The Project

Coastal homes get the best views and the harshest exposure. This Ponte Vedra Beach project called for a large 20-foot by 10-foot motorized retractable awning, enough projection to shade a full patio, on a home close to the salt air.

A 20-foot span is where install quality really shows. The awning has to extend that far, hold a clean line, and retract smoothly thousands of times, all while sitting in a salt environment that punishes hardware. We sized and mounted it for that span and that exposure. Because it retracts, the homeowner gets full shade when the sun is high and an open sky when they want it, and the fabric spends storm season and the harshest sun rolled away in its housing, out of the weather.

On the coast, we always recommend pairing a large awning with a wind sensor so it retracts itself before a gust can catch it, and a simple fresh-water rinse routine to fight salt. Both are covered in our guides on hurricane season for awnings and coastal salt-air maintenance.

Written by Kent Taylor, Local Screen Specialist, Cheetah Screens