Make Your Own Metal Awnings!

Awnings are literally a cool addition to add to your home. We had fabric-covered units and didn’t like how they performed or looked - so we re-skinned them with metal. You can do the same thing!

#metalawnings #awning #awnings

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The south-facing windows on our home have awnings on them. The summer room temperatures in those rooms are almost impossible to control without the windows being shaded. We love what the awnings do for creature comfort, but we were not pleased with the covering performance or appearance of our awnings.

A common approach for awning coverings is specially treated fabrics meant to resist the sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays - which fade and “sun-rot” the fabric over time. The first coverings we had were a dark gray, but they didn’t last long and the manufacturer replaced it with our choice of a more sun-resistant fabric (even though the first one we had in the original installation was supposed to be). We saw fading and discoloration beginning again after a couple of seasons, and frankly, we didn’t like the striped look - it didn’t go with anything else on the house!

DirtFarmerMaggie suggested we cover them with metal. At first, I thought this was a way too ambitious project, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. We were getting the house painted, and white metal awnings would look and perform WAY better than what we had.

Join me as I walk you through the process of “re-skinning” the awnings, and some tips and tricks learned along the way. While we were able to “repurpose” our existing awning frames, you may not have that luxury and need to start from scratch.

If you do, here are some basic dimensions and proportions to remember. First, you want the shade about the top 2/5ths of the window. That means that the bottom edge of both the front and sides of the awning should not rest any more than about 2/5ths of the distance from the top of the window and certainly more than one-half.

Second, you can have the front edge be narrow, or have a skirt along the front (like we did). We think the skirt, which is about 4” tall, looks classy.

Third, the angle the top runs down is about 45 degrees (or for you roof builders - 12/12 pitch).
Fourth, overbuild. Attach skins to the framework with lots of pop rivets where the connection allows and use lots of “metal-building” screws elsewhere. These units are going to be exposed to the elements - including high winds, so make them stout.

Finally, the frames are attached to the house using specialized clips that the awning hangs on, and then the bottom of the sides are drilled into the house. These are not moving!

We are really pleased with how these turned out. Not only do they look fantastic and are extremely durable - but there’s NOTHG like the sound of the rain on them.

Sure, you can have someone do this for you, but why? JUST DO IT YOURSELF!

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