Shade&Beyond 8'x10' Sun Shade Sails Canopy Rectangle Sand 185GSM Shade Sail for Patio Deck Yard Backyard, (We Make Custom Size)

The media could not be loaded. Our rear deck faces West and gets full sun pretty much from midday thru to sunset. I considered umbrellas for the much needed shade, but experience has shown that they fall over, take up deck real estate with the base, fade and need replacing every couple years, are bulky to store over winter and can be expensive. I saw patio sails on TV and looked through Amazon's offerings. I was surprised how cost effective they are for the large area they cover and they are super easy to install if you can do DIY.The Shade&Beyond looked to be good value and hopefully durable and had a size (10ft x 13ft) that seemed (on paper) to work for our deck (12ft x 16ft) It arrived within 2 days and took less than 30 mins to put up this first time, after I had already bought and installed the hardware during the shipping time. I added two 4 x 4's to the existing deck structure for an approximate sail height of 75" and fixed two eye bolts to the house, just under the gutter, at 87". It was the largest slope I could get to assist water run-off (see later). One eye bolt had to be spaced out further than the opposing post (ie a total of about 17ft) as there was no stud at the 16ft point. I decided to use chain (stainless steel) to make adjustment easier, using the loops. It turns out, the ideal size would have been 10ft x 14ft. As you can see from the photos, the chains are not at the ideal 45 degrees or so, but more out to the sides since the sail is just shy of width for the fasteners. The tension in the front and rear edges is greater than the sides due to the angle of pull from the turnbuckles. Even so, most of the material is still pretty tight with just minor creases remaining in the center. NOTE that the sail is not rectangular. The stated dimensions are across the D-rings with curvature between. For our application, tjhe curvature allows the BBQ grill to not be under the meltable polyethylene material.It had been raining all morning, but the weather improved just as the sail arrived. Having got it up, the sun then came out! It easily proved the benefit of the shade. The temperature noticeably dropped moving from the sunny area to under the sail. It should help reduce the heat load on the patio doors also. Then, as if to help test the sail, a thunderstorm started to move in. The wind whipped up and the sail did rise and fall by a couple feet. When the rain started, it was clear that the sail modifies the rainfall. It still comes through the fabric, but more finely. the bulk of it beads up on the top surface and runs down the material. Unfortunately, a 1 ft slope isn't enough to stop water pooling in the center, sagging the material and then dripping hard through the material at that low point. It wasn't real hard rain, like we can get. So, I'll have to observe the performance and center sag in another storm. I might be able to lower the west end by another few inches if that would help drain the water away better.So, after an hour or so, the Shade&Beyond sail is doing what we wanted. It's a good product at a great price and seems to be well constructed. Only time will tell on the life and durability. Watch out for updates!UPDATE 1:While looking at my installation, I realized that I could improve the overall tension by moving the hooks on the 4 x 4's around the posts by 90 degrees and get a better line of action of the chains and turnbuckles, pointing more towards the center of the sail. A quick rework and the sail is now perfect - nice and taught across the whole surface! (see 12th and 13th photos - turnbuckle only and a view in the plane of the sail). I also lowered the west end hooks by a couple inches (to avoid the original holes), though I don't expect that to improve the rain run-off much at all. It's sunny again now. So, I'll have to wait and see if the additional tension and lower end helps that.UPDATE 2:Today has had all the types of weather but for snow! In the evening, we had another storm that the gutters couldn't even cope with. The shade started to load up with water and you could see the sag increasing. At about 4-5 inches of sag more towards the lower side, the water started running through that low patch (see video), with just single drips elsewhere. When the rain finally stopped, the material was seen to continue to sag somewhat as the pores do hold water. No dripping, but hitting the shade would release a fine water spray of trapped water. However, once the sail had dried out, the shade went back to it's previous height, with no sag or creases - awesome!I'm guessing that to shed water, the slope needs to be at least 3ft. Now we just have to give the shade sail some time for a durability test

Much more sturdy than I thought it would be. Attached pic is the result of a wicked hail storm, with no telling how much weight is on the shade from leaves and hail...it drooped a ton, but it wasn't damaged, and the mounts didn't pull out. Without hail, it has easily managed winds of 40 mph or so.

Great product so far

This shade has been covering the porch attached to my pool for three years and it’s still holding up. It’s been exposed to the elements year round for three + years and it’s doing great! Extremely good investment. Provides just enough shade!

Item just how described, better quality then expected, very satisfied. Would purchase again.

Well made , looks good, fits just like one before. Much cooler now than before.

Ok

Muy bueno