Right Triangle Sun Shade Sail Canopy

This is my second purchase the sails have done an excellent job

I used the usual hooks, carabiners and whatever you call those wall anchors that are diamond-shaped and have four screw holes. I also used a bunch of pulleys, 6mm lines, and cleats to tie off. One corner is attached to an eave where I can reach it from my porch, that’s the anchor. The other corners are attached to lines going to a high point you need a ladder to reach. There I installed pulleys and cut the lines long enough to reach cleats low on the walls. This makes the shade easy to adjust and remove if there’s a hurricane on the way. After nearly two years, it developed a tear in the fabric. I contacted Royal Shade. I got a response within a few hours asking for a photo of the flaw, purchase information, and contact information. They shipped the replacement quickly.

We ordered three of these shades for our oceanfront house in the Outer Banks. The good news is they provide great shade. But, the strong nor’easter winds in that area make it difficult to keep fastened. Normal wind does pass thru the small holes so in other areas these would be perfect.

Nice thick material, all parts included needed except for our dimensions, we needed about a foot of cable and attached hooks, on one side of the triangular shade.

There were 2 challenging things about this product, but I'm certain the same would apply to ANY sun shade:
1. Getting the anchors placed perfectly is NOT easy. Having a second person helping (with a 2nd ladder) will definitely save you some time when installing this shade. I started from scratch, without any pre-determined anchor points, and without any clue as to how I was going to get this product to provide the shade ecactly where I wanted it (while still reaching all 3 anchor points). I also had landscaping plants to work around, AND a paper wasp nest (under a nearby eave) to deal with. Given all that, the installation required a lot of trial & error, and it took me about 2 and a half hours.
2. Choosing the proper SIZE: I was a rookie at this, I could not precisely pre-measure (almost impossible without a second person's help), AND i am not confident about my knot-tying skills, so just choosing the proper sized shade was a bit of a crapshoot. I do have decent intuition and good estimation skills, PLUS a little bit of luck also helped in my case. Despite some anxious moments during which I was certain that I'd have to re-order a different size, I was finally able to figure it out and get the final anchor point positioned on my eave, without the shade ending up being too tight OR having too much slack.

Knowing your anchor points, measuring precisely, CUSTOM ordering your shade for those measurements, AND using adjustable turnbuckles (or being able to add length using para-cord, which is where your knot-tying skills would come in) will greatly heighten your chances of success at getting this shade EXACTLY where you want it, without a lot of added time and frustration. Besides the sail itself, I was working ONLY with 3 screw eyes, 3 carabiners, and 3 in-line springs. While I did finally get it right, I would definitely go about it differently the next time I were to install one of these.

The sail itself was brand new and in perfect condition out of the package, including all of the stitching. It has D-rings integrated into each attachment point, but it did not come with any other hardware, so you'll need to purchase that separately. One of the attached pictures shows the hardware I used & how I set it up.

I love that the material is porous, especially because I'm shading PLANTS, but also because I don't want to deal with any water pooling on top of the shade. I was NOT shopping for a rain cover; if you're looking for a patio shade that also keeps you dry, then this is not the product you're looking for.

The material is polyester. Something softer and more cloth-like would have been more aesthetically pleasing (like a fabric/material that a wedding party production business would use), but it probably wouldn't give you the UV protection that this shade does. Pretty cloth sails would require more washing and care, and they would presumably be less durable. I'm happy with something that you can put up in the spring, take down in September, easily wipe-down and store, and then be able to use it for a few years without having to purchase a new one; if you are more of a utilitarian (like me), then these sails are fairly priced and would be well worth your consideration.

The rhododendrons on the south side of my house had been looking worse and worse over the years, with WAY too much sun exposure, summer after summer. I'm hoping this new shade will help my plants thrive and get them looking a lot healthier, after giving them a couple of years to recover.