Shade&Beyond 10’x10′ Sun Shade Sails Curved Canopy Square Sand 185GSM Shade Sail Permeable for Patio Deck Yard Backyard, (We Make Custom Size)

So far, so great!
Our rear deck faces West and gets full sun pretty much from midday thru to sunset. I considered umbrellas for the much needed shade, but experience has shown that they fall over, take up deck real estate with the base, fade and need replacing every couple years, are bulky to store over winter and can be expensive. I saw patio sails on TV and looked through Amazon’s offerings. I was surprised how cost effective they are for the large area they cover and they are super easy to install if you can do DIY.The Shade&Beyond looked to be good value and hopefully durable and had a size (10ft x 13ft) that seemed (on paper) to work for our deck (12ft x 16ft) It arrived within 2 days and took less than 30 mins to put up this first time, after I had already bought and installed the hardware during the shipping time. I added two 4 x 4’s to the existing deck structure for an approximate sail height of 75″ and fixed two eye bolts to the house, just under the gutter, at 87″. It was the largest slope I could get to assist water run-off (see later). One eye bolt had to be spaced out further than the opposing post (ie a total of about 17ft) as there was no stud at the 16ft point. I decided to use chain (stainless steel) to make adjustment easier, using the loops. It turns out, the ideal size would have been 10ft x 14ft. As you can see from the photos, the chains are not at the ideal 45 degrees or so, but more out to the sides since the sail is just shy of width for the fasteners. The tension in the front and rear edges is greater than the sides due to the angle of pull from the turnbuckles. Even so, most of the material is still pretty tight with just minor creases remaining in the center. NOTE that the sail is not rectangular. The stated dimensions are across the D-rings with curvature between. For our application, tjhe curvature allows the BBQ grill to not be under the meltable polyethylene material.It had been raining all morning, but the weather improved just as the sail arrived. Having got it up, the sun then came out! It easily proved the benefit of the shade. The temperature noticeably dropped moving from the sunny area to under the sail. It should help reduce the heat load on the patio doors also. Then, as if to help test the sail, a thunderstorm started to move in. The wind whipped up and the sail did rise and fall by a couple feet. When the rain started, it was clear that the sail modifies the rainfall. It still comes through the fabric, but more finely. the bulk of it beads up on the top surface and runs down the material. Unfortunately, a 1 ft slope isn’t enough to stop water pooling in the center, sagging the material and then dripping hard through the material at that low point. It wasn’t real hard rain, like we can get. So, I’ll have to observe the performance and center sag in another storm. I might be able to lower the west end by another few inches if that would help drain the water away better.So, after an hour or so, the Shade&Beyond sail is doing what we wanted. It’s a good product at a great price and seems to be well constructed. Only time will tell on the life and durability. Watch out for updates!UPDATE 1:While looking at my installation, I realized that I could improve the overall tension by moving the hooks on the 4 x 4’s around the posts by 90 degrees and get a better line of action of the chains and turnbuckles, pointing more towards the center of the sail. A quick rework and the sail is now perfect – nice and taught across the whole surface! (see 12th and 13th photos – turnbuckle only and a view in the plane of the sail). I also lowered the west end hooks by a couple inches (to avoid the original holes), though I don’t expect that to improve the rain run-off much at all. It’s sunny again now. So, I’ll have to wait and see if the additional tension and lower end helps that.UPDATE 2:Today has had all the types of weather but for snow! In the evening, we had another storm that the gutters couldn’t even cope with. The shade started to load up with water and you could see the sag increasing. At about 4-5 inches of sag more towards the lower side, the water started running through that low patch (see video), with just single drips elsewhere. When the rain finally stopped, the material was seen to continue to sag somewhat as the pores do hold water. No dripping, but hitting the shade would release a fine water spray of trapped water. However, once the sail had dried out, the shade went back to it’s previous height, with no sag or creases – awesome!I’m guessing that to shed water, the slope needs to be at least 3ft. Now we just have to give the shade sail some time for a durability test

Great for a quick sun shade
I like that it is easy to put up, if you have something to strap it to. I also like that it is mesh and rain won’t collect on it and collapse it. It works well for a sun shade and being mesh, a certain amount of sunlight does come through. It’s perfect over my grill and so I don’t have to stand in direct sun while using the grill.

Excellent product!
Just want to say what a great product this has been. We’ve had it up for 5 years in all sorts of weather and it’s held up very well. Kudos!!

The most okayest sun shade;)
Looks nice! But isn’t fully square. SomeSides don’t quite tighten right when all edges are adjusted but, It’s fixable and will probably stretch Alittle( I’m kinda picky haha). Overall looks great early to tell on its longevity. Looks like it may fade over time but if you take care of it like anything should give you years of good quality. Shade!

Perfecto

In general, rating could be 5 but connection chains are weak. I had to change them. Also there is a color difference. (Dark and light areas)