Its the end of September and the cold New England winter is upon us. If you have canvas awnings or a deck canopy it may be time to start thinking about taking them down. As it grows colder each day, the sun you wanted to shade yourself from in the summer months becomes a welcome addition to your home by providing natural light and heat. Not only will taking down your canvas awnings let in much needed sunlight and heat, it will extend the life of the material by not subjecting it to the harsh winter weather of Southeastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod.
Here are our tips and tricks to take down and store your awnings for winter:
- Try to get your ladder in the safest position possible by being on stable ground, facing the house, and as close to the wall as possible.
- When taking out the screws that secure the projection arms of the frame to the building, make sure to put them back in their brackets securely. This will make sure that come spring, the screws will not be lost.
- Once the arms are free, push the front of the awning up against the building and loosen, but do not take completely off, the wingnuts that hold the top of the awning. You should then be able to turn the clamps to the side, and the top of the awning will come free.
- Take the pulleys and rope off their hooks and try to keep them from getting tangled.
- Once on the ground, fold the awning so that the head rod (top of awning) is over the front. This will create a pocket that is a great place to keep the rope and pulleys so they stay untangled and are ready for spring. The awning should now look like this:
- After each awning is taken down, label its location with a permanent marker. You should only mark on a part of the awning that will not show once it is re-installed.
- The awning should now look like this:
- Finally, store your awnings in a dry place that is safe from animals. This will ensure your awnings will be in the same condition in the spring as you left them in the fall.
If you want your awnings taken down for winter or up for spring, but don’t have the time to do it yourself, we can do it for you hassle free. American Awning & Window does seasonal installation, take down, and will even store your awnings. If you live in New Bedford, Dartmouth, Acushnet, Fairhaven, Westport, Rochester, Mattapoisett, Marion, Wareham, or surrounding areas, give us a call at (508)995-6333 and we will do the work for you!