Us kiwis love our backyards.
So I'm going to show you how you
can get the most out of yours
and create an extra outdoor
living space just by putting up
a shade sail.
It's dead easy and
doesn't cost you much.
Now, there's a couple
of different shapes
and sizes available.
What I'm going to use
is the three by five
in the charcoal color.
There's also a variety
of different attachments.
But don't worry about that.
We'll cover that when I'm
actually installing that.
For this house, we're going to
attach a rectangle shade sail.
So what we need to do is attach
two fixing points to the house
and then concrete in two timber
posts at the end of the deck
and attach the fixing points.
After that, we simply attach
the shade sail to these fixing
points and tighten to fit.
Now, I've decided to center
my shade sail off the house
itself.
So I'm going to
mark at the center
of the house on the fascia.
Now, the center of
my house is 4170.
Let's put a little
pencil mark there.
Now just to help
me out, I'm just
going to put a little tack in
here just to hook my tape on.
My shade sail is
five meters wide,
so I'm going to come across
half of that, which is 2.5.
And that's the end
of my shade sail.
Now I need to allow 10%,
which is going to be used
for tensioning out later on.
So I 10% onto to five meters.
There's 500 mill.
I've come half that, so
half of 500 is 250 mill.
So let's put 250 mill on there.
OK, so this is ideally where my
first fixing point should be.
Now, ideally I want
to fix straight
into our rafter from behind.
So I'm just going to have
a look around to see where
if I can see that.
I'm going to have a
look for some nails
underneath into your
soffit might be a clue.
If you don't have any nails, you
might just want to have a tap,
see what you can find.
[TAPPING]
Now, I can hear that there
is a rafter right there.
So that's about six
or eight inches away
from our first mark.
So that's fine.
I can move my mark
over a little bit.
Because there are
250 millimeters.
It's only a minimum.
So we can go further
as much as we like.
Now, if I didn't have a
rafter to fix them to,
I'd have to climb
inside of the roof space
and attach a bracket from
a rafter to my fascia,
then put my pad eye
attached to my fascia.
Now thankfully, I do
have a rafter to fix to,
so all I need to
do is drill a hole
and fix our hooks onto that.
OK, now just repeat the
process down the other end.
Right-o.
I've just marked my hole.
Time to get stacking and do
some hard work and dig it.
And just remember,
before you dig,
always check with
your local authorities
where your pipes and wires are.
You certainly don't want to
hurt anything you shouldn't.
I'm using this post
hole digger, which
will make the job a lot
easier, but you can just
use a spade if you like.
Now my hole is dug, I'm
putting scoria on the bottom
so my post doesn't
sit on the dirt.
Now just pack it down.
Ready for the post.
Next place your post into
the hole and plum it up.
There are a number of
different posts you can use.
For this house, we're using
an H5 glue laminated post.
And we're working with
firm ground, which
is why we laid 100
millimeters of scoria
before concreting the post in.
You can also use galvanized
steel posts like these.
And if you're working
with soft ground,
you'll need 100 mill of
concrete and 100 mill of scoria
before concreting the posts in.
The depth you'll
need to dig your pipe
will vary with the size
of your shade sail.
Ours is the five meter sail, so
we're going down to 1.2 meters.
For the three meter
shade sail, you
need to go down to a
depth of 800 millimeters.
OK, now that my post
is in, I've attached it
to the deck at this stage.
If you didn't have
a deck to attach to,
you'd need to lean the post
away from the shade sail
by about five degrees to
give additional support.
But I've decided
to put this in plum
because I've got a couple
of good, solid fixing points
onto my deck.
Now concrete your posts
in place, making sure
you get a good
surface contact area.
You can always use a
spade to mix it up.
Right-o.
That's looking pretty good.
Now I just need to do exactly
the same for the other side.
Then I'm going to leave them
to dry for at least 24 hours.
OK, my post is all set.
That's all nice and secure.
One thing I do want to do now
is attach a bracket from my post
to my deck.
That's going to ensure this
is going to stay rock solid.
Right-o, here's a
little tip for you.
When you're drilling a
hole using a corkscrew,
you actually want to
choose a drill bit that's
a couple of mills
smaller than the shank
size of your corkscrew.
OK, I've attached my
hooks to the house,
and I've got a height of
2.9 meters from my deck
to the center of my hooks.
So I'm going to mark on my post
here 2.0 meters off my deck.
OK, from our 2.9 mark, I'm just
going to go up about 125 mill
to allow me a little bit
more on the top of my posts.
My posts are 125
mills square, so I
think that'll look
good coming up 125.
And I'm going to just rule
that square across the back.
I'm just going to put a slight
angle on the side of the post.
That's going to allow
for any water to run off.
We've got a pretty
big post there.
Now we'll just square
across the front
and link the two marks
up on the side also.
So I'm now ready
to cut my post off.
I'm just going to
use my block plane
and just take off all
these sharp edges.
Give it a light arris.
This is looking pretty good.
Next thing I need to do is
going to centralize my 2.9
mark on the post.
OK, all I need to do
now is drill a hole
in the center there to
take my eye bolt. Right-o.
Now I'm just going to
repeat the same process
for the other side.
OK, I'm just about ready
to install my shade sail.
Now, there's a few
different attachments
that I need in order
to make this happen.
First, I've got a
few lengths of chain,
I've got some S
hooks, D shackles,
and these special little
puppies here, our turnbuckles.
Now, for each
shade sail, we need
a minimum of two turnbuckles.
On this unit here,
I'm actually going
to put four in to make
sure it's nice and tight.
I'm now going to
attach our chain
and repeat the
process all around.
Now, I'm using these
chains for extra length,
as the size of my deck
means my shade sail doesn't
reach these fixing points.
Every situation is different,
so head down to Mitre 10
if you need help sizing it up.
Now I've just hooked the chain
on round about 150 mill away
from the edge of the house.
And I've cut my chain probably
about 200 to 300 mill longer.
That just gives me a little
bit extra to play with.
Now all I'm going to do is
attach all four points and then
come back and adjust
our turnbuckle so we get
a nice tension on the chain.
OK, all my four
points are attached.
Now I've got these fabulous
little turnbuckles here.
I've got about 100 millibar
travel on each corner.
So that's going to get
this nice and tight.
But you know what?
If you find that you've linked
this on the chain a little bit
too far down, you can always
unhook your turnbuckle
and slide it up
further up the chain,
giving you a lot more tension.
Go around and tighten each
turnbuckle a little at a time
so the tension is even.
To keep your shade
sail nice and new,
just take it down and give it
a clean with a mild detergent
solution and a soft brush.
Leave it for 10 minutes, gently
hose it off, and you're done.
And there it is.
We've just made an extra
outdoor living space, as well as
creating an area that will
protect you from the sun
simply by putting
up a shade sail.