Types of Awnings for Your Porch

Do you want to spend relaxing noon with your family on your porch? Do you hate how unpredictable weather often makes your porch unusable? Do you like to sit inside your porch for hours reading, relaxing, or just observing your garden? If any of these describe you then you need to install awnings in your house above your porch.

Not so fast! There are many types of awnings out there. And even though you might be sure you need an awning, which type of awning to get is a much harder decision. In this article, we’ll enumerate the most common types of awnings, their advantages, disadvantages, and best use cases.

Fixed Awnings

One of the oldest and most simple types of awnings – fixed awnings, as its name implies, is fixed over your porch with beams and screws. Once you install it, you’ll get a shaded porch until either you decide to remove the awning or it breaks down.

Advantages

  • It is simple to install and maintain: fixed awnings are relatively simple to install and maintain. You need to clean it once a few months, and you rarely need to repair it.

  • It is simple to operate: this is because it doesn’t need to be operated at all. It’ll do its job without any input from you.

  • It is inexpensive: due to their simplistic functionality, it is cheaper than the alternative. If you wanted a simple awning to provide shade for you when you’re on your porch without any hustle or maintenance at the cheapest price, you should go with fixed awnings.

Disadvantages

  • It cuts off sunlight to your porch completely: while this is a positive when it is sunny outside and you want to spend time inside your porch, it turns into a disadvantage when it becomes less sunny and you want sunlight on your porch and in your house. Completely blocking off the sun at all times is a two-edged sword.

  • It is very inflexible: you can’t control the amount of sunlight that goes through, you can’t retract it if you think it makes your house look ugly for a certain occasion, etc. You’re stuck with it until you remove it, which costs money and takes time.

Retractable Awnings

Retractable awnings are the most flexible type of awnings there are, and due to recent advances in manufacturing technologies, retractable awnings are going to become a lot more common.

Advantages

  • Flexibility: retractable awnings are extremely flexible in their operation. You can completely cut off all sunlight from reaching your porch, you can let the sunlight in completely unadulterated or anything in between.

  • Control over the appearance of your house: not everyone likes the appearance of an awning handing over their porch at all times. With retractable awnings, you can make it disappear whenever you want. So, you don’t have to deal with the aesthetics of it if you don’t want to.

Disadvantages

  • Fragile: retractable awnings aren’t as heavy and robust as fixed awnings, because, well, they aren’t fixed in place. They need to be light-weight and flexible to be retractable. This means a retractable awning is more at risk of damage and can’t withstand strong windy weather. You have to be more careful.

  • More expensive: retractable awnings are naturally more expensive due to the more complex and intricate technologies used in manufacturing them. Is the extra cost justifiable to you? Only you can answer this question.