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Does my house wall need special preparation for a retractable awning?
If you are fixing a patio awning to a straight forward 2 plus storey brick house, there will be nothing further needed. Single storey buildings, some substrates and some size awnings may require additional bracketing which we can and will provide.
Obviously on larger awnings the amount of stress put onto the fixing area when the awning is fully extended can be great indeed.
It is after all like a large sail in the wind and it is imperative that the correct brackets are used and also the correct amount according to the size of the awning. Not only is it dangerous to have an awning not properly secured to the building it can also pull brickwork down and cause structural damage if the stresses are not spread out correctly.
On single storey or timber built houses and structures we usually have to use what are commonly called ‘spreader plates’ to make the stresses not too focussed in one place by spreading the weight over several brick courses or over more timber to avoid potential damage over time. Spreader plates are quite simply either steel or aluminium plates or box sections that enable many more fixings either sideways or downwards to spread out the forces of an extended awning. These brackets on single storey buildings are also regularly used to raise the height of the awnings to ensure a good pitch can be achieved by taking the awning cassette up to or higher than the guttering whilst not placing the fixing stresses on the very top coarse of brickwork in a bungalow for example.
When an awning is extended the stress is ‘sheer stress’ down wards and upwards as well and if the fixings are in the top of a course of bricks or stone then there is not compression from above to ensure the sheer stress does not simple pull the bracket straight off the wall.
Samson Awnings survey and specify to ensure the correct brackets are always used for the required size and weight of the chosen awning or terrace cover.
