Types of awnings for terraces, balconies and windows: what works on the coast

What you need

• 5 m tape measure
• Compass app on your phone to check the orientation
• Phone to photograph the facade and the space
• The rules of the comunidad de vecinos (residents' association): the statutes or the meeting minutes on awnings
• Acrylic fabric swatch book (Sauleda, Docril, Dickson) to pick the colour the comunidad specifies
• The Leroy Merlin or Bricodepot standard size catalogue to compare

Step by step

1. 1

   Ask the comunidad before anything else

   Most comunidades in Valencia, Alicante and Benidorm have a colour and a type of awning approved at the owners' meeting. Fit a different one and they will make you take it down. Ask the administrador (managing agent) for the agreement or the fabric colour. If you are the first, propose a model at the meeting and avoid problems later.

2. 2

   Measure the space and what is above it

   Measure the width of the terrace and how far out you want to cover (the projection). Look at what is above the opening: a solid wall or a concrete slab to anchor into (folding arm or cassette), nothing (sail or pergola), or the low ceiling of the balcony above (vertical or drop arm). A folding arm awning needs a solid fixing roughly every metre, into structure, not into hollow partition brick.

3. 3

   Check the orientation and the wind

   With the compass: south and west get the afternoon sun, the harshest; east gets the morning. Facades facing the sea in Benidorm, Calpe or Torrevieja get the levante with gusts of 50-60 km/h: there, a big folding arm awning only with a wind sensor, and better a cassette or vertical. Terraces inside the block take any type.

4. 4

   Decide what it is for

   Shade for eating on the terrace: folding arm or cassette. Bringing the living room temperature down: vertical or window awning outside the glass, which is what really cuts the heat. Privacy from the neighbour next door: side awning. Covering a garden or pool area: sail. Penthouse terrace used all year: a bioclimatic pergola, which is another category altogether.

5. 5

   Choose motor and sensors

   An awning over 3 m wide with a crank handle is heavy to work and ends up left open in the wind. A motor with a Somfy remote (250-420 euros fitted) and a wind sensor, which closes it by itself. If the property is a holiday home and sits closed for weeks, a wind sensor is a must, or the awning stays shut.

6. 6

   Choose the fabric

   Solution-dyed acrylic at 300 g/m² in every case except the vertical screen, which is a micro-perforated technical fabric. Light colours reflect more heat; stripes or plain as the comunidad dictates. Avoid polyester.

7. 7

   Ask for a quote with photos and measurements

   Send us a photo of the facade, the width and projection, the orientation and what the comunidad has approved. With that we give a fixed price by WhatsApp in most cases; for awnings over 5 m or doubtful fixings, we visit first.

Comparison of the types of awning

Fitting prices in Valencia, Alicante and on the Costa Blanca, including IVA (VAT). The price of the awning itself depends on size and brand; we give indicative ranges for the materials for a typical 3 x 2.5 m size.

Mistakes when choosing an awning

• A 4 m folding arm awning with a crank handle on a facade facing the sea. Nobody closes it in time and a gust of levante folds it in half. Motor and wind sensor, or a cassette.
• Fixing into hollow brick or the edge of a thin slab. The brackets rip out with the first wind. You have to find solid structure or use chemical anchors; sometimes it is a job for a builder.
• Choosing from a catalogue without asking the comunidad. A new 900 euro awning that has to come down because of the colour. Ask first.
• A vertical awning inside the glass. It does not bring the temperature down: the heat is already in. Outside.
• A polyester sail with iron tensioners. The sail tears and the tensioners rust in one winter. HDPE or acrylic sail and stainless steel tensioners.
• Forgetting the real projection. A folding arm awning at 2.4 m height with 2.5 m of projection gives useful shade to 2 m at midday and almost none at 6 pm. For afternoon sun, side or vertical.

When to call a professional

A small drop arm or window awning can be put up by two people with a hammer drill. A folding arm or cassette awning of 3-6 m weighs 40-100 kg, is fixed at 2.5-3 m height with anchors that have to take the leverage of the open arms in wind, and has springs that can injure you. Large sails need properly founded posts. And anything on the facade has to comply with the comunidad agreement.

Manitas Costa prices: fitting a folding arm awning 120-220 euros labour, 3 x 3 shade sail fitted 180-320 euros, motor with remote 250-420 euros, arm replacement 90-160 euros, fabric replacement up to 4 m 150-300 euros including the fabric. We advise on the type and the fabric, make to measure and fit. Fixings into difficult structure are done by our builder. 6 months written guarantee.

More information in awnings in Valencia, Alicante and on the Costa Blanca and in how much a fitted awning costs. We fit in Valencia, Alicante, Benidorm, Elche, Dénia, Jávea, Calpe and Altea.

Wind, sun and salt air: what survives on the Costa Blanca

The number one enemy of an awning on the coast is the wind, not the sun. A 60 km/h gust on an open folding arm awning puts forces of hundreds of kilos on the brackets. The solutions, in order: close it (a Somfy wind sensor if it is motorised, 100-180 euros more), choose a cassette, which protects the fabric and the arms when closed and holds up better when open, or a vertical awning with guides, which offers hardly any resistance.

Salt air corrodes unpainted aluminium arms and, above all, the screws and the springs. On the seafront, ask for an awning with powder-coated arms, stainless steel fixings and, if the budget allows, a cassette. Rinse the arms with fresh water twice a year.

The sun destroys polyester in two summers. Always solution-dyed acrylic fabric (Sauleda, Docril, Dickson). When the time comes to replace it, in how to replace the fabric on a folding arm awning we explain how it is done and when it is worth it.