An awning is a shelter attached to or hung over an opening. It is most commonly either an extension of a house or a free-standing structure. An awning or overhang is often attached to or extended from a house, building, or other structure to provide shade, shelter, or protection from the elements. A porch, veranda, or other enclosed area attached to or in front of a building often has one or more awnings. A veranda may have one or more retractable awnings in Vaucluse or canopies. It can be as simple as a cloth stretched from a frame to shelter an entrance. Alternatively, an awning may be a long strip or tube of fabric, metal, plastic, or wood supported by poles or other supports. It can also be an architectural element projecting from the wall of a building or a building’s facade.
Types Of Awnings
A good awning is as thin as you can make it and still hold its shape. The materials you use affect its stiffness. Awnings are usually made of canvas, which is weak, or aluminium, which is strong but heavy. The stiffest material is fibreglass, but it’s heavy and expensive. The easiest way to do this is to weave the cloth into a tube, then cover the outside with a layer of PVC or vinyl, a plastic that resists water. But vinyl is slippery, and it’s expensive. So one of the inventors of awnings tried a tackier material: spandex, a synthetic material with elastic threads in it. It’s stiffer than the vinyl but feels soft, and it’s cheap.
A modern awning still has a tube of the canvas, stretched tightly, but it’s covered with a layer of spandex. The fabric stretches and shrinks, so it holds its shape. So an awning made with spandex is as thin as you can make it without making it floppy.
If it works, an awning is an appealingly simple idea. But its simplicity disguises its complexity. The awning must be light, durable, waterproof, and unobtrusive. In practice, there is a lot more to it. When the climate is mild, the awning’s job is fairly simple. At low angles, the sun’s rays are deflected by the sides of the awning, which protects the customer from the rain. At high angles, on the other hand, the awning must shade the front of the store. In addition, the awning must be at an angle so that sunlight won’t fall on the windows. That requires careful engineering and a knowledge of physics that few customers are likely to know. Awnings need maintenance. They get dirty, and in bad weather, they get torn by the wind. But they are also a highly visible form of advertising, and for that reason, they are sometimes worth repairing.
Benefits Of Awnings
People often ask why they need awnings in Vaucluse when they can sit under a tree. The answer isn’t as simple as it might seem. For one thing, trees shade us partly by intercepting the sunlight and partly by reflecting it. A tree’s shade is big, but it gets smaller as the angle between the source and the shade gets larger. An awning, on the other hand, is big in all directions.
For another thing, trees tend to block the afternoon sun. But the sun’s angle changes throughout the day, and when it does, it hits the roof of a house at an angle that gets bigger the closer to noon it gets.
Finally, the shade and time of day are not the only things that matter. A tree is convenient if you are sitting right next to it. But trees also block light, and that can mean problems.
For example, if you sit under a tree and read a book, after a while the tree will block the light coming through the window. And you can’t see the book very well. Awnings don’t block much light at all. So you can read comfortably from the same place, even when the tree is blocking part of the light.
Moreover, an awning is handy for other things besides reading. You can use it for eating, for relaxing, for working, for sleeping, for art, and for just about anything else you want to do on a sunny day. An awning also protects you from rain. In a warm, sunny climate, rain often comes in short, heavy bursts. If you sit under a tree, you can barely get around those bursts. An awning, on the other hand, is big enough to shield you from even the heaviest rain. There is no doubt that the houses in Vaucluse do need the services of awnings and there are many places where you can get them.