when closed.
Semi cassette awnings are perhaps the ones to take a closer look at, they still protect the fabric when closed, but have the benefits of multiple bracket fixing points and the torque bar strength benefits for larger sizes. These great for any wall with structural issues.
Some models have developed over years within their original cassette design and some have no choice such as the crossover awning where the arms have to cross each other and therefore cannot sit inside a cassette housing.
Many commercial awnings are open style awnings and there are models with optional cover profile sections to fit above the fabric to protect it. Open cassette awnings are usually the lowest prices, but semi or full cassette all depend on their features for the prices.
All the Samson Awning folding arm awnings use the very highest quality external rated fabrics, specifically designed and manufactured for use outdoors and highly resistant to UV and moisture. Most standard fabrics are water resistant and the simple fact is they should not retain any amount of water for any period anyway.
The rainwater should run freely off the fabric cover with a sufficient pitch to allow this on the awning cover. If rainwater is able to sit on the fabric then the water can eventually stretch the fabric with the weight and allow more and more water to build up – called ‘pooling’ and not a good thing for any awning.
Yes, you can specify waterproof fabrics for an awning and they are used more often of pergola awnings which are designed to work with rain more.
Wind tends to be the biggest enemy of a retractable folding arm awning, especially buffeting wind conditions, suddenly changing speed and maybe swirling around at various angles.
The higher quality awning from Markilux, Weinor and Lewens will use larger and stronger folding arms than a budget awning along with greater tension from the joint section that connects the 2 parts of the arm. A ‘bionic’ tendon or twin chain link connections are what to look out for if you know your awning is going to be in a windy area and your garden or patio is more exposed to wind.
So, yes, some awning can be OK in the wind, but of course, what strength of wind?
Many retractable awnings will have a tested wind rating based on controlled tests in wind tunnels to provide a safe and certified wind speed claim. The larger the awning, the more wind it will gather and be exposed to and we recommend you consider using a Pergola Awning if you know your site is windy or the awning is larger than normal (above 5m a 3m wide roughly).
A Pergola Awning is designed for higher winds and rainfall and can be manufactured in much larger sizes, especially in the projection.
The question everyone wants to know of course and almost impossible to be specific with the answer. What is an average awning in the first place? The most common size of a higher specification retractable awning sold in the UK currently is 4m wide with a 3m projection.
The price for this size of awning in various brands and models, with manual operation as the lowest price and electric as the highest, would be between £2,500 and £6,000. Installation can vary a lot depending on the wall and fixings required. Average installation costs are between £600 and £1,200 to include special chemical fixings and of course at least 2 installers and often lifting equipment too.
Standard brackets for fixing all depend on the awning model but very often it is necessary to use special brackets, either to spread the forces down a wall or to lift the awning higher. These brackets can be between £400 – £1,500 and more for goalpost frames where fixing to the wall is impossible.
We will openly discuss prices with you for any project and can provide multiple price options to suit different budgets. Just call or email us and you will find us very honest and friendly.
The fixing on any folding arm awning to a house wall or other structure is to be taken seriously as the forces exerted onto the fixings and the wall are considerable when the canopy is extended and in use. All awnings are either an ‘end fix’ model or have variable and multi point fixings which allows you to position fixing brackets where there is better strength in a wall.
End fix awnings are easier to install, but only because they usually have only 2 brackets and they are at each end of the awning, so you know exactly where to fix and have no choice.
When you have questionable wall strength – single brick wall construction, lightweight breeze block and render, timber frame construction, or tiled walls then you do have to be more exact about the fixing positions and will inevitably either need more brackets or special brackets to spread the fixings along or down the wall, rather than in a concentrated fixing point.
Chemical type fixings are always recommended as they provide maximum strength when used as well as usually being a far deeper penetration into the substrate.
Samson Awnings take care of all the right fixings and brackets from a professional survey and consultation with experienced installers to ensure the best and strongest fixings.
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