Why aren't there more wooden shade structures?

HughMungus · Post by **HughMungus** » Sun Sep 19, 2004 12:41 pm

I've never built a shade structure that's worth a crap but whenever I think of building one (like for next year), I always get this idea in my mind of using 8' 2x4's with some kind of canvas or something as the cover. The upside is that it would be easy to put together and solid and if you use bolts, reusable.

How come I don't see this more? Why PVC over 2x4's?

geekster · Post by **geekster** » Sun Sep 19, 2004 12:54 pm

Ours were steel tubing, not PVC. Why? It is lighter and stronger than wood and the pieces fit together without any bolts. They are fast to assemble and stong. We set up the structure and install one anchor line at each corner to a rebar candy cane. So far we have never lost one. One person (though it is easier with 2) can assemble and anchor a complete shade structure in less than an hour after they have done it a couple of times.

sparkletarte · Post by **sparkletarte** » Sun Sep 19, 2004 8:15 pm

We used wood poles to hold up the tarp for shade. We had four cottonwood trees (weed trees around here) stripped of branches about 8-10 ft tall, and anchored them with various ropes ties to rebar. The one side of the tarp was attached to my truck. It worked fine. The only concern was if the tarp would rip through the wood where they are tied together but we put lots of duct tape on the tarp to protect it and it was fine. We could have used one in the middle to hold up the centre- on the windy days it flapped around a lot but the other days it was fine.

dman · Post by **dman** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 9:48 am

We used wood uprights with rope cross-members & guy lines to make three shade structures this year. They worked OK, but were a LOT of work to assemble & get adjusted properly, although after doing several dozen I can now tie both bowlines & trucker's hitches inverted and with my eyes closed <g>.

Here's a pic.

Our goal for 2005 is more art, less work. So, we'll be using the wood to build sheds in the back yard before the rains start and convert everything to metal poles going forward, assuming the price of EMT continues to fall back toward where it was a year ago (now some 250% of that price).

geekster · Post by **geekster** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 10:23 am

Thanks to Mike for showing me this:

We have the Costco(r) type pole shade structure. Easiest way to put them together is to put the top skeleton together. Then tie a bowline at one end and run the line down the spine securing it at the other end and pull taught with a truckers hitch. This keeps the spine from falling apart as work progresses. Put on the edge tubes and top cover. Preload all the holes in the cover with the provided "ball bungies". Get the corners done and then work up each side getting the top secured. Add the legs, first one side then the other. You can build another right next to the first and use ball bungies to lash the adjoining legs together. Add as many of these as you need. We use the bowline/truckers hitch to secure the ends of the structures to guy lines to rebar stakes and pull them tight.
Stood up just fine to all the wind we had.

HughMungus · Post by **HughMungus** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 12:31 pm

geekster wrote:Ours were steel tubing, not PVC. Why? It is lighter and stronger than wood and the pieces fit together without any bolts. They are fast to assemble and stong. We set up the structure and install one anchor line at each corner to a rebar candy cane. So far we have never lost one. One person (though it is easier with 2) can assemble and anchor a complete shade structure in less than an hour after they have done it a couple of times.

You mean you screwed together steel tubes like plumbing tubing?

My original question was based on this design idea in my head of building a "cube" made out of 2x4's. e.g., if you wanted to build an 8x8 shade structure, you'd just lay out four 2x4's on the ground, bold them together, then have 4 uprights, then have 4 more for the top to make a cube. I'm not saying I'm going to do this but it seems like it would be really solid...maybe it's just that that would be way overbuilt for the conditions...

stuart · Post by **stuart** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 12:37 pm

I did this type of structure, 10x10 2x4 cube, my first year. I scaled it up over successive years. In 2003 it was 11' tall x16'x16' It was rock solid but a little innefficient in terms of materials and labor. This year we di an even larger structure but only used wood for the uprights. Aircraft cable was used for all the interconnects and guy wires.

geekster · Post by **geekster** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 12:46 pm

No screws at all, no fasteners except snaps, velcro, and the "ball bungies" These things were about 10 x 20 foot. Put them side by side and you have more shade. The poles fit inside "connectors" which were either quad or triad depending on where they go.

Something like these:

http://www.canopyfactory.com/index.php?page=canopy

If you put a few side by side and only put the side panels on the outside edges, they make a nice area. Just remember to anchor each end pole.

Why aren't there more wooden shade structures?

Why aren't there more wooden shade structures?

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