Which Awning is Right for You?
We recently conducted a mini survey, and it soon became apparent that most people, when asked, thought of an awning as the thing they remember their grandma having out the back of the bungalow, or what the local butcher had over his shop front. Both of course are technically correct, but what a long way the awning has come over the years. Sizes up to 14 metres wide, fully electrically remote controlled operation with sensors for everything and more material choices than you can imagine.
We all like the very descriptive Wikipedia explanation as it does take the awning and build on the possibilities it can offer, pretty much like it can today with modern materials and technology: An awning or overhang is a secondary covering attached to the exterior wall of a building. It is typically composed of canvas woven of acrylic, cotton or polyester yarn, or vinyl laminated to polyester fabric that is stretched tightly over a light structure of aluminium, iron or steel, possibly wood or transparent material (used to cover solar thermal panels in the summer, but that must allow as much light as possible in the winter). The configuration of this structure is something of a truss, space frame or planar frame. Awnings are also often constructed of aluminium understucture with aluminium sheeting. These aluminium awnings are often used when a fabric awning is not a practical application where snow load as well as wind loads may be a factor. The location of an awning on a building may be above a window, a door, or above the area along a sidewalk. With the addition of columns an awning becomes a canopy, which is able to extend further from a building, as in the case of an entrance to a hotel. Restaurants often use awnings broad enough to cover substantial outdoor area for outdoor dining, parties, or reception. In commercial buildings, an awning is often painted with information as to the name, business, and address, thus acting as a sign or billboard as well as providing shade, breaking steep winds, and protecting from rain or snow. In areas with wintry weather, most awnings do not have to be taken down at the end of the summer - they can remain retracted against the building all winter long, or be designed and built for those conditions
Whether for domestic or commercial applications, the concept of an all year-round solution to our ever changing weather in the UK is a difficult challenge enough, but Samson Awnings set out years ago to seek products capable of dealing with such demands. We discovered, quite logically, that awnings manufactured in Northern Europe, i.e. Holland, Belgium and Germany were developed over many years to deal with weather very similar to our own, sometimes quite aggressive UK weather, and not just manufactured based upon constant sunshine with no wind or rain showers. That would be too easy! Consequently, Samson Awnings is now a leading specialist in supplying and installing domestic and commercial awnings and terrace covers of all shapes and sizes from market leaders Markilux, Weinor and Winsol, with some specialised products from other manufacturers for very niche applications.
Visit the website www.samsonawnings.co.uk for a full range of products and services and when looking into the investment of a quality awning solution for your home or business make sure you do your homework and you will discover the same conclusions as we did many years ago.
