Gazebos, Ramadas and Backyard Shade

One of the best improvements you can make to your home is to create an outdoor sitting area. While not everyone has the space to do something grand, a small gazebo of fabric, a free standing tented area or ramada away from the house is both inviting and can encourage you and your guests to enjoy the backyard more frequently. It’s wonderful to have a yard with plantings and a garden, but without shade, you won’t want to spend as much time outdoors when it’s hot.

A larger backyard is ideal for a permanent ramada. Building the structure of solid materials like steel framing and wood will last for years and can withstand all kinds of weather. Leaving the sides open and the “roof” designed with a lattice will allow for air to pass through and create an environment of openness. Of course there will be days where it sprinkles, is extremely warm outdoors or windy. Select sides to shield from weather on the outside view. You’ll want to keep the sides facing the home open so as not to feel closed in.

Retractable outdoor screening or fabric is ideal to cover 2 or more sides, and weaving lengths of fabric overhead through the latticing will afford better shading and some protection from light rain. Shading for the side walls should be installed so as to be able to secure the bottom edges so that they don’t wave and flap in the breeze. This is easily done with eye hooks towards the lower end of corner supports. Rather than just laying fabric or screening over the “roof”, we suggest weaving regular widths of material over and under the overhead lattice. By doing so, the overhead fabric will be more secure, will move very little in windy conditions and thereby reduce wear and tear for longer durability. Over time, the fabric or screening can be replaced at a much lower cost than replacing the whole structure.