One of the most existing new applications for shade sails are found with meshing lattice or wood beams and shade sails. As illustrated bellow, shade sails can be suspended from cables in between existing beams. This allows for retractable shade. In truth, it gives you the best of both shade worlds. You can slide your shade sails open during the winter to allow the sunlight through, or for a special event requiring a starry night. Just as easily, you can slide them closed during the hottest parts of the day or year.

I commonly get the question about shade sail stretch and fitting it into a configuration of poles. The stretch that each shade sail has will logically differ based on the size of the sail. The shade sail will stretch about 3-6 %, depending on the span of shade fabric. Since we custom make shade sails to fit a particular area, we rarely get this question with custom sails. Most of the time they occur with people wanting to install one of our standard shade sails. For specific questions it is always best to contact us.   However, the 3-6% stretch is a good starting point.

Matthew

We recently did a number of sails for an excellent winery in southern Washington called Col Solare. They opted for Ivory triangles to stretch across a courtyard area where they hold events and wine tastings. The image below only shows a few of the shade sails, but gives the general feel of the application. These sails are actually a standard size purchased from our online store. It is item TS-18.

Matthew

Below is a shade canopy image of a commercial job recently finished in Tucson, AZ.  This is the Texas Instruments building.  They wanted a dramatic artistic entrance and to provide some mid day shade protection.  We also fitted the poles with mounts for lights for an equally dramatic image at night.

Matthew

I have spent a bit of time this summer talking about specific projects and applications of shade sails. I thought I would spend a brief moment today describing and showing some of the detailed quality that goes into our sails. All of our sails are double lock stitched with Tennara thread. While this amazingly durable thread destroys our machines, it make a very long lasting sail. Our sail are sewn with a pocket around the perimeter of the sail. This allows for both edge reinforcement and a means for utilizing cable, if desired. We then also have stainless steel rings and webbing on the corners to complete the sail. I have included a few close ups photos below. As always, let us know if you have any questions.

The attached image was recently sent to us by a client in Massachusetts. The yellow triangle sail stretches about 60 ft. over their pool. After fabricating the shade sail and sending it off, our client mentioned that he was going to fly over and snap some photos for us. We are certainly grateful. The photo turned out great and so did their D.I.Y. install.

Hello,

I did a post a few weeks ago about shade sails not just being for shade. In that discussion I showed the picture of a triangle sail put up in a doorway for both visual appeal and shade. I found this picture below, from a sail project in Wisconsin from earlier in the summer. This project is completely form, less any apparent function. This application was a first for us at Tenshon. The client wanted to use the sails solely for the purpose of art.  There were three shade sails in all. Though the image is a little grainy, you can see them below. Enjoy the remaining summer days.

Hello,

Sometimes shade sails don’t fit the need of the client.  This is often the case in commercial courtyards and atriums. The image below, shows a job we just completed for DeVry University, in Phoenix, AZ.  They had an old canopy that had torn and faded badly. They asked us to replace the old shade fabric with some of our shade sail material.  We constructed a canopy to fit the area and reinforced the edges with seatbelt webbing to ensure longevity. The shade canopy was then laced onto existing piping around the wall. They should enjoy this shade for years to come.

On any given week we are working on a shade sail project in pretty much every region in the country.  Last week was no different.  The project pictured below was installed by the owner, in Massachusetts.  This large triangular sail was built for both shade and visual appeal.  It stretches about 50 ft. accross the pool, in this gorgeous backyard.  While standard hardware and cable were used for the install, three trees were used as the anchoring points.  Just another example of the versitility of installation with this product.

We are often asked what our sails can withstand in regards to wind. This questions is especially prevalent in Hurricane prone states like Florida. In most cases, shade sails are designed to withstand 90 mile per hour winds. Believe it or not, these are common wind speeds in AZ as well. During this time of year, the monsoon storms roll in most afternoons, producing microbursts and sustained winds that often exceed 90 mph.  Just 2 days ago, one such storm blew through the town of Queen Creek, AZ.  It snapped power lines and uprooted trees. I was very happy to report that the storm did not damage any of our shade sails installed in the same area.

I drove to look at one such application shown below. There were trampolines wrapped around poles, trees strewn about the streets and even a garage door emploaded into a garage. But not a scratch, tear, dent, or crack on the shade sail structure.  The customer told me that the sail was wiping up and down during the whole storm, but quickly settled back down after it was over.  They were very pleased at the products durability, and so were we.  It is always great to hear that our product even withstood the occasional “act of God” scenario.  So buy with confidence, because we certainly build our products with it.