Do it yourself - Shade Sails Installation - So-cal Shade Sails

Create a plan and build your own Shade Sail Structure. We will custom fabricate sails to fit your needs!

1. After Checking with your Local Building Department, meeting the proper guidelines and gathering any necessary permits, you can begin following through with your Shade Sail plans. By using a string stretched from point to point, you can visualize what the sails will look like. Please note, however, that the edges of the sails are not straight lines, but have a slight curve to them.

   Some of the best installations use bold changes in heights from corner to corner. Having overlapping sails will add style and texture to your Shade Sail appearance.

2. Install your attachment points to a post, building, tree, etc. Make sure that these attachment points are very strong if you intend to leave the sail up year round for various conditions.

3. The attachment points should be installed first; measure from one attachment point to the next. Then the sails are made to fit. Therefore, install your posts with eye bolts, plates, eyes or straps to the house, tree or whatever you have chosen to support them. Remember, there can be substantial wind loads. (from 5.5 to 15 lbs. per square foot of sail). The sails have stainless wire around their perimeters and can handle high wind loading. These are divided between the corners, but to be adequate, make sure that they attach.

   Usually, we start with 4" schedule 40 steel pipe (galvanized) or temporary power poles (treated) that are 6" or larger for our posts. They are usually embedded in a concrete footing, 3 ft. to 6 ft. deep and 1 ft. to 1.5 ft. in diameter. The post should be larger as the sails get larger or higher. This ensures a suitable fit and match.

   Great attachment points are the corners of buildings and we have designed a special corner clip for that application. Also, it is often possible to connect to remote structures with wire spanning the distance.

4. The sails have a stainless steel ring at each corner that must be attached to your attachment point. This can be done in a variety of ways; the best method is to rope them on with a length of low stretch Dacron rope. This gives a lot of adjustability and is very strong and inexpensive. A stainless steel "D" shackle and turnbuckle will create a more high tech look.
5. Measuring from the outer edge of the eye of one attachment point to the next will create a much more efficient structure. On four sided sails we need diagonal measurements as well. Also, indicate the highest corner (if there is one) with an “h” marking.
6. Choose a color. All our fabrics have an ASTM Class 1 fire rating. Other fire ratings such as NFPA and California Fire Marshall Ratings are available at an increased price for more colors color choices.
7. You may want different hardware parts to attach the sails, since we compensate the measurements to include the size of the hardware, it is essential to use our marine grade stainless hardware as we are familiar with their sizes and the parts are all compatible. In any case, we need to know how you intend to attach the sails so that we can adjust the dimensions accordingly. A proper fit is not guaranteed should you decide to use another option for an attachment mechanism.

If you decide that you want us to design and create your new Shade Sail structure, contact us and visit Custom Made Shade Sails.

For recommended stainless steel hardware, please visit our Hardware section.