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Canvas half-life?

Anyone ever constructed/owned a canvas awniing? Late last night, over wine, a (non-sewing) friend and I were debating the merits of a canvas awning. The claim is that an awning, properly installed, and permanently attatched to the house, would be good for 20+ years. Let's assume the person seeking to erect this awning cannot afford one oof those wonderful retractable awnings, so something relatively simple is on the table, but of a high-quality, outdoor canvas I seriously doubt that kind of longevity, as this particular hypothetical awning would be receiving sun almost every day, all day long; thus, in my opinion, fostering dry-rot much earlier than if the canvas was erected in, say, a shady, or somewhat sheltered-from-the-sun spot. The climate here is usually hot and sunny, with, frequent years of 10 to 11 months growing season for gardening. So, lots of sun, even in winter. IIMHO, I'd opt for a sunroom with a passive solar-collection type of flooring, but it's not my call. (You can lead a horse to groats, but you can't make it eat.) Cea

Reply to
cea
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Any Awning worth owning will be made from SUnbrella fabric. They warranty it for 5 years so Seems like 20 might be a stretch in your climate

Reply to
Ron Anderson

Yeah, I was going to say I think 5 years would be about the max. Southern Indiana was a much more mild climate. Starting about October, we got a whole lot less sun that you would out there, Cea. And that continued (gray days mostly) till about March or so. Our neighbors had one of those garden swings with an awning over the top. Sat outside all the time because where ya gonna store one of those big things???? It lasted about 3 years, then she had me come look at it to see if it could be repaired. Between sun, rain, snow, etc. it had started coming apart at the seams. Well...the seams were all still there but the fabric was rotting away on either side of the seams. I don't know that it was Sunbrella, which is great stuff. I do know that they got it someplace like Home Depot or something like that. So it had to be fairly decent fabric. But I think 20 years would be stretching even Sunbrella.

Oh! I know where you could find an answer.

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folks are really great. They used to do a lot of custom sewing, boatcovers, awnings, etc. I think they have stopped that. Buddy and Lydia areboth on a different sewing list I subscribe to. They are really helpful andgenerous with their knowledge. So if you can't find an answer to yourquestion on the site, zip them an email. I Know they would be able to tellyou for sure if it would last that long. :)Sharon

Reply to
Sharon Hays

I am in Florida for half the year and a few people have one of those carports with a canvas top for their boats. They need to replace the canvas about every 3 years and the bungy cords that hold it on. HTH Barbara in SC

Reply to
Bobbie Sews More

I second Ron's response. Sunbrella is used (exclusively?) in the Galveston area on the Texas coast. Lots of sun, believe me.

Jean

Reply to
Jean D Mahavier

I agree with you Cea. Case in point. In

2004 we bought a fantastic and fairly costly patio set. That w> Anyone ever constructed/owned a canvas awniing? Late last night,
Reply to
Pat in Virginia

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